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ETH 2050 001
CRN:
31416
Professor: Dr. Christopher C. Roberts
Time: MWF 8:30-9:20
Description:
All sections of Ethics 2050 study major western ethical traditions
as they apply to selected contemporary ethical problems. This section will do
the same thing, but with an emphasis on Christian theological analysis. We will
take theological truth claims sympathetically, and we will see how they fare in
critical engagement with other voices and traditions. There is a dramatic
tension at the heart of this class, for the class wants to demonstrate what is
at stake in the difference between Christianity and modernity. In this section
of Ethics 2050, just like in all the others, we will learn the basic vocabulary
used by many philosophers in academia today (e.g., virtue, deontology); we will
meet the famous philosophers (e.g., Kant, Nietzsche); and we will apply theory
to actual cases (e.g., war and peace, sex). However, we will also stress how our
perspective changes when we take theology seriously. You do not need to be a
Christian to enjoy and do well in this class, but you do need to be genuinely
open to engaging Christian arguments. This class will give you a basic
orientation for thinking critically about moral arguments and claims. If you go
on to take further classes in ethics, then this orientation will help you decide
how you want to specialize and go deeper.
ETH 2050 002
CRN:
31653
Professor: Dr. Christopher C. Roberts
Time: MWF 9:30-10:20
Description:
All sections of Ethics 2050 study major western ethical traditions
as they apply to selected contemporary ethical problems. This section will do
the same thing, but with an emphasis on Christian theological analysis. We will
take theological truth claims sympathetically, and we will see how they fare in
critical engagement with other voices and traditions. There is a dramatic
tension at the heart of this class, for the class wants to demonstrate what is
at stake in the difference between Christianity and modernity. In this section
of Ethics 2050, just like in all the others, we will learn the basic vocabulary
used by many philosophers in academia today (e.g., virtue, deontology); we will
meet the famous philosophers (e.g., Kant, Nietzsche); and we will apply theory
to actual cases (e.g., war and peace, sex). However, we will also stress how our
perspective changes when we take theology seriously. You do not need to be a
Christian to enjoy and do well in this class, but you do need to be genuinely
open to engaging Christian arguments. This class will give you a basic
orientation for thinking critically about moral arguments and claims. If you go
on to take further classes in ethics, then this orientation will help you decide
how you want to specialize and go deeper.
ETH 2050
003
CRN: 31654
Professor: Michael B. Norton
Time: MWF
11:30-12:20
ETH 2050 004
CRN:
31657
Professor: Michael B. Norton
Time: MWF 12:30-1:20
ETH 2050 005
CRN:
31659
Professor: Brett Wilmot
Time: MW 1:30-2:45
Description: This
course will introduce you to classic and contemporary sources in ethics,
including primary sources from thinkers such as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Kant,
Mill, Nietzsche, and Sartre. In addition, we will be reading a range of
contemporary essays that show the theories represented by these thinkers in
application. We will be discussion business ethics, sexual ethics, and
euthanasia, among other topics. We will also be using a number of short videos
to supplement our reading and to provide further context for our discussions.
The main objectives are to promote a more sophisticated grasp of the moral
dimensions of human life and an increased awareness of our continued
participation in a complex, living tradition of critical reflection on the moral
life. Students will be asked to engage one another and the instructor throughout
the semester in a civil and critical dialogue as part of a project of mutual
education.
ETH 2050 006
CRN:
31662
Professor: Mark Doorley
Time: MW 1:30-2:45
Prereqs:
Restricted to members of the Service Learning
Community
Description: Ethics
is a study of “the good life.” It is a required course for all A&S and C&F
students. One goal of the course is to introduce students to the history of
ethical reflection, both philosophical and religious. Another goal of the course
is to think about contemporary issues in light of this history. A last goal is
to give students an opportunity to think about their own character,
decision-making process and life choices.
The
course will move from theoretical considerations to discussion of contemporary
moral problems, including abortion, the use of performance enhancing drugs and
pornography. Students will write a major research paper in which they will
demonstrate their ability to craft a persuasive argument in support of a moral
claim they want to make. Through this paper and two exams the students will
demonstrate their grasp of the dominant moral principles of the Western
philosophical and Christian traditions.
