Advice on writing papers
Link to the Syllabus
Web Readings:
Optional Reading: The
Moral Instinct Steven Pinker reviews the case for supposing ethics
has a biological basis, and examines the implications. Useful guide for
the latest thinking on whether ethics can be grounded in a universal
human nature.
Veritatis Splendor: Intro,
Chapter I, Chapter II
Veritatis
Splendor: Chapter III, Conclusion.
Further reading on
Veritatis Splendor (optional):
Moral
Theologians and Veritatis Splendor article by William May, provides
theological background.
How Can We
Learn What Veritatis Splendor Has To Teach? article by Alasdair
MacIntyre, discussing Veritatis
Splendor from a philosophical perspective. You are not required
to read these, but they might help you to understand Veritatis Splendor better.
van
den Haag on Capital Punishment.
Bedau
on Capital Punishment.
Mill
on Capital Punishment.
Weatherford
on Capital Punishment.
For the next four articles, you will require your FSU username and
password
The
Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis
Can the
East Help the West to Value Nature?
Towards
a Buddhist Environmental Ethic
The
Lost Fragrance: Protestantism and the Nature of What Matters
The
Iliad VI
[319]-[494]
The
Symposium (read from 'I not only permit but exhort you to
speak the truth' to the end).
The
Arabian Nights
(Intro and The Story of the Ass and the Bull)
Papers are worth only 20% of the final grade: much more important are
the quizzes.
Here is a link to sample questions
from previous quizzes. These sample questions should give you an idea
of the kind of thing I will ask about. It is possible that a couple of
the questions on the quiz will be taken from this list, because there
are only so many things you can ask about a book. Also, I do not want
the sample questions to be a list of things you don't need to know.
REL 3170:
Revision List for Quiz 1
Ethics and the New
Millennium:
Spirituality and
Religion: the difference.
Buddhist concepts
including Shen-pen kyi sem, kun long, Shen dug ngal wa mi sö pa,
nying je,
nyong mong, ‘skilful means and insight’, chi sem.
The Dalai Lama’s recommendations
on topics of war, religion and society and the environment, and his
recipe for
happiness.
Veritatis Splendor:
The role of Natural
Law, including the meaning of ‘intrinsic moral evil’ and the actions
that the
Pope describes.
The concept of
phronesis (understanding of which is presupposed).
The relationship of Veritatis
Splendor to enlightenment thinking, particularly the discussion
about the
true nature of autonomy, and the connection proposed by the Pope
between
freedom and truth.
The Pope’s criticisms
of Proportionalism and Consequentialism.
The place of the
encyclical in 20th Century Catholic thinking, including the
significance of Humanae Vitae.
Lying:
Difficulties in
defining ‘lying.’
Equivocation and
reservation: what they mean, and associated problems.
Basic reasons for
preferring a policy of honesty (e.g. harm that comes from lying,
intrinsic
connection between meaning and truth).
Reasons that have been
proposed for telling lies in politics (the public good), medicine
(protecting
patients) and social science (necessity for experiments), along with
reactions
to these reasons.
Situation Ethics:
Different views of Montgomery and Fletcher on the role of Jesus
as Savior
Relation between Situation Ethics and Utilitarianism
Definitions of 'Love', 'Justice' and relativity
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