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PHILOSOPHY 101 (Section 2) - MORALS AND SOCIETYThe instructor is J. E. Tiles. Office: Sakamaki D307. Office Hours MWF 11:30-12:30 and by appointment The texts for this course are J.E. Tiles - The Measure of Conduct, This course is writing intensive. The writing assignments are set out below. Reading Assignments: Pages vi-viii and 99-160 of Bedeau are for general reference and should be read for the first time before the end of the second week of semester and again during the weeks following each midterm. The remainder of Bedeau that is relevant to this course is to be read in connection with individual writing assignments (see below). The reading assignments out of Tiles are set out on the calendar on the other side of this sheet of paper, which also includes due dates of writing assignments and dates of the mid-term tests. The mid-term and final tests will consist of questions (including words to be defined) taken from review sheets that will be issued every one or two weeks. That is to say no question will appear on a mid-term which has not appeared on a review sheet, although which questions will appear will not be known in advance. Tests will count 40% toward the final grade, essays 40%, class attendance and participation 20%. "Participation" includes brief (3-5 sentence) writing assignments set at short notice and brought to class identified (until further notice) only by social security number (no names, please). These will be ungraded; only the fact they have been done will count toward the 20% based on "participation." Assignments
Return to Philosophy:
Morals & Society (WI). PHIL 101 (Section 2) - Review Sheet #1 (Weeks 1-2)Give brief (one-two sentence) definitions of the following terms instruction vs. training ethical excellence sati pharonic vs. sunna FGM usage fashion custom Answer briefly (three to five sentences) law validity (legitimacy) ritual pollution/purity co m men sal ity conublum caste dharma convention 1. Relate the concepts of 'habit', 'custom' and 'culture'. 2. Compare the attitudes toward culture appropriate to an anthropologist and an ethical theorist. 3. According to Kristen Luker in what respects does the issue of abortion manifest a conflict between sub-cultures in California. 4. Characterize briefly the social phenomenon that the text labels 'concrete morality'. 5. In what respect can ritual pollution, karma and the genetic effects of inbreeding be said to provide objective validity for aspects of certain concrete moralities? 6. Describe the usual relation between a concrete morality and a legal system. Take at least a page to discuss 1. Should we always respect the customs of other people which are integral to their culture and neither approve nor condemn? 2. How might we distinguish a mere custom (e.g. of dress) and a custom which belongs to the concrete morality of a people? 3. Is there an objective basis for the tabu against incest that is not an equally good basis for a tabu against marriage between people who are likely to produce children with genetic defects? [n.b. Additional office hours: Tues 12:30-1:30; Thurs 2:30-3:30] Review Sheet #2 (Weeks 3-5)charisma Confucianism caveat emptor kalam nomos proprius cultural colonialism kanon nativism (optimistic/pessimistic) conventionalism tradition legitimacy usury theodicy aeon ligare dispassionate (disinterested) dialectic Taoism anarchism being obliged vs. being under and obligation tabu lex talionis theophany islam fidelity (fiduciary) i nteg rity samsara deliberation relativism intuition vs. discursive thought 1. How do traditional and charismatic forms of authority complement one another? 2. Contrast the concrete morality based on a bargain with God (or gods) and that based on unconditional obedience. 3. Describe the concrete morality of revenge and its rationale. Explain how the lex talionis constrains this morality. 4. What factors modify the principle of reciprocity in various circumstances in various societies? 5. What consequences follow from defining what is right as 'what God commands'? 6. What alternative is there to thinking of 'legitimacy' in terms of duty and obligation? 7. How, if God could make Iying either good or evil, can God be relied on not to lie (al-Ash an)? 8. What does Edward Ferrars's sense of integrity say about his conception of himself as a person? 9. Why are example of religious propriety no adequate answers to Socrates's question 'What is religious propriety?' 10. What problem is there using rules in the sense of general imperative as standards of conduct? Return to Philosophy: Morals & Society (WI). Models for exercise #1 (August 31)Answer to question 2: Anthropologists gather information about cultures and try to explain what has been observed. They don't approve or condemn customs found in other societies. An ethical theorist determines the basis for endorsing or condemning the customs of a culture. Sati: Sati was the custom in India for women to commit suicide by throwing themselves on the funeral pyres of their husbands. It was outlawed by British colonial authorities and is still forbidden although there continue to be sporadic reports of it taking place. Instruction vs. Training: Instruction involves giving someone some kind of information or knowledge, whereas training involves making someone repeat an action or process to learn it. Ethical excellence: is the characteristic of a person who has learned by example and training to respond habitually and predictably, in an exemplary way to temptations and challenges. Return to Philosophy: Morals & Society (WI). |
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Mānoa Writing Program · 2545 McCarthy Mall, Bilger Hall 104 · Honolulu, HI 96822 · (808) 956-6660 · mwp@hawaii.edu |
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