Assignment 2

Assignment II: Case With Two Deontogical Arguments

1. Go over the first assignment [case study]:

Make sure the cover is correct
Get the headings right.
Where needed, is there a definition from a specialized source to help make necessary distinctions?
Where needed, is there a Background section (with citations) that situates the case in our historical or cultural context so as to shed light on the action?
Is the case, itself, in a well integrated paragraph with all relevant detail and parenthetical citations?

Where the teacher has said the first case is not suitable, you will have to do another one "from scratch."
Some students' work will require additional information from actual periodicals rather than mere web sites.

Is the action you would like to discuss clearly identified?

2. Now for the arguments: Using the card method [go to 6: to about collecting information] on:

Deontologies: [briefly, state and apply to the action]

Kant's 'Categorical Imperative' [Best to go to Kant's writing and/or the Reserved books.]
Any other deontology such as Rawls' Theory of Justice or W. D Ross 6 "duties".

One religious argument:

Your own religion or another one using appropriate scriptural references in MLA style. (A concordance will help.)

About applying a theory: Link to a teacher's application of various theories (but not only deontology) to a case.

3. State your ethical conclusion in one or two sentences something along the lines of:
"It is clear that, by applying ............, the action --------- must be found to be wrong (or right.) This is supported (or contradicted) by the findings based upon the ------ theory of Ms. XYZ, where we see that the action is ---."

4. Works Cited in MLA format includes any reserve books and any web sites, all integrated into a single alphabetized list.
There are only 3 web sites I have approved for theory research. See Hinman's and UBC's below.

More about format:

Do not waste a whole sheet by putting one or two sentences on it; re-arrange your margins and put headings beside instead of above paragraphs.

This, second, assignment should not add more than one other page to your study.

Works Cited comments in italics

Denise and Peterfreund. Great Traditions in Ethics. Belmont, Cal.: Wadsworth Publishing, 1992. theory

Hinman, Lawrence M. Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory. 2nd ed. theory

-------------------------. Ethics Update. http://ethics.acusd.edu/ January 11, 1999. Links and search engine.

Ethics Web Canada. http://www.ethicsweb.ca/ lots of links to other sites and categories. Available Oct. 2002.

Holt, Helen B. "Notes on Ethics Theory, W2003," Ethics for Creative Arts Students.

---------------- "The Dan Hauser File: Capital Punishment ..." No longer available, Mar. 2003.

Moore, Michael, producer/director. Bowling for Columbine. Film/video/cd. 2000.

Nuland, Sherwin B. How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1994.
No point discussing euthanasia and the death penalty unless you have this background.

"Religion & Ethics Newsweekly," PBS Television. http://www.pbs.org Sunday evenings 6:30 pm on
Mountainlake, Videotron's channel 24.

"Resources," University of British Columbia. http://www.ethics.ubc.ca/resources/misc/topics.html January 11, 1999.
Interesting topics with links, eg. lying, Jewish law, etc.

White, James E. Contemporary Moral Problems. Minneapolis, Minn.: West Publishing, 1997 (5th ed.).

White, Thomas I. Right and Wrong: A Brief Guide to Understanding Ethics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
1988. theory