PHIL 301 Ethical Inquiry
What does it mean to be an ethical person? What thinking should guide a person's decisions about doing (or not doing) what is right or wrong? Can we know when something is right or wrong or this only a matter of personal feeling? Do the affluent have moral duties to help the poor of the world with their plight? This course explores these questions and others like them, using a variety of philosophical materials and approaches. It examines major moral theories and related moral dilemmas concerning, for example abortion, economic justice, war and morality, and the moral status of animals. This course also examines ideas about how race, class and gender may affect concepts of ethics.
4 Undergraduate credits
Effective August 1, 1998 to present
Meets graduation requirements for
Learning outcomes
General
- Compare and contrast major moral theories.
- Critically examine cultural and moral relativism.
- Apply the resulting understandings to an analysis of the moral dilemmas inevitable in central social issues such as economic justice, war and morality, and the moral status of animals.
- Assess the role of race, class and gender in various societal stands on these issues. "Use the work of the course to reflect on personal beliefs and attitudes about central social issues and on ways, as a citizen, to act on these beliefs.
- Use the work of the course to reflect on personal beliefs and attitudes about central social issues and on ways, as a citizen, to act on these beliefs
Minnesota Transfer Curriculum
Goal 6: The Humanities and Fine Arts
- Demonstrate awareness of the scope and variety of works in the arts and humanities.
- Understand those works as expressions of individual and human values within a historical and social context.
- Respond critically to works in the arts and humanities.
- Engage in the creative process or interpretive performance.
- Articulate an informed personal reaction to works in the arts and humanities.
Goal 9: Ethical and Civic Responsibility
- Examine, articulate, and apply their own ethical views.
- Understand and apply core concepts (e.g. politics, rights and obligations, justice, liberty) to specific issues.
- Analyze and reflect on the ethical dimensions of legal, social, and scientific issues.
- Recognize the diversity of political motivations and interests of others.
- Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.
Summer 2024
| Section | Title | Instructor | books | eservices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Ethical Inquiry | Jones, David L | Books for PHIL-301-50 Summer 2024 | Course details for PHIL-301-50 Summer 2024 |
Fall 2024
| Section | Title | Instructor | books | eservices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Ethical Inquiry | Jones, David L | Books for PHIL-301-50 Fall 2024 | Course details for PHIL-301-50 Fall 2024 |
Spring 2025
| Section | Title | Instructor | books | eservices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | Ethical Inquiry | Jones, David L | Books for PHIL-301-50 Spring 2025 | Course details for PHIL-301-50 Spring 2025 |