WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY
PHIL/RELS 323, Social Ethics Dr. Alan Anderson CH 319A
Fall 2009
Course Description
Perspectives and issues involved in the public pursuit of justice in a religiously and philosophically pluralistic society.
General Education goals met by course
1. The capacity for objectivity and an appreciation for values which govern moral and ethical
choice.
2. The capacity for critical thought, the ability to acquire and organize large amounts of
knowledge, and proficiency in reading, writing, and thinking.
3. An historical perspective and an understanding of connections between past and present.
4. An understanding of humans as social beings.
Purpose
1. To help students see ethics as an everyday activity, inherent in their everyday choices,
habits, associations, and social structures.
2. To introduce the students to some of the major classical and/or contemporary resources for
thinking about ethics.
3. To assist the students in negotiating the diversity of ethical perspectives in relationship to
specific social issues.
4. To increase the capacity of students to read, write, and think critically about ethical issues.
My Responsibilities
1. To organize an interesting, useful, and important course.
2. To assist you in understanding the readings.
3. To encourage and respond to your questions and comments.
4. To grade your written work fairly and promptly.
Your Responsibilities
1. To attend class regularly.
2. To prepare reading and writing assignments thoroughly and thoughtfully.
3. To participate in class discussions by listening and sometimes speaking.
4. To let me know when you are lost or don't understand something.
5. To do your own work. Study with others if it is helpful, but your written work should be
entirely your own.
6. To develop a citizen's perspective on current events and issues by following news reports
and commentaries related to course topics.
Note for Students with Disabilities
Students with disabilities who require accommodations (academic adjustments and/or auxiliary aids or services) for this course must contact the Office for Student Disability Services, Room 445, Potter Hall. The OFSDS telephone number is (270) 745 5004 V/TDD. Please DO NOT request accommodations directly from the professor or instructor without a letter of accommodation from the Office for Student Disability Services.
Required Readings
George W. Pickering, Solitude and Democracy: How to Think about the Politics of Your Soul. Privately published, 1991.
David Rusk, Inside Game, Outside Game: Winning Strategies for Saving Urban America. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1999.
Warren R. Copeland, Doing Justice in Our Cities: Lessons in Public Policy from America’s Heartland.
Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009.
Assignments
1. Readings, as assigned in the course schedule.
Once in each two-week section of the course you will be asked to prepare a reading response
paper on the readings for a single day. While brief, each reading response should follow this outline:
a. What is the thesis or main idea of this reading?
b. What are the important key words and their definitions in this reading?
c. What question or questions do you have about this reading?
d. On the whole, how do you evaluate this reading? Is it interesting, important, useful? Why?
Reading papers are due at the beginning of class on the day on which that reading is scheduled for
discussion. Each reading paper will receive up to ten points as follows: + = excellent, 10 points; P =
satisfactory, 8 points; -- = marginal, 6 points; F, unsatisfactory, 4 points.
For the purpose of scheduling your reading response papers, this class has been divided into
four groups, as indicated on the Course Schedule for 9/8-9/15. If, for example, your last name begins
with A through H, your reading response paper is due whenever the number 1 appears under the
“reading paper due” column of the Course Schedule.
Late reading papers should be on the reading for the day they are submitted, not the reading for the
day they were originally due. Late reading papers will be accepted through the last day of class before
the next quiz. No credit will be given for reading papers submitted after that date.
2. Quizzes as indicated in the course schedule. Counting the final examination as two quizzes,
eight quizzes are scheduled. If you take all eight, your lowest grade will be dropped; however, you must both quizzes on Pickering and the comprehensive portion of the final exam. Ordinarily, makeup quizzes are not offered.
4. Two feedback papers commenting on any aspect of this course. In order to encourage your
freedom of expression, these papers will automatically receive full credit ( C = complete = 10 points) if they are at least one double-spaced page long and are submitted on time.
5. Final examination as scheduled in the 2009 Fall Bulletin. One hour will be a quiz on the
last unit of the course. One hour will be a comprehensive final examination, the questions for
which will be distributed in advance.
Grades
There is a total of 265 points in this course, as follows:
Seven reading responses, up to 10 points for each, total 70.
Seven quizzes, up to 25 points each, total 175.
Two feedback papers, 10 points each, total 20.
Experience suggests that normally a student with a total of ninety percent or better will receive A; eighty percent, B; etc.