The Good Life: Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems M/W 1:302:45 pm Fall Semester Instructor: Christopher J.

Dowdy E-mail: xxxx@xxx.edu Office phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx Office hours: Caf in Student Center, Tuesdays 10 am12 pm. Other hours by appointment in my office.

Outline of Syllabus I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. Description Objectives Procedures Texts Assignments Policies Calendar

I. Course Description This class introduces students to traditions of reflection on the good life. We will use classic texts and contemporary sources to distinguish among Christian approaches and other accounts, noting important connections while highlighting tensions. You will employ interpretive skill and argument, connecting primary sources, richly descriptive literary accounts, and contemporary essays. These encounters will require you to think through diverse perspectives and to make persuasive arguments about the ingredients of a good life, connecting them to contemporary moral dilemmas. II. Course Objectives In completing the reading, writing, oral arguments, and research required in this course, each of you will demonstrate two abilities. First, through regular writing and especially your midterm, you will be able to articulate the basic tensions among Christian approaches to the moral life and other accounts. These differences, as we shall see, are manifest in competing visions of the individual good, the common good, and objective moral claims; they also emerge from questions of justice and the social dimension of human existence generally. Second, through student-led discussions and in your final, individual project, you will demonstrate your understanding of the practical implications of these basic approaches by making an informed argument about a contemporary issue of moral concern. III. Course Procedures The course meets Mondays and Wednesdays. Our meetings will involve discussion of assigned texts, student presentations, and occasional instructor lectures. In addition, I will be available for conference and consultations outside of class. I will hold office/free discussion hours the Student Center Cafe on Tuesdays from 10:00-12:00. The best way to contact me is through email.

IV. Texts Required Texts 1. Youme Landowne, Pitch Black 2. Online Course Material: Blackboard 3. Online Course Material: Link feed(s) Almost all of the readings for our class will be posted on Blackboard. Log on to Blackboard to check your access to the class today. If you do not have access to Blackboard let me know immediately. In addition to the readings posted on Blackboard, we will endeavor to call one another s attention to relevant materials (articles, videos, etc.) as they emerge in the news, on campus, and so on. This is a way of directing each other to important sites of ethical reflectionor, at least, sites where ethical reflection is badly needed. You may write reflections on this material for extra credit. This material should also be of interest to you in terms of what topic you choose for your final research project. Keep track of these developments, and contribute your own, by liking/subscribing to the Facebook page for the course and/or the Twitter feed for the course. Recommended Texts 1. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, ed., trans. David Ross and Lesley Brown (Oxford University Press, 2009). 2. Augustine, The City of God Against the Pagans, ed., trans. R.W. Dyson (Cambridge University Press, 1998). 3. Robin Lovin, An Introduction to Christian Ethics: Goals, Rules, Virtues (Cambridge University Press, 2011). The Aristotle and Augustine texts are not required, but we will return to them frequently in the course of our discussion. You also may find them useful in crafting your research project. The Lovin book is an overview of ethics and moral theology. It contains an historical introduction not only to the ethical discussion of virtues, goals, and rules, but also to diverse moral and theological visions within the Christian traditions. V. Assignments Participation Student Forum Midterm Essay Final Exam Research Project 15% 15% 20% 20% 30%

Participation: Weekly Response and Class Discussion. The success of our class depends on your thoughtful engagement with the topics at hand. By 3:00 Friday every week, you will be expected to post a new reflection in the designated area of Blackboard, 250-350 words in length. These posts must meaningfully engage the weeks readings or class discussions. They will be visible to your classmates, and interaction with one another is welcome, though not required. Each post will be graded, and I will drop your two lowest

