Courses tagged with "K12" (4)

This course does not seek to provide answers to ethical questions. Instead, the course hopes to teach students two things. First, how do you recognize ethical or moral problems in science and medicine? When something does not feel right (whether cloning, or failing to clone) — what exactly is the nature of the discomfort? What kind of tensions and conflicts exist within biomedicine? Second, how can you think productively about ethical and moral problems? What processes create them? Why do people disagree about them? How can an understanding of philosophy or history help resolve them? By the end of the course students will hopefully have sophisticated and nuanced ideas about problems in bioethics, even if they do not have comfortable answers.

This will be a seminar on classic and contemporary work on central topics in ethics. The first third of the course will focus on metaethics: we will examine the meaning of moral claims and ask whether there is any sense in which moral principles are objectively valid. The second third of the course will focus on normative ethics: what makes our lives worth living, what makes our actions right or wrong, and what do we owe to others? The final third of the course will focus on moral character: what is virtue, and how important is it? Can we be held responsible for what we do? When and why?

This course presents the academic foundations and historical development of multicultural moral decision-making and helps students develop their ability to interrelate reflectively, responsibly, and respectfully with a society of increasing intercultural connections. Students will first explore how people approach moral decision-making, and then how multicultural and intercultural moral decision-making ought to be made. This approach is analogous to how grammar first describes the way language is in fact used, and how it then prescribes the way language ought to be used. A blend of online instructional strategies will be utilized throughout this course. Students can expect to spend three to six hours per week to complete and submit all course deliverables. Preparation for exams will require additional time. Upon successful completion of this course, students should have the ability to engage in serious reflection on issues of ethics and values related to intercultural and multicultural decision-making. Required Text: $49.99 Jeffrey W. Bulger, MORAL PHILOSOPHY: A Theoretical and Practical Approach to Moral Decision-Making, Vol 1-8, Plato

Students of political science should understand how ethics, culture, religion, and morality help to shape public debate, policymaking, and policy execution. This course will provide you with an overview of the role that ethical, cultural, religious, and moral principles play in the formulation and execution of public policy by lawmakers and other public officials. After studying the foundational theories of ethics and morality in politics, you will review arguments about existing issues in domestic and international policy, studying each dilemma from a variety of perspectives.  Common themes seen in ethics debates include justice, equality, fairness, individual liberty, free enterprise, charity, fundamental human rights, and minimizing harm to others. These themes are integrated into various decision-making models, such as the Utilitarian Approach, the Fairness and Justice Approach, and the Rights Approach. In the execution of public policy, it is impossible to do no harm to others; often, public policy…