Academic Catalog

PHIL 8: ETHICS

Foothill College Course Outline of Record

Foothill College Course Outline of Record
Heading Value
Effective Term: Summer 2022
Units: 5
Hours: 5 lecture per week (60 total per quarter)
Degree & Credit Status: Degree-Applicable Credit Course
Foothill GE: Non-GE
Transferable: CSU/UC
Grade Type: Letter Grade (Request for Pass/No Pass)
Repeatability: Not Repeatable

Student Learning Outcomes

  • Identify and explain major ethical theories.
  • Analyze and evaluate ethical arguments regarding contemporary social issues.

Description

Analysis and application of competing conceptions of the good. Course focuses on ethical theory (utilitarianism, duty-oriented ethics, virtue ethics, egoism, relativism, etc.) and various topics in applied ethics.

Course Objectives

The student will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate understanding and evaluate a variety of ethical theories.
  2. Analyze the underlying logical principles of each theory.
  3. Demonstrate understanding of the relationship between ethics and other branches of philosophy. Particularly, the implications of metaphysical concepts on ethics as well as the implications of ethics upon political theory.
  4. Apply ethical principles to contemporary social, political, economic, cultural and scientific concerns.
  5. Evaluate arguments for and against positions in applied ethics.

Course Content

  1. Ethical theory
    1. Consequentialist and non-consequentialist theory
      1. Egoism
      2. Utilitarian theories of Bentham and Mill
      3. Kantian deontological theory
      4. Aristotelian virtue theory
      5. Feminist theory
    2. Relativism and its complications
  2. Issues in applied ethics
    1. Abortion
    2. Euthanasia
    3. World hunger
    4. Animal rights
    5. Environmental ethics
    6. Pornography
    7. Same-sex rights (e.g., gay marriage)
    8. Death penalty
    9. Affirmative action
    10. Corporate responsibility
      1. International labor practices
      2. Downsizing
      3. Manipulative advertising

Lab Content

Not applicable.

Special Facilities and/or Equipment

When taught as an online distance learning section, students and faculty need ongoing and continuous internet and email access.

Method(s) of Evaluation

Methods of Evaluation may include but are not limited to the following:

Quizzes
Argumentative essays
Essay and short answer exams
Class discussion

Method(s) of Instruction

Methods of Instruction may include but are not limited to the following:

Lecture
Discussion
Cooperative learning exercises

Representative Text(s) and Other Materials

Thiroux, Jacques. Ethics in Theory and Practice, Updated 11th ed.. 2017.

Shafer-Landau, Russ. Living Ethics: An Introduction with Readings, 2nd ed.. 2021.

Boss, Judith. Analyzing Moral Issues, 7th ed.. 2020.

Types and/or Examples of Required Reading, Writing, and Outside of Class Assignments

  1. Primary and secondary literature on ethical theory and applied ethics
  2. Written analysis of readings and response to study questions
  3. Application of ethical theory to current events of ethical concern
  4. Argumentative essays regarding major ethical problems

Discipline(s)

Philosophy