Descriptions for ETHS 390 - Spring 2019
ETHS 390-01A: Democracy, Freedom & Equality
Charles Wright
We will first study the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, a major philosophical source for the institutional order and political culture of the United States. Then we turn to Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution, a contemporary inquiry into the historical uniqueness of the United States’ constitution, when compared with the many republican constitutions in history, which also shows how growing economic inequality in the U.S. threatens to destabilize the institutional order of the U.S. We then shift from heavy duty political history and theory to contemporary analyses of the role that gender, class and racial inequality play in the political and economic order of the U.S. In Reshaping the Work-Family Debate, legal scholar Joan Williams examines how gendered workplace norms harm both men’s and women’s well-being. Strangers in their Own Land, by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, explores how conservative working-class white people now feel themselves to be excluded from the American mainstream. And theologian Eddie Glaude Jr., in his book Democracy in Black, reflects on how racial disparities still distort American political culture.
ETHS 390-02A: Democracy, Freedom & Equality
Charles Wright
We will first study the Second Treatise of Government by John Locke, a major philosophical source for the institutional order and political culture of the United States. Then we turn to Crisis of the Middle Class Constitution, a contemporary inquiry into the historical uniqueness of the United States’ constitution, when compared with the many republican constitutions in history, which also shows how growing economic inequality in the U.S. threatens to destabilize the institutional order of the U.S. We then shift from heavy duty political history and theory to contemporary analyses of the role that gender, class and racial inequality play in the political and economic order of the U.S. In Reshaping the Work-Family Debate, legal scholar Joan Williams examines how gendered workplace norms harm both men’s and women’s well-being. Strangers in their Own Land, by sociologist Arlie Hochschild, explores how conservative working-class white people now feel themselves to be excluded from the American mainstream. And theologian Eddie Glaude Jr., in his book Democracy in Black, reflects on how racial disparities still distort American political culture.
ETHS 390-03A: Happiness Is.....
Rodger Narloch
When people are asked what they want in life, a common response is that they just want to be happy. But what is happiness and how do we attain it? In this course, we will discuss a variety of different perspectives on these questions. We will address what self-focused happiness might look like, but then transition to questions of how an individual's happiness relates to the happiness of others (and which others?). Furthermore, we will discuss what it means to be morally good and the extent to which being good is a necessary component in being happy. Finally, we will think about the nature of choices and decision making, especially as they relate to the formation of one's identity and vocation or path in life. Ultimately, students will have to propose their own educated model or theory of happiness and articulate its implications for how they plan to live their lives. These topics will be covered through extensive class discussion based on significant amounts of writing in response to readings from philosophical, psychological, as well as Catholic and Benedictine perspectives.
ETHS 390-04A: Happiness Is.....
Rodger Narloch
When people are asked what they want in life, a common response is that they just want to be happy. But what is happiness and how do we attain it? In this course, we will discuss a variety of different perspectives on these questions. We will address what self-focused happiness might look like, but then transition to questions of how an individual's happiness relates to the happiness of others (and which others?). Furthermore, we will discuss what it means to be morally good and the extent to which being good is a necessary component in being happy. Finally, we will think about the nature of choices and decision making, especially as they relate to the formation of one's identity and vocation or path in life. Ultimately, students will have to propose their own educated model or theory of happiness and articulate its implications for how they plan to live their lives. These topics will be covered through extensive class discussion based on significant amounts of writing in response to readings from philosophical, psychological, as well as Catholic and Benedictine perspectives.
ETHS 390-05A: 20th Century Political Thought
James Read
Examination of political thought throughout the turbulent 20th century, with special attention to writers who theorize about justice and the struggle to achieve it. Topics covered may include: just and unjust wars, imperialism, economic justice, justice in relations between men and women and between members of different racial and ethnic groups. A careful study of the ideas of the 20th century will prepare students to face the new challenges of the 21st century. Prerequisite: 221, equivalent, or consent of instructor.