ETH 2050 007
CRN:
31664
Professor: Kirk Nolan
Time: MW 3:00-4:15
Description: Ethics
is an investigation of what constitutes the "good life." Villanova University
requires that all students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of
Commerce and Finance take this course. This requirement reflects the importance
of ethics for life beyond the classroom.
Accordingly, there are three goals for this course. First, students will be
introduced to the history of ethical reflection, both philosophical and
religious. This history will include a variety of perspectives that have been
used to answer the question: What is the good life? Second, contemporary issues
will be examined in light of this history. Students will be given the
opportunity to debate their peers on contemporary issues. Finally, students will
be given an opportunity to think about their own character, decision-making
process and life choices.
ETH 2050 008
CRN:
31669
Professor: Michael Prosch
Time: MW 4:30-5:45
Description: This
section will introduce and critique major ethical methodologies (e.g..,
teleology, deontology and utilitarianism, etc.) and apply these approaches to
assess a variety of pressing contemporary issues, such as the war on terror,
human sexuality, economic justice, euthanasia and abortion as well as drug
control. As a backdrop to these discussions, the course will consider the
insights of both Christian thought and American constitutional law.
ETH 2050 009
CRN:
31672
Professor: Kirk Nolan
Time: MW 4:30-5:45
Description: Ethics
is an investigation of what constitutes the "good life." Villanova University
requires that all students in the College of Arts & Sciences and the College of
Commerce and Finance take this course. This requirement reflects the importance
of ethics for life beyond the classroom.
Accordingly, there are three goals for this course. First, students will be
introduced to the history of ethical reflection, both philosophical and
religious. This history will include a variety of perspectives that have been
used to answer the question: What is the good life? Second, contemporary issues
will be examined in light of this history. Students will be given the
opportunity to debate their peers on contemporary issues. Finally, students will
be given an opportunity to think about their own character, decision-making
process and life choices.
ETH 2050 011
CRN:
31667
Professor: Walter Conn
Time: TR 8:30-9:45
Description: Ethics
is about human flourishing (genuine happiness, the truly good life), the kind of
character (virtues) it requires, and the kind of actions (choices) that both
create and flow from virtuous character.-all worked out in and through
communities (esp. structures, systems, and institutions) and their stories. This
course focuses on both ethical method/theory and the personal practical
decision-making dimensions of several of the most important contemporary moral
issues - in the areas of sex, medicine, justice, gender, business, and self.
ETH 2050 012
CRN:
31874
Professor: Walter Conn
Time: TR 10:00-11:15
Description: Ethics
is about human flourishing (genuine happiness, the truly good life), the kind of
character (virtues) it requires, and the kind of actions (choices) that both
create and flow from virtuous character.-all worked out in and through
communities (esp. structures, systems, and institutions) and their stories. This
course focuses on both ethical method/theory and the personal practical
decision-making dimensions of several of the most important contemporary moral
issues - in the areas of sex, medicine, justice, gender, business, and self.
ETH 2050 013
CRN:
31878
Professor: Annika Thiem
Time: TR 10:00-11:15
Description: None of
us live as entirely self-sufficient, autonomous beings; we are implicated in the
lives of others not only at the beginning and end of our lives, but throughout
them. We live with others; are proximate to others who we encounter personally;
and exist alongside others who we might never meet directly, but whose lives and
plights are nonetheless enmeshed with ours, not always for the better. Whether
we like it or not, whether we want it or not, we are part of this interconnected
global relationship that in the 21st century is more volatile than
ever and more complex than ever. Since we cannot shed this collective social
condition of living in this world, with its volatility and its complexities, we
are called upon to hone our intellectual resources to discover, frame, and
analyze rigorously situations that require ethical and political deliberations.
