Course Syllabus

Objective: This course is designed to introduce students to the basic issues and arguments which concern the question of what one ought to do. We will begin by examining various answers to this question and evaluating their adequacy as guides for action before examining in detail the answer given in the thought of Thomas Aquinas. In the Thomistic scheme, we will investigate the basis for evaluating moral action and the anatomy of moral actions, as well as the role of virtue and law. Finally we will briefly consider the application of moral concerns to specific professional arenas, medicine and business.

Requirements: Success in all requirements depends on the students' attentive attendance and participation in the class discussions.

Students are required to read all assignments carefully and more than once. The reading and analysis of philosophical writing is a skill difficult to acquire which this course will help students to develop. Study question will be provided to facilitate students’ comprehension. Failure to read thoughtfully the assignments will show in class discussions, hinder a students’ comprehension of the material (and thus hurt their grades) and make for a boring class.

One five-page paper will be due two weeks before the end of the semester. In it, students are required to treat some topic in ethics. The paper may examine difficulties in assigning moral worth to a particular sort of action (e.g. the execution of prisoners by the state) or some point of conflict between two philosophers examined in class (Mills and Aristotle on the assignation of moral worth). Paper topics must be submitted for approval at the first mid-term exam. The paper is not primarily a research paper, but a philosophical and analytical one. As such, a student should explain the problem he or she is examining making perspicuous the difficulties it involves, the philosophical principles it presupposes, and what new understanding (new principle or rejection of a principle) is necessary to resolve the conflict. Finally, the student should discuss what consequences ensue from this resolution of the problem. More information as to format and style will be provided in the course of the semester.

The final grade for the course will be determined from the scores earned throughout the semester and weighted in the following manner: 30% midterm exam, 30% paper and 40% final exam. Final grades may be adjusted +/- 3 points based upon participation and attendance, according to the professor's judgment.

Texts:

• Plato, Euthyphro in Five Dialogues (Hackett, 1981).
• Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics (Prentice Hall, 1999).
• J. S. Mill, Utilitarianism (Hackett, 1979).
• Ralph McInerny, Ethica Thomistica (CUA, 1997).
• Other handouts and readings as may be required.