lnLroducuon Lo LLhlcs

hllosophy A11
rofessor !ulla nefsky
1
1oday
1) lnLroducuon and Course Cvervlew
2) 1he Syllabus


!"#$: l wlll be posung Lhe slldes on 8lackboard.
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lnLroducuon Lo LLhlcs

LLhlcs = Lhe phllosophlcal sLudy of morallLy.
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Lxample of a Moral Cuesuon
My moLher has been havlng memory lssues for a number
of years. Per neurologlsL has been Lelllng her lL ls 'mlld
demenua.' Per cognluve lmpalrmenL and memory loss have
worsened, and l recenLly meL Lhe neurologlsL wlLhouL her.
Pe Lold me LhaL she has Alzhelmer's. Pe felL we should noL
yeL Lell my moLher, as LhaL dlagnosls has been her greaLesL
fear and lL would be Loo devasLaung [.] l am
uncomforLable keeplng Lhls Lerrlble secreL. ls lL beuer Lo
Lell a loved one of Lhe prognosls Lhey fear, or ls lL more
eLhlcal Lo leL Lhem llve ln hopes LhaL Lhey have escaped lL?"
- name WlLhheld (!%& ()*+ #,-%., !une 22, 2012)
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More Lxamples
ls lL okay Lo spend my money on whaLever l wanL? WhaL lf
money LhaL l would llke Lo spend on a new compuLer or new
cloLhes could be used Lo ald Lo people llvlng ln poverLy?

ls LuLhanasla morally permlsslble?

ls sLeallng always morally wrong, or ls lL someumes
permlsslble Lo sLeal?

ls lL ever permlsslble Lo LorLure someone? WhaL lf Lhe only
way Lo save a hundred people from deaLh ls Lo LorLure one
lnnocenL person?

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unlL 1: Moral 1heorles
1wo lnuenual auempLs Lo glve a sysLemauc
answer Lo moral quesuons:

1) uullLarlanlsm
2) kanuanlsm

Mora| theor|es: auempL Lo explaln, aL Lhe mosL
general and fundamenLal level, whaL dlerenuaLes
rlghL acuons from wrong acuons.

6
Accordlng Lo uullLarlanlsm:
- WheLher an acL ls rlghL or wrong depends on lLs
/)0.%12%0/%.3
- speclcally, on how much pleasure and paln lL
produces.

Accordlng Lo kanuanlsm:

- WheLher an acL ls rlghL or wrong depends on Lhe
+,04 )5 6/7 7867 ,7 ,.3
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1he Alzhelmer's Case
1he uullLarlan:

- Whlch course of acuon would resulL ln 9%..
paln and suerlng?

- Wlll Lhe moLher, and oLhers lnvolved, be
happler overall lf she doesn'L know Lhe LruLh?
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1he Alzhelmer's Case
1he kanuan:

- 1he quesuon ,.0:7 whaL wlll make her and
oLhers happler.

- noL Lelllng Lhe LruLh could be wrong because
lL does noL LreaL her wlLh Lhe *%.;%/7 she
deserves.
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unlL 1: Moral 1heorles
1wo lnuenual auempLs Lo glve a sysLemauc
answer Lo moral quesuons:

1) uullLarlanlsm
2) kanuanlsm

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1he mora| theor|es from Un|t 1 auempL Lo Lell
us whaL ls rlghL and whaL ls wrong, and why.

8ut you m|ght wonder:
- Are Lhere any such LruLhs? Are Lhere ob[ecuve
answers Lo moral quesuons?
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unlL 2: Skepucal Challenges Lo
MorallLy
lsn'L whaL ls rlghL and wrong relauve Lo one's
culLure?
lsn'L morallLy [usL a mauer of personal
oplnlon?
Clven a sclenuc plcLure of Lhe world, how
could Lhere be such a Lhlng as rlghL and
wrong?
Can Lhere be morallLy wlLhouL Cod?
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unlL 3: Moral lssues
1hree conLemporary moral lssues:

1) Aboruon

2) Clobal overLy

3) 1he 1reaLmenL of Anlmals (eaung meaL,
blomedlcal research)

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PL A11 lnlC
Lectures: 1uesday, 1hursday 11-12 ln AC 223

1utor|a|s: one hour a week, beglnnlng nexL
week (Lhe week of !anuary 13)

1he 1err|hc 1As:
!essy Clroux, uan Pooley, !osh Mlldenberger,
arlsa Moosavl, LLye SLelnberg, !ohanna 1homa
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Course Webpage -
hups://porLal.uLoronLo.ca
W|nter-2014-nLA11n3-S-LLC01: Introducnon to Lth|cs

1here you wlll nd:
- 1he sy||abus - whlch has Lhe readlng
schedule, due daLes,.
- Lecture s||des
- Important announcements
- 1he ass|gnments . and more
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8ooks
(1) 1he hllosophy A11 2014 Coursepack.

