The Midterm papers are due by 11:59pm, 3/8/2020.. Pick a topic and start writing.
Papers will be submitted electronically via Moodle during the week of 3/2/2020.
Note: All papers are automatically scanned for plagiarism.
You will write one essay for your midterm. Your essay is to be typed and properly documented (use the guidelines in the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers for proper documentation). Each essay is to run from a minimum of 1250 words to 2000 words maximum length (approximately 5 to 8 typed pages).
You may use any voice that you prefer. For example, you may say, “In this essay I will…” Whatever voice you use, be consistent.
This is not a research paper. Your target audience is another undergraduate that has no prior knowledge of your topic. Teach him or her everything you know about the topic. Define terms as needed and use plenty of examples to make your point clear. I want to know that you know this stuff well enough to communicate your understanding of the material in writing to another person. Your paper must have at least three proper citations. All of these may be from the primary reading, lecture (i.e., PPT), or outside resources, or some combination thereof (but no internet sources as a primary source.) Clearly identify the prompt to which your essay responds.
Topics:
(1) Moral Relativism: Explain the ethical position known as Moral Relativism (MR) and its significance –be sure to clarify the difference between MR and Societal Belief Relativism. Explain and critique the arguments used to support MR. Are there any good reasons or proofs for rejecting MR? Does the contemplation of moral relativism offer any valuable insights concerning morality and moral disagreements?
(2) The Divine Command Theory: Explain the philosophical position known as the Divine Command Theory (DCT) –use an analogy if necessary. Explain and critique the arguments used to undermine the DCT. Is a rejection of the DCT compatible with a belief in the Judeo-Christian conception of God? For example, would rejection of the DCT threaten God’s status as omnipotent creator of all that is? Does the notion of objective moral truth become unintelligible given a denial of the DCT?
(3) Disembodied Voice: You hear a voice. The voice claims to be God. The voice repeatedly insists that you do some unspeakable immorality. What do you do? Answer this question vis-à-vis the Divine Command Theory.
(4) Act Utilitarianism: Explain Act Utilitarianism (AU) in detail (in theory and practice). Explain the three pseudo-objections Mill raises to AU and how he replies. Are his replies convincing? Explain and critique several serious objections leveled against AU.
(5) Kant’s Moral Theory: Explain Kant’s moral theory including the influence Aristotle had on Kant’s Categorical Imperative. Be sure to explain the difference between hypothetical imperatives and categorical imperatives; is morality a categorical imperative or a hypothetical imperative? Explain how to evaluate a maxim. What is a contradiction in concept (CC) and/or and a contradiction in the will (CW)? What connection exists between the various types of contradictions and perfect and imperfect duties? Explain and critique the standard objections raised against Kant’s moral theory.
(6) Nazis at the Door: During WWII you have discovered Jews hiding in your basement. Nazis are at your door asking if you have seen any Jews; the Nazis are rounding them up for extermination. Morally, what are you to do? Use a moral theory discussed in class to justify your answer. Be sure to explain the moral theory you use in detail such that the reader understands that your answer does follow said moral theory.
(7) Justice and Rawls: Under what conditions can a social contract be considered just according to Rawls? What conceptual tool does Rawls develop to facilitate just agreements? Identify and explain the principles of justice as identified by Rawls. Be sure to explain the rational behind accepting each principle of justice and the consequences the principle entail. Explain several of the strongest objections leveled against Rawls and Rawls’s replies.
(8) Rawls and Immigration: There are many people from other countries seeking a better life in the USA. What sort of policy concerning immigration would Rawls endorse? Let them all in? Let no one in? Let only those that benefit the USA in? Please justify your answer by referencing Rawls’ Theory of Justice.
Concerning Documentation:
Suppose you have directly quoted Mill’s explanation of the Principle of Utility:
“The creed which accepts, as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest-happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.”
In the essay, you should document it as follows:
“The creed which accepts, as the foundation of morals, Utility, or the Greatest-happiness Principle, holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” (Mill, p.316)
And the in a sources section at the end of your essay you should have the following entry:
Mill, John Stuart, What Utilitarianism Is, in The Canon & Its Critics (2nd edition) by Furman, Todd and Avila, Mitch. © 2004 by McGraw-Hill Companies. <– All course reading come from this text.
Technically, you should also document the arguments and ideas given to you by your instructor. You can do this simply by placing “(Furman)” after the borrowed idea and having the following entry in the sources section of your essay:
Furman, Todd. PPT Lectures in Philosophy 201 at McNeese State University, Fall, 2019.
You are strongly encouraged to submit drafts of your essays for critiques prior to submitting your final effort.
