SPS103 LAW AND ETHICS Full Course Title: Law and Ethics Pravo i etika Course Code: Course Level/BiH cycle: SPS103 I cycle; 1 st year ECTS credit value: 6 Student work-load: For the whole semester: Lectures Tutorial / Practical training Project Individual learning TOTAL 45 15 15 75 150 Length: Fall 2013 Faculty/School/Department: Course leader: FASS; Social Sciences Ahmed Kulanić, Lecturer Contact details: Office: F2.21 e-mail: akulanic@ius.edu.ba Mon 9:00-12:00 Office hours: AM Phone: 033 957 303 Thu 1:00-2:00 PM and by appt. Site: Lectures: IUS main campus building F2.14 Tutorial: F2.14 Host Study Program: Course status: Social and Political Sciences University required course; Pre-requisites: Access restrictions: Assessment: None I cycle students only Homeworks, quizzes, project paper,presentations, exams. Date validated: February, 2015 Course aims: The aims of this course are: To help students to understand the complexities and pros and cons of moral, ethical and legal decision making, and to coherently present both sides To emphasize student s capability to critically assess information, including perspectives contrary to their own ones 1
To assist students to think beyond their geographic, social and religious borders To ensure that students know the historical and geographic context of morals, ethics and law as well as the search for moral and ethical universality To increase students ability to apply ethical theory to practical personal and professional decision-making To increase student s awareness and recognition that ethics is not just a matter of opinion Learning outcomes: Indicative syllabus content: Learning delivery: Assessment Rationale: Assessment Weighting: Essential Reading: Recommended readings: Intranet web reference: Important notes: On successful completion of this course IUS student will be able: 1. To examine and use basic ethical terms and concepts 2. To relate concepts from ethics to different courses 3. To use historical knowledge in understanding arts, architecture, religion, culture and science 4. To demonstrate historical, analytical and comparative skills This is an introductory course in the law and ethics. This course provides an introduction to law, ethical theory and applied ethics from both Western and Islamic perspectives through discussion, analysis and critical examination of historic and contemporary thinking and practices about the law and ethics as a life theory. This course employs a range of teaching and learning methods (lecturing, written assignments, presentations, peer presentation analyses, essays, group discussions, article, presentation/analysis). Students have three hours lectures and one hour practical training a week. Students are also expected to realise two different projects (to be arranged with professor). Learning will consist of knowledge acquisition and practical knowledge gained from the class discussions and debates. Consultations and regular homework assignments will guide students individual learning and students progression in acquiring required knowledge and practice will be additionally checked through quizzes and midterm and final exams. In order to provide solid undergraduate foundation for IUS students and to enable them to develop a critical and evaluative understanding of legal and ethical issues and dilemmas, students are expected to demonstrate commitment and diligence at any time whichever module they take, therefore appropriate assessment methods to help students to stay focused and active, and fully benefit from the Program include presentations, project paper writing, homeworks, quizzes, exams.those methods will check their historical, analytical and comparative skills and acquisition of ethical terms and concepts, as well as their ability to apply them to other scientific fields. 1. Final Exam 40% 2. Midterm Exam 20% 3. Research Paper 15% 4. Book summary and review 10% 5. Presentation of RP 10% 6. Homework 5% Barbara MacKinnon, Andrew Fial (2014). Ethics Theory and Contemporary Issues Cengage Learning. McInerney & Rainbolt. (1994). Ethics. Harper Collins Canada. Cahn & Markie. (2011). Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues, Oxford UP, USA N/A Expected knowledge of: 1. Writing and communication ability 2. Basic knowledge related to terminology used in philosophy and ethics Course policies: Assignments: Each student should complete their assignment on time. Lateness in Assignments: The due date and time for each homework will be specified on the assignment handout itself. Late submissions will be penalized by decreasing homework grades accordingly. Academic Integrity: Any cheating on examinations or quizzes or offering the work of another as one's own in an assignment is regarded as a serious offence to the academic integrity. 2
Important dates: Quality Assurance: Student surveys, discussion on course, student appeals, e-mails, direct (formal) feedback at the end of the semester by students, assistants and other colleagues Course schedule: 3
