Justice and Ethical Reasoning
Link to
Justice and Ethical Reasoning class files
This course was an introduction to moral and political
philosophy. It explored classical and contemporary
theories of justice, and applies these theories to
contemporary legal and political controversies.
Topics include:
- Affirmative action
- Income distribution
- Same sex marriage
- The role of markets
- Debates about rights (human rights and property
rights)
- Arguments for and against equality
- Dilemmas of loyalty in public and private
life
- The course invited students to subject their own
views on these controversies to critical
examination.
The principal readings were texts by:
- Aristotle
- John Locke
- Immanuel Kant
- John Stuart Mill
- John Rawls
- We also read some contemporary court cases and
articles about political issues that raise philosophical
questions.
- We challenged our opinions and developing your moral
reasoning.
Course Outline of Topics:
- Doing the Right Thing
- The Lifeboat Case
- Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham
- Utilitarianism: J.S. Mill
- Libertarianism: Free-market philosophy
- Libertarianism: Do we own ourselves?
- John Locke: Property rights
- John Locke: Individual rights and majority
rule
- Markets and Morals: Military service
- Markets and Morals: Surrogate motherhood
- Immanuel Kant: What is freedom?
- Immanuel Kant: The supreme principle of
morality
- Immanuel Kant: A lesson in lying
- The Morality of Consent
- John Rawls: The case for equality
- Distributive Justice: Who deserves what?
- Arguing Affirmative Action
- Aristotle: Justice and virtue
- Aristotle: The good citizen
- Aristotle: Freedom verses fit
- Justice, Community, and Membership
- Dilemmas of Loyalty
- Debating Same Sex Marriage
- Conclusion: Justice and the good life
