PHIL 1031 - Ethics

Credits: 3
Hours/Week: Lecture 3 Lab 0
Internship hours per week 0
Course Description: How should we make moral choices? What are our duties and responsibilities to ourselves, others, and society? How should we resolve daily conflicts about what is right? Should morality be decided by the consequences of the action, the motives of the actor, what society thinks is right, or what is virtuous? This course is designed to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of ethical principles and their practical applications in various aspects of everyday life. Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, explores questions of morality,virtue, and the principles that govern human behavior.
MnTC Goals
6 (Humanities), 9 (Ethical and Civic Responsibiity)

Prerequisite(s): Course placement into college-level English and Reading OR completion of ENGL 0950  with a grade of C or higher OR completion of RDNG 0940  with a grade of C or higher and qualifying English Placement Exam OR completion of RDNG 0950  with a grade of C or higher and ENGL 0090  with a grade of C or higher OR completion of ESOL 0051  with a grade of C or higher and ESOL 0052  with a grade of C or higher.
Corequisite(s): None
Recommendation: None

Major Content
1. Ethical theory, including some or all of the following:

1. Consequentialism
2. Deontology
3. Virtue ethics
4. Social contract ethics
5. Natural law theory

2. Contemporary moral problems: The selection of contemporary moral problems will be determined by individual instructors. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Euthanasia
2. Animal Rights
3. Bodily Autonomy
4. Social Safety Net
5. Ethics of War
6. Capital Punishment
7. Racial Justice
8. Economic Justice

1. analyze primary sources on ethical theory.

2. analyze primary sources on contemporary moral problems.

3. apply ethical theory to contemporary moral problems.

4. evaluate a contemporary moral problem using ethical theory.
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum (MnTC): Goals and Competencies 6 (Humanities), 9 (Ethical and Civic Responsibiity)
Competency Goals (MnTC Goals 1-6)
06. 01. Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.

06. 02. Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context.

06. 03. Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.

06. 05. Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
Theme Goals (MnTC Goals 7-10)
09. 01. Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views.

09. 02. Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.

09. 03. Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.

09. 05. Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

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