3 scores (you will receive a separate handout with guidelines for this assignment). The responses will constitute the majority of your participation grade (80%). You can obtain extra credit up to the equivalent of five extra response grades if you submit a response on an outside source or experience in the designated section of Blackboard. This might include a number of thingsa text, a news story, an art exhibit, a play or movie, or a personal experience. In any case, you must clear the source or experience with me beforehand to receive extra credit. You may submit extra credit responses until 3:00 PM Friday of the final week of class. In addition to these written responses, you will also be expected to participate in an informed and respectful way in discussions and group work. Early in the semester, we will establish together rules for our class as a community of learning. Failure to adhere to the established rules will adversely affect your participation grade. You will receive a handout with a more detailed explanation of this assignment. Student Forum. The procedure for these group presentations begins when, in the second week of the course, you sign up for one of the topics listed under student forum in the syllabus. You will be sorted into groups based on your choice of topics. Each group will be responsible for presenting a three-page paper, written in collaboration with one another. The group will take a position on the topic listed in the syllabus, making use of the readings. Another group of students will be designated respondents. The presenting paper will be distributed to the class at least 48 hours in advance of our session. The respondent group will deliver a two-page paper critiquing the arguments of the presenters, and suggest three questions for class discussion. Each group will also turn in a hard copy of their paper to me at the beginning of the student forum session. On weeks in which you are responsible for the student forum, you are not required to post a weekly response. You will receive a handout with more detailed explanations of this project. Each student participates twice in these forums, once in a presenter group and once as a respondent. Forum leaders will evaluate one anothers contribution to the group process. Midterm Essay. This exam will be take-home essay of no more than five pages, and will draw on the materials we have read and discussed together. You will complete the midterm in stages, allowing for review, as you can see from course schedule below. Final Exam. The final will consist of a series of short answer questions assessing your understanding of the topics and positions explored in the class. Final Project. The culminating assignment for the course is a research project. Like the midterm, you will complete this project in stages, allowing for revision. I strongly encourage you to select a research topic related to your major or other significant interests. You will submit a proposal and preliminary bibliography for your paper after the midterm. There are two ways to complete this project. - Ethical Analysis. This paper is a 11-13pp research paper in which you adduce evidence in order to support a position on a topic of significant moral concern. Consider your major, your own significant concerns, and your plans for the future when you select your topic. You may

4 use any number of resources as the primary object of your ethical analysisanything from literature, film, or art might raise important issues; you may also treat figures and ideas in legislative, philosophical, or religious contexts more directly if you so choose. - Service Learning. The service learning project is to be undertaken and appropriately documented under the auspices of one of the official offices of the school. You will spend twelve hours in volunteer service to an organization involved in direct service, activism, or advocacy related to some moral issuesuch as groups combating poverty or refugee services. You will also turn in a 5-7 page research paper contextualizing your project and explaining the ethical methodology and theological stance that inform your service, activism, or advocacy. This proposal must be worked out in conversation with me by the fifth week of class. You will receive handouts with more detailed instructions regarding these options. All final projects will be due Friday, Dec. 14, at 3:00 pm. Grading The grades on assignments of this course will be given in either letters or numbers. Numbers will reflect a score out of 100. Letter grades can be converted to numerical grades based on the scale on the right. Each assignment is multiplied by the percentage of its worth and added up to determine the final grade. This is then reconverted to the equivalent letter grade. VI. Policies Grading Scale A 93-100 A90-92 B+ 88-89 B 83-87 B80-82 C+ 78-79 C 73-77 C70-72 D+ 68-69 D 63-67 D60-62 F <60

Students with Learning Disabilities It is the policy of the University is to make reasonable academic accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities. If you are a person with a disability and wish to request accommodations to compete your course requirements, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible to discuss the request. If you would like information on documentation requirements, contact the Office of Learning Support Services at 610-519-5636. It is the student s responsibility to request accommodations. Academic Integrity You are responsible for knowing and abiding by the Code of Academic Integrity. If you have questions regarding aspects of this code, please feel free to discuss them with me. Violation of this code may result in a failing grade for the course depending on the severity of the case; at the very least, violation of the code will result in a failing grade on the assignment and a very significant reduction in your final grade for the course. VI. Course Schedule. Readings are for the day indicated. The syllabus is subject to change at my discretion. Any alterations should be minor, and I will inform you of them in writing and in class. Part I Good Lives, Good Places: Virtue, Law, and Community in Ancient and Medieval Thought

Unit 1: It Helps not to Be UglyWhat do Human Beings Need for a Good Life? Week 1: August 27-31 Mon. Introductions of class material and participants Wed. Plato, Republic: Law and City; selected passages from the Hebrew Bible Week 2: September 3-7 Mon. Labor Day No Meeting Wed. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics: Happiness, Mean, Habit, Polis STUDENT FORUM SIGN-UP Week 3: September 10-14 Mon. Selected passages from the New Testament; excerpt from Wayne Meeks, The Origins of Christian Morality Wed. Augustine, City of God: Virtues, Sin, and the Cities Excerpt from Of the Morals of the Catholic Church, at: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1401.htm Excerpts from City of God Book 11 and 19 Week 4: September 17-21 Mon. Aquinas, Summa: Nature and Virtue Part II Modern Transformations: Emergence of Goals and Rules Unit 2: Human BodiesPassions, Autonomy, Fragility Wed. Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature: Reason Follows the Passions Anne Lamotte, At Death s Window, from Grace (Eventually) Week 5: September 24-28 Mon. Kant, Groundwork for all Future Metaphysics of Morals: Autonomy, Duty, Rules Wed. Mill, Utilitarianism: Suffering, Delight, Utility Week 6: October 1-5 Mon. Student Forum: Killing and Letting Die Readings from Taking Sides: Debates in Bioethics MIDTERM DISTRIBUTED Wed. Student Forum: Hurricane Katrina + Social dimensions of Health Readings from Taking Sides: Debates in Bioethics (Possible alternative: excerpt from Klinengberg, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago) Fri. THESIS PARAGRAPH FOR MIDTERM DUE AT 3:00 Week 7: October 8-12 Mon. FIRST DRAFT OF MIDTERM DUE AT BEGINNING OF CLASS Midterm Discussion: In-class discussion of student papers on the good life and the difference Christianity makes

