HU4640

Ethics

GRADED ASSIGNMENTS

- 74 - 05/17/2012

Ethics GRADED ASSIGNMENTS

Graded Assignment Requirements

This document includes all of the assignment requirements for the graded assignments in this course. Your instructor will provide the details about when each assignment is due.

Unit 1 Exercise 1: Words in Action Check Your Understanding

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

As a result of this activity, you will improve your ability to discuss ethics by:

§  Applying key concepts of ethical perspectives.

§  Critically examining the key concepts of the nature of morality and how it relates to the discipline of ethics.

Assignment Requirements

In this assignment you will demonstrate your understanding of this week’s ethical vocabulary by completing a 10-question Check Your Understanding quiz. Circle the correct answer for the quiz that starts on the next page and turn that sheet in to your instructor before you leave class.

Required Resources

§  None

Submission Requirements

Turn in the completed Check Your Understanding Sheet to your instructor before you leave class.

Check Your Understanding Name ______

  1. What is the approach to morality that deals with empirical evidence of human behavior and conduct?
  2. Normative approach
  3. Prescriptive approach
  4. Scientific approach
  5. Philosophical approach
  1. What is the approach to morality that deals with norms and standards?
  2. Prescriptive approach
  3. Metaethics
  4. Analytic approach
  5. Religious morality
  1. The approach to morality that deals with the analysis of ethical language and rational foundations of ethical systems is ______.
  2. metaethics
  3. scientific approach
  4. prescriptive approach
  5. social morality
  1. When we speak of something as attractive, homely, beautiful, or ugly, we are using ______rather than ______.
  2. social morality; religious morality
  3. scientific reasoning; religious morality
  4. the Categorical imperative; moral values
  5. aesthetics; moral values
  1. This concept concerns a human being in relation to other humans and is found in more ethical systems than any other.
  2. Confucian ethics
  3. Social morality
  4. Scientific reasoning
  5. Prescriptive ethics
  1. Nancy was born into a culture where women are considered equal to men, while Razia was born into a culture where she is not able to inherit or own property. Neither of these women questions this norm. They are ascribing to ______.
  2. supernatural thought
  3. natural law
  4. customary morality
  5. reflective morality
  1. Mark makes a great deal of effort to please people. He has good manners, he seeks the approval of others, and conforms to the group to which he belongs. According to Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development, Mark is at ______.
  2. the preconventional level, stage 1
  3. the conventional level, stage 2
  4. the conventional level, stage 3
  5. the conventional level, stage 4
  1. Helen is a chief of police in a large metropolis. She has considerable political power and often uses her influence to persuade law makers to change existing laws after she has reflected on the repercussions of current laws. Which stage is she in?
  2. Preconventional, Stage 1
  3. Conventional level, Stage 3
  4. Conventional level, Stage 4
  5. Postconventional, Stage 5
  1. Harry is in a difficult position. He discovers that he made a serious mistake in his accounting at work. He thought his sales division was making a profit, but in fact it is showing a deficit. Harry has found his error, but he also knows he can cover it up for quite a long while. The longer he covers his error, the more likely it will be that the people who work under him will lose their jobs. If he admits his error, he might lose his job, but those who work under him would have a chance to recoup the losses. Harry chooses to admit his mistake and hope for a good outcome when he presents a plan to increase sales and make up the deficit. He is using an argument from ______.
  2. enlightened self-interest
  3. ethical egoism
  4. care ethics
  5. natural law
  6. Which of these means how human beings treat other beings so as to promote mutual welfare, growth, creativity, and meaning?
  7. Immorality
  8. Morality
  9. Amorality
  10. Philosophical morality

Unit 1 Assignment 1: Unit 1 Reading Review

Learning Outcomes

As a result of completing this assignment, you will improve your ability to:

§  Apply key concepts of ethical perspectives.

§  Critically examine the key concepts of the nature of morality and how it relates to the discipline of ethics.

§  Apply ethical perspectives to moral and human problems.

§  Examine contemporary ethical issues and current ethical debates.

