PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS for ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING - 	PHL 250 A - MWF 0930-1020 (Fall 2007)
								PHL 205 B - MWF 1030-1120 (Fall 2007)
Instructor:  Dr. Jinmei Yuan

Prerequisites:  PHL 107/Fulfills a Core A ethics requirement

Course Description:  This course is an introduction to moral philosophy.  We will survey the traditional ethical theories and selected case studies involving contemporary moral issues.  Topics include the nature of ethical philosophy, religion and morality, ethical relativism, and egoism.  We will typically examine utilitarianism (e.g. Mill), deontological approaches (e.g. Kant) and virtue ethics (e.g. Aristotle).  We will analyze the basic materials, approaches, and problems that characterize scholarly work in the field to provide students with general knowledge on moral philosophy from theoretical and practical perspectives.  The process and principles of ethical decision-making are discussed in class.  Through evaluating arguments on the case studies, students learn to apply different ethical systems to understand how these systems determine right and wrong in particular cases.  The major goal of the course is to provide the students with philosophical frameworks and help them develop their moral reasoning skills, refine their own moral judgments and learn how to construct persuasive arguments in order to make moral decisions in their real life.

Required Work:  Two unexpected quizzes (8%); three exams (60%); one oral presentation with detailed outlines (15-20 minutes in the class) (8%); two reading reports (4%); and one final project (20%).

Texts:	(1) Tiles, James E., Moral Measures: An Introduction to Ethics West and East, Routledge (ISBN 0-415-22496-9)  
			(2) Sterba, James P., Morality in Practice, Wadsworth (ISBN 0-534-52111-8)
(3) Course packet
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS for ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING -	PHL 250 C - MWF 1230-1320 (Fall 2007)
								PHL 250 D - MWF 1330-1420 (Fall 2007)
Instructor:  Dr. John W. Carlson 

Prerequisites:  PHL 107; membership in Creighton’s Cortina Program

Course Description:  This course is specially designed for Cortina Program students, in fulfillment of their Core A Ethics requirement.  The first two thirds of the course will focus on ethical theory.  We will use the instructor’s textbook-in-development, Achieving the Good, supplemented by readings in the history of moral philosophy and by documents on moral foundations, social justice, and the works of love from Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  The last third of the course will be devoted to concrete moral and social issues, including ones in which Cortina students themselves are engaged and which they have a voice in identifying.

Required Work:  Mid-term and final exams.  Weekly “Journal” entries, which reflect on class readings and topics and relate them to the student’s own experience.

Texts:	John W. Carlson, Achieving the Good: Introduction to Moral Philosophy in the Perennial Tradition (typescript)
	Denise, White, & Peterfreund, Great Traditions in Ethics, 11th ed. (2005)
	John Paul II, Centesimus annus (The Hundredth Anniversary) (1991), Veritatis splendor (The Splendor of Truth) (1993)
	Benedict XVI, Deus caritas est (God is Love) (2006)	
	Readings on Concrete Issues (to be determined)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS for ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING -	PHL 250 E - TR 0930-1045 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Dr. Thomas J. Kiefer

Prerequisites:  PHL 107/Fulfills a Core A ethics requirement  

Course Description: Ethics is perhaps the branch of philosophy that has the greatest applicability in everyday life, and its study can have a profound effect on how one lives one’s  life.  On the theoretical side, we will study the three main approaches to ethical questions: consequentialism, duty- or reason-centered ethics (called “deontological” ethics or Kantianism), and virtue ethics.  We may also touch on the related fields of political philosophy and value theory where appropriate.   On the practical side, we will apply what we are learning to difficult cases in medical ethics, politics, and everyday moral dilemmas on a regular basis.

Texts:	To be announced.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS for ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING -	PHL 250 F - TR 1100-1215 (Fall 2007)
									PHL 250 G - TR 1230-1345 (Fall 2007))
Instructor:  Dr. Randolph M. Feezell

Prerequisites:  PHL 107/Fulfills a Core A ethics requirement  

Course Description:  This course will examine many of the central issues in normative ethics and metaethics.  Topics include the nature and purpose of morality, ethical relativism, morality and self-interest (egoism), the nature of value, utilitarianism, Kant and deontological theories of morality, virtue-based ethical systems, and the questions of the rationality of the moral life itself.  We will also discuss various issues in applied ethics.

Required Work:  3 exams, a 5-8 page paper on an issue in applied ethics, regular reading quizzes, one or two brief writing assignments.

Texts:	Pojman, Ethics:  Discovering Right and Wrong
	Sommers, Vice and Virtue in Everyday Life
	Feezell and Hancock, How Should I Live? (optional - recommended)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS for ETHICAL UNDERSTANDING -	PHL 250 N - Wed 1800-2030 (Fall 2007)

Instructor: Staff

Prerequisites:  PHL 107/Fulfills a Core A ethics requirement  

Course Description: Consideration of the foundations of morality; theories of virtue and of moral obligations; principles and rules; application of theories to specific contemporary moral problems, including issues of domestic diversity.

Required Work: To be determined.

Texts: To be determined.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________