PHIL 1100 -- Ethics
Spring 2012
Lecture: Mon, Wed 10:00-10:50
HLMS 199
Friday Recitations

Professor
Chris Heathwood
heathwood@colorado.edu
Office: HLMS 192
Hours: Mon 1:30-4:30, and by appointment

Teaching Assistant
Ashley Taylor
ashley.taylor@colorado.edu
Office hours: Fri 11:00-12:30, and by appointment
Location: Buchanan's Coffee Pub
Recitation Sections: Fri 9-9:50 HLMS 241; Fri 10-10:50 ATLS 1B31

Course Description
This course provides an introduction to ethics by way of a study of doctrines and arguments in two areas of moral philosophy: the normative ethics of behavior (the theory of right and wrong), and practical ethics.  Our goals are to understand some important theories and positions in these areas, to understand and evaluate important arguments for and against these views, to develop the ability to extract, explain, and evaluate arguments from philosophical texts, and to come to our own reasoned views on these topics.  The topics will include divine command theory, cultural relativism, utilitarianism, deontology, the trolley problem, vegetarianism, and abortion.

Course Website
The course website, which you should check regularly, can be found here:

     http://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1100/.

Here you will find:

• this syllabus
• course readings
• lecture slides
  
• study guides for exams.

Readings
There will be no book! All readings are linked to below on the course schedule.  You will need a password to access some of the readings, which I will give you in lecture.  Although there is no book, you will need a clicker, which can be purchased at the CU Bookstore.  More on clickers below.

Lecture Slides
I will be using slides in lecture, which I will make available via links on the course schedule below.  But the availability of these slides is no substitute for good note-taking.  Many important details are not on the slides!

Class Mates
So that you will have someone from whom to get the notes (and any other pertinent info) should you miss class, introduce yourself to two of your classmates in recitation, and get their email addresses and phone numbers.

Course Requirements
Exams: There will be three exams during the semester, one for each unit of the course (see below for dates). These will be in-class, short-answer exams.  To help you prepare, and to give you an idea about the sorts of questions you can expect, a study guide will be made available before each exam. Furthermore, we will have a review day before each exam where we will take your questions about the study guide. You must come prepared for this review session by having written out answers to the questions on the study guide.

During our assigned final exam slot (see below for date and time), instead of a having a final exam, you will have the opportunity to retake an earlier exam of your choosing.  The retake exam won’t have the same questions as the original exam, but it will cover the same material, and the same study guide will apply.  If you don’t improve your score on the retake exam, this won’t hurt you -- we will keep your original score.  Doing a retake exam is optional.

If you miss an exam during the semester, you will be permitted to take a makeup exam only if you have a legitimate, documented excuse (e.g., non-trivial illness, death in the family, religious obligation). Otherwise, you can use the retake exam as your makeup. If you must miss an exam, you need to let us know in advance.

Clicker Questions: Most lectures after the first week will feature clicker questions.  You answer them using your i>clicker device, which you can purchase at the bookstore.  You will receive credit simply for participating in the clicker questions (i.e., you don't need to get the right answer to get the points).  Occasionally, a student forgets his or her clicker, or the batteries die.  Thus, I give each student one free pass on clickers: the first time you miss clicking in, you will get the points anyway.  No free points after that, however.

Clicking in for an absent classmate is a form of cheating.  Cheating can earn you an F for the whole course.  See the Academic Integrity section below.

If you have not already done so, you need to register your clicker immediately.  Otherwise, I can't match your name to your clicker, and you won't be able to receive any clicker points.

Recitation Sections: You are required to attend and participate in recitation sections.  Your TA will assign you a grade for this, with an eye to your attendance, the frequency and quality of your participation in class discussions, and your performance on reading quizzes and/or brief writing assignments.

Readings: One or two readings are assigned for most lectures.  Complete it in advance of the relevant lecture, and read each reading at least once.  You can find links to our readings on the course schedule below.  You will need a password to access some of the readings, which I will give you in lecture.