In the
face of the complexity of our world and the ethical issues we are facing, we
will begin this course with the hypothesis that ethics today is less a matter of
providing unambiguous answers than of uncovering and competently framing
quandaries and their ethical stakes. We will thus consider the ethical value of
beginning with questions and of not knowing immediately what to do. In this
light, we will examine how major approaches to ethics in the Western tradition
such as virtue ethics, deontology, utililitarianism, natural law, and Catholic
social ethics make different kinds of questions possible. Putting these theories
into conversation with contemporary ethical issues, we will explore how ethics
goes beyond merely applying principles and instead requires the hard labor of
questioning theoretical resources as well as tarrying with how to “read” and
frame situations and issues as ethical problems. Moreover, we will seek to
better understand the relationship between
ethics and politics in order
to deepen what responsible action and global citizenship can mean in a world
that confronts us on a daily basis with quandaries that might be ethical
precisely because they require evaluation and action and yet do not permit
simple answers.
ETH 2050 014
CRN:
31883
Professor: James Murdoch
Time: TR 11:30-12:45
ETH 2050 015
CRN:
31886
Professor: Annika Thiem
Time: TR 11:30-12:45
Description: None of
us live as entirely self-sufficient, autonomous beings; we are implicated in the
lives of others not only at the beginning and end of our lives, but throughout
them. We live with others; are proximate to others who we encounter personally;
and exist alongside others who we might never meet directly, but whose lives and
plights are nonetheless enmeshed with ours, not always for the better. Whether
we like it or not, whether we want it or not, we are part of this interconnected
global relationship that in the 21st century is more volatile than
ever and more complex than ever. Since we cannot shed this collective social
condition of living in this world, with its volatility and its complexities, we
are called upon to hone our intellectual resources to discover, frame, and
analyze rigorously situations that require ethical and political deliberations.
In the
face of the complexity of our world and the ethical issues we are facing, we
will begin this course with the hypothesis that ethics today is less a matter of
providing unambiguous answers than of uncovering and competently framing
quandaries and their ethical stakes. We will thus consider the ethical value of
beginning with questions and of not knowing immediately what to do. In this
light, we will examine how major approaches to ethics in the Western tradition
such as virtue ethics, deontology, utililitarianism, natural law, and Catholic
social ethics make different kinds of questions possible. Putting these theories
into conversation with contemporary ethical issues, we will explore how ethics
goes beyond merely applying principles and instead requires the hard labor of
questioning theoretical resources as well as tarrying with how to “read” and
frame situations and issues as ethical problems. Moreover, we will seek to
better understand the relationship between ethics and politics in order to
deepen what responsible action and global citizenship can mean in a world that
confronts us on a daily basis with quandaries that might be ethical precisely
because they require evaluation and action and yet do not permit simple answers.
ETH 2050 016
CRN:
31889
Professor: Brett Wilmot
Time: TR 1:00-2:15
Description: This
course will introduce you to classic and contemporary sources in ethics,
including primary sources from thinkers such as Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas, Kant,
Mill, Nietzsche, and Sartre. In addition, we will be reading a range of
contemporary essays that show the theories represented by these thinkers in
application. We will be discussion business ethics, sexual ethics, and
euthanasia, among other topics. We will also be using a number of short videos
to supplement our reading and to provide further context for our discussions.
The main objectives are to promote a more sophisticated grasp of the moral
dimensions of human life and an increased awareness of our continued
participation in a complex, living tradition of critical reflection on the moral
life. Students will be asked to engage one another and the instructor throughout
the semester in a civil and critical dialogue as part of a project of mutual
education.
ETH 2050 017
CRN:
31892
Professor: James Murdoch
Time: TR 1:00-2:15
ETH 2050 018
CRN:
31894
Professor: Philips Edward Young
Time: TR 2:30-3:45
Description: To what
do we commit ourselves when we make claims about right and wrong? What kind of
people do we become by acting on those views? Answering these questions requires
the ability to relate theory to practice, to identify connections between cases,
and to recognize inconsistencies between ideas and actions. Developing these
abilities will be one of the primary goals of our course.
Our
class time will primarily be focused on discussion of articles written about
contemporary moral debates, such as abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty.