6 Wed. In-Class Screening: Parts of Documentary film Ghosts of Rwanda (preview: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/) Read: Augustine s Ep. 100, a letter regarding Donatist schism: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102100.htm Read: Aquinas on Just War http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/politics/pg0029.html Fri. FINAL DRAFT OF MIDTERM DUE AT 3:00 PM Week 8: October 15-19 SEMESTER RECESS: CLASS WILL NOT MEET Part III Who Can Narrate This Strife? Contemporary Challenges Unit 3: Social Bodies Destroying and Protecting Week 9: October 22-26 Mon. Moral and Material Burdens of Conflict Screen In Class: portion of documentary Fog of War Read: Excerpt from Elshtain, Women and War Wed. Just War, Pacifism, and the Common Good Read: Excerpt from Martin Luther, On Secular Authority: How far Does Its Authority Extend? Read: Excerpt from Stanley Hoffman, The Ethics and Politics of Humanitarian Intervention Read: William T. Cavanaugh, A Fire Strong Enough to Consume the House. Week 10: October 29-November 2 Mon. Student Forum: Can war be just? Excerpts from Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols and The Genealogy of Morals Reinhold Niebuhr, The Bombing of Germany Wed. Student Forum: Do rights matter? Excerpt from Ignatieff, Human Rights as Politics and Idolatry Excerpt from Rorty, Human Rights, Rationality, and Sentimentality, at http://web1.uct.usm.maine.edu/~bcj/issues/three/rorty.html Unit 4: Perilous Goods Poverty and Wealth Week 11: November 5-9 Mon. Picturing Poverty Read: The Tulsa Race Riot, from Syncopated: Non Fiction Picto-Essays Read: Youme Landowne, Pitch Black Read: Augustine, City of God, Book 5.18 Wed. Excerpts from John Locke, both First Treatise on Government and Second Treatise on Government Week 12: November 12-16 Mon. Excerpts from Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto

7 Wed. Fri. Catholic Social Teaching: Excerpts from Rerum novarum (1891), Populorum progresso (1967), and Mater et magistra (1967) PROPOSAL AND PRELIMINARY BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR FINAL PROJECT DUE AT 3:00 PM

Week 13: November 19-23 Mon. Student Forum: What kind of development is worth pursuing? Excerpt from Martha Nussbaum, Women in Human Development Wed. THANKSGIVING RECESS: CLASS WILL NOT MEET Week 14: November 26-November 30 Mon. Student Forum: Development or Restitution? Excerpt from Alfred Brophy, Reconstructing the Dreamland: The Tulsa Riot of 1921, Race, Reparations, and History (2002); excerpt from Elazar Barkan, The Guilt of Nations. Unit 5: From Contexts to ContextEcology Wed. Reaching Limits Wendell Berry, Faustian Economics Lynn White, Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis Fri. THESIS PARAGRAPH FOR RESEARCH PROJECT DUE AT 3:00 PM Week 15: December 3-December 7 Mon. Environmental Justice 1: Environmental Racism and the Philadelphia Area Cole and Foster, The Political Economy of Environmental Racism: Chester Residents Concerned for Quality of Life, in From the Ground Up: Environmental Racism and the Rise of the Environmental Justice Movement (NYU 2001) Wed. Student Discussion: Environmental Justice 2: Global Dimensions Excerpt from Bill McKibben, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future Excerpt from Jame Schaafer, Reverencing the Sacramental Universe, In Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics: Reconstructing Patristic And Medieval Concepts Week 16: December 10-14 Mon. Student Forum: Justice and non-human animals Excerpt from Peter Singer, Animal Liberation and The Circle of Moral Concern Excerpt from Andrew Linzey, The Moral Priority of the Weak in Animal Theology Wed. Optional Workshop for Projects and Final Exams Fri. FINAL PROJECT DUE AT 3:00 PM