WEEK 1
August 27
Ptah-hotep
— @Fordham
— @sofiatopia with introduction
— more background @infiteloom
August 29
Pyramid Texts
Osirian Revolution
Eloquent Peasant
Negative Confessions / Scroll / Text
Amenemope
WEEK 2
September 3 – Labor Day (no class)
September 5 – WORKSHOP #1. Due at beginning of class: one page presentation of Ethical Criteria covered recently. We will have a workshop activity based on the material.
• Use about three quotations, using MLA style of format and citation (see Purdue OWL for MLA reminders).
• Simply describe in a fair and sympathetic way what the teachings appear to say about ethical life from the point of view of the text. This is not the place to pass judgment on the teachings.
WEEK 3
September 10
Mesopotamia
Hammurabi
Torah
Proverbs
Database Supplement: Kamugisha, Aaron. “Critical Notice: Orientalism, Western Republicanism, And The Ancient Polis: Patricia Springborg’s ‘Western Republicanism And The Origental Prince’ And The Canon Of Political Thought.” Philosophical Forum 38.2 (2007): 173-198. Philosopher’s Index. Web. 1 Sept. 2012.
See also: Jan Assman at Amazon / Marc van de Mieroop /
September 12
Classical China
Confucius
Mencius
Xunxi
Laotzu
Chuangtzu
Zhou Dunyi
Database Supplement: (“Confucian ethics”) Woods, Peter R, and David A Lamond. “What Would Confucius Do? Confucian Ethics And Self-Regulation In Management.” Journal Of Business Ethics 102.4 (2011): 669-683. Philosopher’s Index. Web. 26 Aug. 2012.
Database Supplement: Hobson, John M. The Eastern Origins Of Western Civilisation [Electronic Resource] / John M. Hobson. n.p.: Cambridge, UK ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2004., 2004. Texas State – Alkek Library’s Catalog. Web. 1 Sept. 2012.
WEEK 4
September 17 – WORKSHOP #2. Due at beginning of class: one page development of a Case or Scenario where a contemporary stakeholder is faced with a difficult ethical choice going forward.
• The case may be of a personal nature, family matter, business choice, or public policy at the city, county, state, national, or international level.
• The thing of main importance is that there is some felt tension about what to do involving at least two courses of action.
• Please do not develop children as stakeholders. Let’s explore ethics for adults.
• If your case or scenario involves some set of facts in the contemporary world, provide a citation to an authoritative source for the facts.
September 19
Hinduism (sacred-texts.com)
Gandhi (Gita: kirtimukha.com) / (Hind Swaraj: mkgandhi.org)
WEEK 5
September 24
Buddhism (accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma)
Thich Nhat Hanh (plumvillage.org/mindfulness-trainings) / (Interview with Oprah)
September 26 – WORSHOP #3. Due at the beginning of class. Three paragraphs, or about two pages in MLA format:
1. In paragraph one, present a case or scenario involving a contemporary stakeholder who faces a difficult choice going forward (see guidelines from Workshop #1).
2. In paragraph two, present ethical criteria from some text that we have studied since the last ethical criteria exercise. In this second paragraph do not make any reference to the case that you developed in the first paragraph (see guidelines from Workshop #2).
3. In the third paragraph show how the criteria in paragraph two would guide choice for the stakeholder in paragraph one. This is not the place to introduce new quotes or criteria from the text. Nor is this the place to unveil facts not revealed in the case or scenario. Given the facts in paragraph one, if the stakeholder were to be guided by the criteria in paragraph two, how would the stakeholder choose to act. What would the stakeholder do. If the criteria themselves generate a debate between two alternatives, what would be the best resolution of the debate according to the criteria themselves? In any event, the stakeholder must make a choice going forward, in a way that honors the integrity of the criteria as developed in paragraph two. We’ll call this an application of criteria to case or scenario.
WEEK 6
October 1
Popol Vuh
October 3
Dekanawidah / Iroquois Constitution
Black Elk
DeLoria
WEEK 7
October 8 – WORKSHOP #4. Due: 1-2 page development of case or scenario (no criteria or application required).
October 10
Plato’s Alcibiades
Phaedrus
Symposium
WEEK 8
October 15 – Plato’s Republic (See esp. Bk. IV & VII)
October 17 – WORKSHOP #5. Due: Two paragraphs (1-2 pages) of criteria and application (using cases previously presented). In the title of your paper, please state your purpose. For example: “Applying Amenemope to Contemporary Dating.” In the first full paragraph develop ethical criteria from one of the texts covered since our last criteria exercise. Do not mention anything about the particular case that you have in mind. In the second paragraph remind the reader briefly of some case that we have developed during prior workshops in this class and then apply to that case or scenario the criteria that you have just developed. Please remember this is not the place to introduce new criteria or facts. Just apply the criteria to the case or scenario in order to produce a choice that honors the ethical teaching that you are presenting today.
WEEK 9
October 22
Aristotle’s Ethics
October 24
al-Kindi
Averroes
Maimonides
Aquinas
WEEK 10
October 29 – Zuckerman Talk (no class)
October 31 – WORKSHOP #6. Due: 1-2 page development of case or scenario involving global media (no criteria or application today).
WEEK 11
November 7
Epictetus (law, reason, pleasure)
Aurelius
Kant
WEEK 12
November 12 – WORKSHOP #7. Due: Two paragraphs (1-2 pages) of criteria and application (applying recent texts to cases previously presented). Review guidelines from Workshop #5.
November 14
– Peirce (Fixation of Belief, How to Make Our Ideas Clear, What is a Sign?)
– James (The Will to Believe, Varieties of Religious Experience)
– Dewey (Democracy and Education, Ch. 7)
WEEK 13
November 19
Hobbes (Leviathan Chs. XIII-XVIII)
Locke (Second Treatise of Govt.)
Hegel (Lordship and Bondage)
Rawls
WEEK 14
November 26
Addams
Beauvoir
Anzaldua
Butler
November 28 – October 26 – Workshop #8: Due: 1-2 page development of case or scenario (no criteria or application needed).
WEEK 15
December 3
Rand: Objectivist Ethics (ARI)
Marcuse: Liberation from the Affluent Society (marcuse.org)
December 5
Farmer (Whitaker [1], [2]) / Bio / Papers
Thurman (Jesus)
King (1949-50 psychology) / The Letter
WEEK 16
Due at Instructor’s office MW 5-6, DERR 217
FINAL PAPER of Four pages. (1) case or scenario (2) criteria and application from one recent text (3) criteria and application from any other text this semester, whether recent or not (4) criteria and application from your own view of ethics.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
CourseLinks 