We will examine the positions supported in those articles from the point of view
of several ethical traditions, such as those of deontology, consequentialism,
utilitarianism, and virtue theory. While various course requirements will
contribute to final grade determination, the most significant graded assignments
will be argumentative essays.
ETH 2050 018
CRN:
31897
Professor: Julie Ragatz
Time: TR 2:30-3:45
ETH 2050 019
CRN:
31900
Professor: Julie Ragatz
Time: TR 3:00-5:15
ETH 2050 100
CRN:
31904
Professor: Darlene Weaver
Time: R 6:10-8:50
Description: We will
begin by asking what morality is, and whether it consists in more than cultural
constructs and subjective opinions. We will then survey prominent Western
ethical theories, secular and Christian. In order to appreciate the various
influences these traditions have exercised, the contributions they make, and
their limitations, we consider a range of moral issues concerning human
sexuality, health care, class, and religion and violence.
At the end of this course you should be able to:
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Identify and analyze prominent Western ethical theories, discern their
influence in contemporary society, and recognize their respective assets and
difficulties.
-
Analyze and evaluate arguments offered about specific moral issues, clearly
articulate your own moral judgments about such matters and support them with
arguments.
-
Read texts with care, charity, and critical reflection, write and speak
clearly and thoughtfully about the ethical theories and practical moral
problems we consider.
ETH 2050 101
CRN:
31910
Professor: Lawrence Stratton
Time: W 6:10- 8:50
Description: This
section will introduce and critique major ethical methodologies (e.g..,
teleology, deontology and utilitarianism, etc.) and apply these approaches to
assess a variety of pressing contemporary issues, such as the war on terror,
human sexuality, economic justice, euthanasia and abortion as well as drug
control. As a backdrop to these discussions, the course will consider the
insights of both Christian thought and American constitutional law.
ETH 3010 - 001
CRN:
31970
Professor: Liam Kavanaugh
Time: MW 1:30-2:45
Truth, Tradition and Commitment: An Introduction to Virtue Ethics
Description: In this course we
will explore the Western tradition of virtue ethics through the work of the
contemporary philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre, one of the most prominent and
influential ethical thinkers of the last fifty years. Virtue ethics is a branch
of moral philosophy that emphasizes character and tradition as the keys to
ethical thinking. Taking the ancient Greek concepts of arete (excellence
or virtue), phronesis (practical or moral wisdom), and eudaimonia
(flourishing) as our guides, we will examine MacIntyre's encounters with some of
the most important philosophers of the Western tradition, including Aristotle,
St. Augustine, St Thomas Aquinas, Marx, Nietzsche, and Sartre.
Cross listed
with Humanities
ETH 3010 003
CRN:
31972
Professor: Bernard G. Prusak
Time: MW 3:00-4:15
Human Identity and Bioethics
Description: Bioethical controversies imply, and sometimes conceal, fundamental philosophical
questions: about being, becoming, substance, and essence; identity and
personhood; the soul, self, mind, and embodiment; and freedom. The aim of this
course is to take several bioethical controversies and to work back into the
questions that they imply. We can hope thereby to understand these controversies
more deeply, and we will also be sure to do a lot of important thinking, which
for “lovers of wisdom” is joy and justification in itself. We will see, what’s
more, that philosophical questions really do arise in concrete circumstances;
philosophy is thus an activity rooted in and motivated by real life, not a
merely academic discipline with its own peculiar set of interests that only
specialists have reason to care about.
Topics
will include: what human beings most fundamentally are (minds? souls? brains?
organisms?); identity (“numerical” and “narrative”); controversies over the end
of life (the definition of death); controversies over the uses of biotechnology
“beyond therapy” (psychotropic drugs); and controversies over the beginning of
life (prenatal identity, prenatal genetic manipulation).
Cross listed with Humanities
ETH 3010 x11
CRN:
31971
Professor: Christopher C. Roberts
Time: MW 1:30-3:45
Courtship and the Family
ETH 3010 x39
CRN:
32766
Professor: Joyce Zavarich
Time: W 6:10-8:50
Beyond Forgiveness
ETH
4000-001
CRN:
TBA
Professor: Brett Wilmot
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