UE: PHI 210RS: Good Stuff for Ethics: Home

Here is the syllabus (Master and COL version)

The sample questions for the module discussions are especially important. The module discussions, which are all organized around mini-cases, give students the opportunity to work on the skills they will need to demonstrate in their written assignments. 

You might want to tell students to look at the rubric for the Module 8 assignment early on in the course. It will give them a sense of what they should be able to do by the end of the course.

Please note that some typos in the rubric for Module 8 have been corrected

Dear Thinking and Doing Ethics instructors,

            Thank you for teaching PHI 210RS: Thinking and Doing Ethics. I think you will find teaching this course rewarding and hope you find it a valuable addition to the University Explorations general education program here at Saint Leo.

The purpose of PHI 210RS is to help students develop a more nuanced approach to thinking about right and wrong action and the moral good, and to foster excellence in moral deliberation, which is an important element of engaged citizenship. The course emphasis is on developing the process of thinking critically and deliberating about what is right and good. It highlights the link of reflection to deliberation and action, rather than rote learning or focus on theory. Yet it also emphasizes the import of reflection, as opposed to judgmental moralizing.

The reflection on the right and the good, to include utility, rights, duties, virtue, care, and the issues of relativism, egoism, and the relation to religious belief, will be engaged with an eye to involving students in concrete deliberation about moral matters through a large number of cases. Students may also be given the option to reflect on past or current service and service-learning activities in terms of the concepts, principles, and ideals examined in this course.

The strong emphasis on deliberation through case analysis and discussion makes this a very applied course in ethics. It is, nevertheless, a course in general ethics. We have a variety of 300-level Philosophy courses in applied ethics: Environmental Ethics, Bioethics, Ethics and Business, and Social Ethics. The point of this course is not to duplicate the content of other ethics courses, but to serve as a springboard for lifelong excellence in moral deliberation. Students who have taken PHI 210RS should also be prepared to examine moral issues with greater insight and in greater depth if they then go on to take a 300-level ethics courses in Philosophy. PHI 210RS is also different from the previous 200-level course PHI 224: Ethics, which is being discontinued, in its stronger emphasis on developing the skill of balanced deliberation through case analysis and discussion. Many of you are already doing this. You will have the opportunity of focusing even more on fostering balanced deliberation with PHI 210RS.

Although the course is applied in nature, I reference primary sources in the master syllabus. Please do not feel limited to these – if you have a preferred text or reading you wish to introduce to class participants, please utilize your own expertise. For more information or to provide feedback or ask questions about the course, feel free to contact me at astrid.vicas@saintleo.edu. I welcome your feedback concerning the course.

            I think you will find the format for PHI 210RS engaging. I hope you enjoy teaching it!