Assignment Requirements

There are three homework assignments every week. Assignments 1 and 2 ask you to synthesize and apply what you learned in this unit. The third homework assignment will prepare you to succeed in the next unit. This is a review and synthesis assignment. All homework assignments for Unit 1 are due at the start of class for Unit 2.

Required Resources

§  Thiroux & Krasemann, Chapter 1

§  Class notes

§  MyThinkingLab

§  ITT Tech Virtual Library

Assignment Requirements

Read through the Review Exercises and Discussion Questions on pages 27 and 28. Select one of the questions. You will write a short essay discussing the question and its answer in the form of a letter.

Writing a letter explaining your problem can be the best way to work through a problem. The process of identifying the elements in a problem, laying them out clearly for another person, and asking them for specific and pointed advice forces you to look at the options and issues surrounding the problem. Your letter should be written to your instructor and should be about a page long. You should state the question, provide some background, outline what you see as the main ethical issue(s) or problem(s), and then explain how you would apply your newfound knowledge to answer the question.

You will be graded on your content, your ability to analyze the topic and apply your knowledge, and your ability to follow writing guidelines.

Submission Requirements

Your letter must be written in Microsoft Word, double spaced with 1” margins, using 12-point Times New Roman or 10-point Arial font. This letter must be at least one page long and is due in Unit 2.

Unit 1 Assignment 2: Kohlberg’s Moral Development

Learning Outcomes

As a result of completing this assignment, you will improve your ability to:

§  Apply key concepts of ethical perspectives.

§  Critically examine the key concepts of the nature of morality and how it relates to the discipline of ethics.

§  Apply ethical perspectives to moral and human problems.

§  Examine contemporary ethical issues and current ethical debates.

Assignment Requirements

Write a short paper answering the following prompt:

Analyze the six stages in Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. You are your own case study. Explain your own lifetime passage through the stages. Where are you now? Which stage of Kohlberg’s moral development describes you best? Give concrete examples to support the stage at which you have self-assessed.

You will be graded on: The length and layout of your essay; grammar and writing; the clarity with which you state your ideas and progress from paragraph to paragraph to conclusion; your ability to cover all elements in the writing prompt; and your ability to back up your statements with citations, logic, and other properly cited evidence.

Required Resources

§  Textbook

§  Class notes

§  MyThinkingLab

§  ITT Tech Virtual Library

Submission Requirements

Your paper must be written in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman or 10-point Arial and 1” margins. This paper must be 1½ to 2 pages long and is due at the start of class for Unit 2.

Unit 1 Assignment 3: Preparing for Unit 2

As a result of completing this assignment, you will improve your ability to:

§  Compare and contrast paradigms of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Compare and contrast key differences between nonconsequentialist theories of morality, and present these differences verbally.

§  Make an oral and visual presentation of research findings on a topic related to ethics.

§  Identify key concepts of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Summarize the meaning of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Articulate how psychological egoism, ethical egoism, and utilitarianism differ.

§  Relate, apply, and analyze intuitionism to personal experiences.

§  Apply care ethics to arrive at an ethical decision.

Assignment Requirements

There are two homework assignments every week. The review will let you synthesize and apply what you learned in this unit. The second homework will prepare you to succeed in the next unit. This is the preparation assignment. All homework assignments for Unit 1 are due at the start of class for Unit 2.

1.  Unit 2 Reading

Read the following items:

§  Thiroux & Krasemann, Chapters 2 and 3. Note that this reading is in the textbook. It is also available with audio in MyThinkingLab.

§  MyThinkingLab>Chapters>Ch 02>Profiles AND Ch 03>Profiles

o  Ayn Rand (1 screen)

o  Jeremy Bentham (9 screens)

o  Immanuel Kant (6 screens)

2.  Four Philosophers and the Trolley Car

Read the Ethics Problem box regarding the Trolley Problem on page 45 of the textbook. Answer the following questions:

§  Would Ayn Rand throw the switch? Why or why not?

§  Would Jeremy Bentham throw the switch? Why or why not?

§  Would Immanuel Kant throw the switch? Why or why not?

§  Would you throw the switch? Why or why not?

