Philosophy 115
Problems in Philosophy

For information about the  ON-LINE PHI 115 class, click here

'Philosophical methods will be used to examine the most troublesome ethical issues of contemporary personal and public life'. (from the MC3 course descriptions page)

    A more descriptive title for this course would be 'Contemporary Moral and Social Problems'. The reading and discussion will focus on some of the following contemporary moral/social issues: the moral and legal permissibility/impermissibility of abortion, of the death penalty;, of same-sex sexual relations and same-sex marriage, of  sport-hunting and raising non-human animals for food; of cloning, of euthanasia, as well as others issues.

    Readings will be drawn from essays by philosophers, by lawyers, by theologians, by Supreme Court justices, by politicians, as well as others (some of these are accessible through the links below)  The text for the course  for the course will vary with the Instructor

The class presupposes NO  prior philosophy.  It is perfect as a first philosophy course, especially if you prefer the more obviously 'relevant' aspects of philosophy.

 

Links to Web Resources

G1.  The Ethics Update Page

G2.  PETA On-Line

G3.  The American Civil Liberties Union Page

G4.  from John Stuart Mill's On Liberty

G5.  "Morals and the Criminal Law" (The Enforcement of Morals) , by Patrick Devlin

S2.  The Family Research Council Home Page (The Family Research Council is a 'conservative' organization
with information, points of view, 'policy' statements, etc., on many issues.)

S3.  The Family Research Center Homosexuality Page

S4.  Talking Points: How Homosexual Civil Unions Harm Marriage

S5.  Talking Points: Domestic Partnerships

S6.  Is Homosexuality a Sin?

S7.  'Homosexuality, Morals, and The Laws of Nature' by Burton M. Leiser

S8.  'An Exchange on Same-Sex Marriage' by Andrew Sullivan and William Bennett

S9.  'Against Homosexual Marriage' by James Q. Wilson

S10.  The Ethics of Natural Law', by C. E. Harris & 'Problems for Natural Law Theory', by Emmett Barcalow

S11.  The Bible and Homosexuality

CP 1.  "Does It Matter If The Death Penalty is Arbitrarily Administered?", by Stephen Nathanson

CP 3.  "Refuting Reiman and Nathanson', by Ernest van den Haag

CP 4. 'The Retributive Theory of Punishment', from Kant's 'The Science of Right'.

CP 5.  "Speech in Favor of Capital Punishment", by John Stuart Mill

CP 6.  "Is the Death Penalty Unjust?", Blackmun, Scalia, van den Haag, Greenberg

CP 7.  prodeathpenalty.com

CP 8.  "Deciding What a Person Deserves and Deciding to Give a Person What He Deserves"

CP 9.  "What the Studies on Deterrence Show and Don't Show"

A1.  "An Almost Absolute Value in History", by John T. Noonan, Jr.

A2.  "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion", by Mary Anne Warren

A3.  "Contra Marquis:   "The Morality of Abortion and the Deprivation of Futures", by Mark Brown

A4.  "Politically Correct Death", by Francis Beckwith

A5.  Beckwith contra Thompson

A6.  The Moral Question of Abortion, by Steven Schwartz  ((this book and the essay above entitled 'Politically Correct Death' by Beckwith are the two strongest anti-abortion pieces written by philosophers)

A7.  "Roe v Wade" Supreme Court decision (parts of)

A8.  "Inconvenient Lives", by Robert Bork

A9.  "The Right of Abortion", by Harriet Pilpel

A10.  What Does the Bible say about Abortion?

A11.  The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League Page

A12.  The National Right to Life Committee Page