Explain and critically evaluate the ethical theory of relativism. First, briefly explain the theory in your own words. Then spend most of your response evaluating the theory. Discuss objections to the theory, and tell me your opinion on whether you think it's a good or bad theory. Be sure to defend your opinion with reasons.
This assignment is potentially worth the value of a reading response (up to 50 points).Explain and evaluate your thoughts on God now that we've gone through the philosophy of religion section of the course. In particular, focus on any changes in your thoughts. Have you changed your beliefs about God? Have you changed your reasons for your beliefs? Why or why not? Ultimately, do you think doing philosophy is a useful method in exploring this topic? Why or why not?
Explain your thoughts about God. Do you believe there is a God? If so, what kind of God or Gods? Do you believe that there is no God? Do you not believe one way or the other? Also, explain why you believe whatever it is you believe about God. What reasons do you have for believing what you believe? Do you think these are good reasons, or bad reasons?The response isn't based on any specific reading from the textbook. Instead, it's more of a chance for you to think about your own opinion before we discuss God stuff in class over the next several weeks. You won't be graded on your opinion. You'll be graded on how well you EXPLAIN and EVALUATE your reasons for your opinion.
Reading Response #1 is due at the beginning of class on Wednesday, 6th or Thursday, February 7th, depending on which section you're in. In a 250- to 500-word essay response, answer the following question:
What does Descartes say he cannot be certain of? What does Descartes say he can be certain of? What are his arguments for this? Do you agree with Descartes? Why or why not?The response is based on the Descartes reading from pages 58-71 of the textbook.
We've been forced into using the 4th edition of the textbook. Here's a revised schedule with the correct page numbers for the 4th edition. Changes from the old schedule are in bold.
January 30
-Epistemology | Descartes vs. Skepticism (pages 50-53; 58-71)
-Epistemology | Descartes vs. Skepticism (pages 50-53; 58-71)
February 6
-Epistemology | Rationalism: Plato (pages 71—82)
-Epistemology | Empiricism: Locke (pages 88—96)
(Reading Response #1 due)
February 13
-Epistemology | Empiricism: Hume (pages 104—113)
-QUIZ; Epistemology | Hume Wrap-up
February 20
-Does God Exist? | Aquinas & The Cosmological Arg (pages 321—332)
-Does God Exist? | Taylor & The Cosmological Argument (pages 333—338)
February 27
-Does God Exist? | Ontological Argument (pages 347—352)
-Does God Exist? | Paley & The Design Argument (pages 338—341)
(Reading Response #2 due)
March 5
SPRING BREAK! (woo?)
March 12
-Does God Exist? | Hume & The Design Argument (pages 342—347)
-Does God Exist? | Problem of Evil Intro & Review for Midterm (pages 366—370)
March 19
-MIDTERM
-Does God Exist? | Hick & The Problem of Evil (pages 370—382)
March 26
-Faith & Reason | Pascal (pages 352—357)
-Intro to Ethics | Plato (pages 396—409)
(Reading Response #3 due)
April 2
-Ethical Relativism | Herodotus & Benedict (pages 411—423)
-Utilitarianism | Intro (pages 450—454) & Mill (pages 457—462)
April 9
-Utilitarianism | Norcross (pages 462—468)
-Deontological Ethics | Kant (pages 468-482)
(Reading Response #4 due)
April 16
-Virtue Ethics | Intro (pages 486—494) & Aristotle (pages 495—500)
-Virtue Ethics Wrap-up
April 23
-Final Exam Review
April 30
FINAL EXAM
So why does this course have a blog? Well, why is anything anything?
A blog (short for “web log”) is a website that works like a journal – users write posts that are sorted by date based on when they were written. You can find important course information (like assignments, due dates, reading schedules, etc.) on the blog. I’ll also be updating the blog throughout the semester, posting interesting items related to the stuff we’re currently discussing in class. I used a blog for this course last semester, and it seemed helpful. Hopefully it can benefit our course, too.
Since I’ll be updating the blog a lot throughout the semester, you should check it frequently. There are, however, some convenient ways to do this without simply going to the blog each day. The best way to do this is by getting an email subscription, so any new blog post I write automatically gets emailed to you. (You can also subscribe to the rss feed, if you know what that means.) To get an email subscription:
1. Go to http://ccclogic08.blogspot.com.
2. At the main page, enter your email address at the top of the right column (under “EMAIL SUBSCRIPTION: Enter your Email”) and click the "Subscribe me!" button.
3. This will take you to a new page. Follow the directions under #2, where it says “To help stop spam, please type the text here that you see in the image below. Visually impaired or blind users should contact support by email.” Once you type the text, click the "Subscribe me!" button again.
4. You'll then get an email regarding the blog subscription. (Check your spam folder if you haven’t received an email after a day.) You have to confirm your registration. Do so by clicking on the "Click here to activate your account" link in the email you receive.
5. This will bring you to a page that says "Your subscription is confirmed!" Now you're subscribed.
If you are unsure whether you've subscribed, ask me (609-980-8367; slandis@camdencc.edu). I can check who's subscribed and who hasn't.
January 17
-Check. Check One. Sibilance (intro to class; no reading)
-Doing Philosophy (no reading)
January 24
-Some Logic | Deductive Arguments (pages 37—45)
-Some Logic | Inductive & Abductive Arguments (pages 4—11)
January 31
-Epistemology | Descartes vs. Skepticism (pages 50-53; 58-71)
-Epistemology | Descartes vs. Skepticism (pages 50-53; 58-71)
February 7
-Epistemology | Rationalism: Plato (pages 71—82)
-Epistemology | Empiricism: Locke (pages 88—96)
(Reading Response #1 due)
February 14
-Epistemology | Empiricism: Hume (pages 104—113)
-QUIZ; Epistemology | Hume Wrap-up
February 21
-Does God Exist? | Aquinas & The Cosmological Arg (pages 306—316)
-Does God Exist? | Taylor & The Cosmological Argument (pages 317—322)
February 28
-Does God Exist? | Ontological Argument (pages 337—342)
-Does God Exist? | Paley & The Design Argument (pages 322—325)
(Reading Response #2 due)
March 6
SPRING BREAK! (woo?)
March 13
-Does God Exist? | Hume & The Design Argument (pages 326—337)
-Does God Exist? | Problem of Evil Intro & Review for Midterm (pages 356—360)
March 20
-MIDTERM
-Does God Exist? | Hick & The Problem of Evil (pages 360—372)
March 27
-Faith & Reason | Pascal (pages 342—347)
-Intro to Ethics | Plato (pages 400—402 & 408—415)
(Reading Response #3 due)
April 3
-Ethical Relativism | Herodotus & Benedict (pages 415—427)
-Utilitarianism | Intro (pages 454—458) & Mill (pages 461—466)
April 10
-Utilitarianism | Norcross (pages 466—472)
-Deontological Ethics | Kant (pages 472-484)
(Reading Response #4 due)
April 17
-Virtue Ethics | Intro (pages 490—498) & Aristotle (pages 490—504)
-Virtue Ethics Wrap-up
April 24
-Final Exam Review
May 1
FINAL EXAM