(2) WhaLever <6;;%0%4 7) =))4 604 $>,9, 8uss
Shafer-Landau.

8oLh books wlll be avallable aL Lhe u1SC Campus
8ooksLore.
- 1he Coursepack w||| be there by th|s 1hursday
or Ir|day.

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1he 8eadlngs
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lmporLanL AnnouncemenL
!" $%&'' ()*' +),-'.&/: l wlll be ouL of Lown aL
Lhe Arlzona Workshop ln normauve LLhlcs.

Cn 1uesday Ianuary 14:
- ArgumenLs and Pow Lo LvaluaLe 1hem

Ior 1hursday Ianuary 16:
- 8ead Mlll, ln uefense of uullLarlanlsm"
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Lmalls should go Lo:
eth|cs|ntroa11Qgma||.com

- Lmalls should be senL from your u of 1
accounL.

- Lmalls wlll be answered by LLye SLelnberg or
myself, or wlll be forwarded Lo your 1A.

- We wlll generally answer wlLhln 48 hours.

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Lmalls
We wlll not answer emalls lf:

1) 1he relevanL lnformauon ls avallable on Lhe
course webpage or ln Lhe syllabus.

2) lL ls a subsLanuve phllosophlcal quesuon -
Lhese should be asked ln omce hours and
LuLorlals.
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My Cmce Pours
1hursday 12-2pm and by appolnLmenL
ln C 102 (hllosophy Pall") koom #11S.


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8e ConslderaLe ln Class
- No Chamng!

- 1urn your cell phone )?.
- Arrlve on ume. lf you musL arrlve laLe, enLer
as quleLly as posslble.

- uo noL leave unul class ls over. lf you musL
leave early, be as quleL and undlsrupuve as
posslble.
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A Sllde abouL Slldes
- Slldes wlll usually be posLed on 8lackboard by
10am Lhe day of Lhe lecLure.

- 1he slldes wlll conLaln only Lhe bare bones of
whaL l am golng Lo dlscuss ln lecLure.

- 1o do well ln Lhls course, lL ls cruclal Lo auend
Lhe lecLures.
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Lvaluauon

aper #1 (300-730 words) 13 .... uue lebruary 4

M|dterm (43 mlnuLes): 20 .......... March 6

aper #2 (1000-1200 words): 23 .... uue Aprll 1

1utor|a| Auendance and arnc|panon: 10

I|na| Lxam: 30 ...............uaLe 18A
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LaLe apers
LaLe papers wlll noL be accepLed, unless:

(a) prlor arrangemenLs have been made wlLh
your 1A for an exLenslon, or

(b) Lhere ls a medlcal or famlly emergency (ln
whlch case documenLauon may be requlred).
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LxLenslons
|an ahead:

?ou may requesL exLenslons from your 1A up
unn| 48 hours before papers are due.

Aer LhaL, exLenslons wlll be granLed only for
lllness or famlly emergencles.

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Academlc lnLegrlLy
|ag|ar|sm and cheanng w||| not be to|erated.

lgnorance ls 0)7 an excuse.

lL ls your responslblllLy Lo know whaL consuLuLes
plaglarlsm, and how Lo properly clLe Lhe sources
LhaL you use.

lor helpful lnfo see:
hup://www.uLoronLo.ca/academlclnLegrlLy/
resourcesforsLudenLs.hLml
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LxcellenL 8esources on Campus
1he Academ|c Adv|s|ng and Career Centre:
Academlc 8esource CenLre, 8oom 213
hup://[oomla.uLsc.uLoronLo.ca/aaccweb/

1he Wr|nng Centre:
Academlc 8esource CenLre, 8oom 210
hups://cLl.uLsc.uLoronLo.ca/Lwc/
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CopyrlghL
- lf a sLudenL wlshes Lo record or oLherwlse
reproduce lecLure presenLauons, he or she
musL obLaln Lhe |nstructor's wr|uen consent
beforehand.

- CLherwlse all such reproducuon ls an
lnfrlngemenL of copyrlghL.
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Access@A,9,7B
lf you have a dlsablllLy or healLh conslderauon
LhaL may requlre accommodauons, please feel
free Lo approach me and/or Lhe Access@A,9,7B
Servlces Cmce as soon as posslble.

Locauon: S302
hone: (416)287-7360
Lmall: ablllLy[uLsc.uLoronLo.ca
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nexL Class
!" $%&'' ()*' +),-'.&/: l wlll be ouL of Lown aL
Lhe Arlzona Workshop ln normauve LLhlcs.

Cn 1uesday Ianuary 14:
- ArgumenLs and Pow Lo LvaluaLe 1hem
Ior 1hursday Ianuary 16:
- 8ead Mlll, ln uefense of uullLarlanlsm"
31