ETHS 390-06A: Contemporary Moral Problems: Lies, Sex, and Work
Kari-Shane Zimmerman
This course attends to contemporary moral problems in the following areas: lies, sex, and work. In exploring these “problem areas” of morality, it also seeks to attend to connections between them and to question whether allowing problems to drive our moral reflection is the best approach when attempting to make good moral judgments. In addition, the course will attend to the relationship between persons, virtues, and acts and between areas of morality typically considered “personal” and those considered to be “social.” The approach will be interdisciplinary, but we will accent Christian ethical approaches in the areas of lying, work, and sexuality. Also, additional course goals include (but are not limited to) enhancing students’ ability to read texts closely, both critically and charitably, as well as improving students’ ability to express themselves both orally and in writing.
ETHS 390-07A: Visions of the Good Life
Stephen Wagner
This course will look at some of the most prominent moral views in th e tradition of western philosophical thought. Our goal will be to consider whether these views provide adequate guides for living a good life. We will look at aspects of the moral theories of Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Hobbes, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Albert Camus. We will also investigate a number of views which claim to offer variations or alternative to these classical models, such as feminist thought and virtue ethics. We will use a number of literary texts in our attempt to gain moral insight, reading The Stranger, The Immoralist, The Remains of the Day, Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Plague. As we consider whether we can find guidance for our own lives in these readings, our focus throughout will be to develop in ourselves the ability to make good moral judgments.
ETHS 390-08A: Others
Anthony Cunningham
We share our lives by both necessity and design with others. Born utterly dependent, we rely entirely upon the care and kindness of others for our very survival. Even when we no longer depend upon others to feed, clothe, and protect us, we must figure out what sorts of responsibilities we bear to others and what responsibilities they have to us. Some people may seem relatively distant, bound to us only in the basic sense that we share in some common humanity. Others can seem so important to us that we might not wish to go on without them. In this course we'll examine the responsibilities we bear to each other in various respects-as human beings, as friends, as family, as brothers and sisters in common causes. We'll also look at the ways in which people turn their backs on others and misuse them in cruel and oppressive ways. Using sources drawn from philosophy, literature, history, memoir, and the social sciences, we'll put our minds to what we owe others and what others owe us.
ETHS 390-09A: Others
Anthony Cunningham
We share our lives by both necessity and design with others. Born utterly dependent, we rely entirely upon the care and kindness of others for our very survival. Even when we no longer depend upon others to feed, clothe, and protect us, we must figure out what sorts of responsibilities we bear to others and what responsibilities they have to us. Some people may seem relatively distant, bound to us only in the basic sense that we share in some common humanity. Others can seem so important to us that we might not wish to go on without them. In this course we'll examine the responsibilities we bear to each other in various respects-as human beings, as friends, as family, as brothers and sisters in common causes. We'll also look at the ways in which people turn their backs on others and misuse them in cruel and oppressive ways. Using sources drawn from philosophy, literature, history, memoir, and the social sciences, we'll put our minds to what we owe others and what others owe us.
ETHS 390-10A: Building Fences? Understanding War Refugees, Immigration and National Identity
Marina Martin
This course discusses immigration through the ethical problems it raises and the various forms of social tragedies and moral abuses that come with it in modern society. Thousands of immigrants lose their lives when trying to reach their destiny abroad. Do all people have a right to emigrate? Is the identity and safety of a given nation threatened by the flow of immigrants? Should nations adopt John Lennon's dream "Imagine all the people sharing all the world?" Students will be exposed to a selection of readings, films and documentaries dealing with moral issues raised by cultural and ethnic differences.