§  Regardless of your decision, what would bother you most after the trolley car wrecks?

Your answers must be written in Microsoft Word, double-spaced, using 12-point Times New Roman or 10-point Arial font. You must write at least one paragraph for each question above.

You will be graded on: Completing the entire assignment, your ability to answer all questions in writing appropriate to a bachelor’s level student, your ability to demonstrate that you comprehend the content, and the timeliness with which you turn in the assignment.

3.  Unit 2 Pre-test

Check your knowledge of the reading by taking the Chapter 2 Pretest and the Chapter 3 Pretest. Submit the results of the pretest to your instructor using MyThinkingLab.

MyThinkingLab > Chapters > Chapter 2 > Study Plan > Pretest

MyThinkingLab > Chapters > Chapter 3 > Study Plan > Pretest

Required Resources

§  Textbook

§  Class notes

§  MyThinkingLab

§  ITT Tech Virtual Library

Submission Requirements

All homework is due at the start of class for Unit 2.

Unit 2 Exercise 1: Words in Action – Stealing and Looting

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

As a result of this activity, you will improve your ability to:

§  Compare and contrast paradigms of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Compare and contrast key differences between nonconsequentialist theories of morality, and present these differences verbally.

§  Make an oral and visual presentation of research findings on a topic related to ethics.

Assignment Requirements

In this assignment you will work with a small group to apply this unit’s vocabulary words to a new situation. Read Case Study 2: Stealing Food, and Case Study 3: Looting, from pages 265-266 of your textbook. Consider the situation, referring to the rest of your textbook as necessary, and use each of the words or concepts that the class defined earlier to evaluate these case studies as a group.

Then on your own, draft a two- to three-paragraph response to the Case Study. Is Katia justified in stealing? Why or why not? What situational differences might affect the justification? Be sure to use this week’s vocabulary in your response.

You will be graded on: Completing the entire assignment, your ability to answer all questions in writing appropriate to a bachelor’s level student, your ability to demonstrate that you comprehend the content, and the timeliness with which you turn in the assignment.

Required Resources

§  Course textbook for each group

§  Ethical Words Worksheet (HU4640.U2.WS2)

Submission Requirements

This assignment is to be completed in class and turned in when your instructor asks for it. It should be neatly handwritten and should be two to three paragraphs. Any diagrams can be hand-drawn as long as they are clear.

Unit 2 Assignment 1: Unit 2 Reading Review

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

As a result of completing this assignment, you will improve your ability to:

§  Apply key concepts of ethical perspectives.

§  Compare and contrast paradigms of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Compare and contrast key differences between nonconsequentialist theories of morality, and present these differences verbally.

Required Resources

§  Thiroux & Kraseman, Chapters 2 and 3

§  Class notes

§  MyThinkingLab

§  ITT Tech Virtual Library

Assignment Requirements

Select one of the review questions on pages 44 and 59 and determine the ethical principles it addresses. You will create a PowerPoint presentation intended to teach someone unfamiliar with the ethical concepts and potential ways to answer the question. The first slide should state the question. The next 4 to 7 slides should define key vocabulary, outline concepts, and state your answer along with your reasoning. Detail your response in the Notes section of each slide.

You will be graded on your content, your ability to analyze the topic and apply your knowledge, and your ability to follow writing guidelines and give clear instructions.

Submission Requirements

Submit a PowerPoint presentation with no fewer than 5 slides, each containing at least one explanatory paragraph in the Notes section. Print your presentation in the Notes style and submit to your instructor in Unit 3.

Unit 2 Assignment 2: Care Ethics

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

As a result of completing this assignment, you will improve your ability to:

§  Apply key concepts of ethical perspectives.

§  Compare and contrast paradigms of psychological egoism, ethical egoism, utilitarianism, and care ethics.

§  Compare and contrast key differences between nonconsequentialist theories of morality, and present these differences verbally.

Assignment Requirements

Read the Ethics Problem on page 60 of your textbook, then write a short paper that will:

§  Analyze Krishna’s advice using care ethics

§  Explain what you would do if you were in Arjuna’s situation