ETHS 390-11A: Reading for Life
Anthony Cunningham
Everyone loves a good story. Great stories can provide us with far more than mere recreation. Stories can provide us with rich character portraits that can reveal the subtleties and nuances of what it means to live well and responsibly. In this course we’ll use novels and films to address Socrates’ most basic ethical questions, “How should one live?” and “What sort of person should I be?” We’ll do so by attending to all the concrete, particular details of real life and fictional characters thoroughly embroiled in the “business of living.” Reading well offers the possibility of vicarious experience and ultimately, ethical insight. Our readings will include: The Crucible (Arthur Miller); The Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro); Beloved (Toni Morrison); How To Be Good (Nick Hornby); Glengarry Glen Ross (David Mamet); Cold Mountain (Charles Frazier); A Constellation of Vital Phenomena (Anthony Marra)
ETHS 390-12A: Sex, Death & Ethics
Scott Johnson
Most students enjoy talking about sex (outside of class), haven't thought much yet about death, and are rather upset that a course on ethics is even required. Since the first seems amusing and the second far away, this class might seem like a pleasant way to satisfy an onerous requirement. So admit it, you just read this description because of the title. And you think since it meets once a week on a Wednesday night, it shouldn't interfere too much with the rest of your week. Be warned, however, this is a real class with difficult readings as well as a final paper graded on both style and content. It requires regular attendance, active participation, and weekly reflection on the reading.
This course will consider Sex, Death, and Ethics, consistent with the guidelines for Ethics Common Seminar. Abortion is only one area where the three interrelate. But isn't there really only one answer to the question of abortion? Why should a pro-choice president be allowed to speak at a pro-life university? Can abortion be discussed at the dinner table or in a classroom without parents becoming worried and suspicious? If we don't talk about abortion somewhere, how will we know that our moral judgments are consciously elected and defensibly maintained? And if we can't talk about this subject, how can we claim to account for a variety of other moral views which easily compare with ours on abortion?
There is more to Sex, Death, and Ethics than simply abortion. We will investigate euthanasia, AIDS, stripping, prostitution, and promiscuity. We will read plays as well as textbooks, memoirs, and some short fiction. You will need to watch several films outside of class. We will ask more questions that we will answer, but we will also develop our critical thinking skills with essentially contested concepts. There are no preconceived answers to the questions we will ask. Our task, properly stated, is to learn how to ask and assess those questions which may turn out to have uncertain answers. Ethics is the study of how we should live, and questions about these topics are vitally important. This is a difficult class that will repay your investment.
HONR 390B-01A: Justice in the 21st Century
Daniel Finn
Few issues are as fundamental to human life as justice: everyone is in favor of it. Yet few issues are as controversial: justice has widely divergent meanings for different people. This course will examine in detail five rival understandings of justice prevalent in debates today. Students will read two novels, and five philosophical or theological treatments of the notion of justice in our joint efforts to come to grips with what justice means in our lives: personally and on a national and global scale. Like every Ethics Common Seminar, the goal of this course is to improve each student's ability to make good moral judgments.
PHIL 321-01A: Moral Philosophy
Erica Stonestreet
The meaning of rights and responsibilities, virtues and vices, values and obligations. Questions of good and evil, right and wrong, freedom and determinism. Natural law, utilitarianism and other systematic theories of morally right behavior.
PHIL 321-02A: Moral Philosophy
Erica Stonestreet
The meaning of rights and responsibilities, virtues and vices, values and obligations. Questions of good and evil, right and wrong, freedom and determinism. Natural law, utilitarianism and other systematic theories of morally right behavior.
PHIL 325-01A: Feminist Ethics
Jean Keller
This course will examine how women's experiences and philosophical reflection on those experiences offer important and necessary perspectives in the field of moral and ethical thinking. Topics may include the nature of feminism, freedom and oppression; the role of care, trust, autonomy, reason and emotion in the moral life, and a consideration of how feminism has come to challenge basic premises and conceptual tools of traditional, western approaches to ethics and moral reasoning. The course will also explore social/ethical issues stemming from the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, culture, class, and/or sexuality.
PHIL 325-02A: Feminist Ethics
Jean Keller
This course will examine how women's experiences and philosophical reflection on those experiences offer important and necessary perspectives in the field of moral and ethical thinking. Topics may include the nature of feminism, freedom and oppression; the role of care, trust, autonomy, reason and emotion in the moral life, and a consideration of how feminism has come to challenge basic premises and conceptual tools of traditional, western approaches to ethics and moral reasoning. The course will also explore social/ethical issues stemming from the intersection of gender with race, ethnicity, culture, class, and/or sexuality.