Week Topics to be covered Class activities Readings Learning objectives (After this lesson student will be able to:) 1 Ethics and Ethical Reasoning Lecturing Chapter 1 Differentiate between instrumental and intrinsic values. Distinguish consequentialist from nonconsequentialist approaches to ethics. Use the distinctions among motives, acts, and consequences to analyze ethical phenomena. Describe the philosophical study of ethics. Understand the difference between normative and descriptive claims. Define key terms: intuitionism, emotivism, objectivism, and subjectivism. Explain the difference between metaethics and normative ethics. Decide whether naturalistic explanations of ethics commit the naturalistic fallacy. 2 Religion and Global Ethics Lecturing Chapter 2 Evaluate the divine command theory of ethics. Differentiate between humanistic and religious approaches to ethics. Understand and apply the argument made in Plato s Euthyphro. Defend your own ideas about ethics, religion, and global cultural diversity. Describe the challenge of developing a global ethical perspective. Understand the idea of universal human rights. Explain the meaning of key terms: cosmopolitan, civil disobedience, pluralism, secularism, humanism, Eurocentrism. 3 Ethical Relativism Lecturing Chapter 3 Describe the difference between descriptive relativism and metaethical relativism. Understand criticisms of objectivism, subjectivism, relativism, and moral realism. Explain how relativism poses a problem for moral judgment. Explain the connections between relativism and pluralism. Evaluate the arguments in favor of and against relativism. Differentiate between relativism and a commitment to tolerance. Understand how relativism might come up in conversations 4
4 Egoism, Altruism, and the Social Contract 5 Utilitarianism and John Stuart Mill 6 Deontological Ethics and Immanuel Kant about concrete moral issues. Defend your own ideas about relativism. Lecturing Chapter 4 Understand how egoism shows up in discussions of laissezfaire capitalism and economics. Evaluate the challenge that egoism poses for the moral point of view. Understand and apply concepts such as ethical egoism and altruism to real world cases. Defend your own ideas about egoism, altruism, and the social contract. Describe the differences between descriptive (or psychological) egoism and ethical egoism. Explain criticisms of altruism and the importance of reciprocal altruism. Understand disputes about the sources of morality and reasons to be moral. Explain the prisoner s dilemma and how it relates to the discussion of egoism and the social contract. Lecturing Chapter 5 Articulate ways that utilitarianism is connected with hedonism and Epicureanism. Apply utilitarian reasoning to a variety of cases in the real world. Provide an overview of John Stuart Mill s defense of utilitarianism. Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of utilitarianism. Understand the differences between utilitarianism and egoism as kinds of consequentialism. Explain the difference between act utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism. Explain the trolley problem and how it exemplifies the challenge of utilitarianism. Identify key components of the utilitarian assessment of pleasure: intensity, duration, fruitfulness, likelihood. Lecturing Chapter 6 Explain the difference between perfect and imperfect duties. Apply Kantian reasoning to a variety of cases in the real world. Provide an overview of Immanuel Kant s moral philosophy. Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of deontological ethics. Understand the difference between consequentialist and 5
7 MIDTERM EXAM nonconsequentialist approaches to ethics. Describe different deontological approaches to ethics. Explain the difference between hypothetical and categorical imperatives. Describe two formulations of the categorical imperative. 8 Natural Law and Human Rights Lecturing Chapter 7 Understand the idea of natural law and how it relates to the idea of human rights. Understand the history of natural law ethics and the human rights tradition. Explain how natural law theory is related to the law of peoples and norms of international law. Identify the contributions to natural law theory made by key thinkers such as Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, and John Locke. Explain the importance of teleology for thinking about natural law. Explain differences between natural law theory and Kantian or utilitarian reasoning. Clarify how natural law arguments are grounded in claims about the essence of human nature. Provide an overview of the natural law argument against relativism. Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of natural law theory and the idea of human rights. 9 Virtue Ethics Lecturing Chapter 8 Identify some features of the diverse cultural approaches to virtue. Explain how the idea of the Golden Mean functions in virtue ethics. Provide an overview of Aristotle s moral philosophy. Defend your own thesis with regard to the value of virtue ethics. Understand how virtue ethics differs from other approaches to ethics. Describe some key virtues and how they are manifest in concrete situations. Explain how virtues are connected to an account of the functions or purposes of human life. Describe how eudaimonia functions in the theory of virtue. 10 Equality and Discrimination Lecturing Chapter 13 Understand the role of discrimination in contemporary societies. 6
Think critically about the idea of race and racism. Explain the idea of institutional racism. Describe and evaluate the principle of equality. Analyze how consequentialist and non-consequentialist reasoning applies in discussions of discrimination and affirmative action. Defend a thesis about the ethics of racial profiling and affirmative action. 11 Economic Justice Lecturing Chapter 14 Explain libertarian and liberal ideas about distributive justice. Describe the difference between procedural and end-state ideas about justice. Recount John Rawls s theory of justice. Defend a thesis about economic justice. Understand current facts with regard to economic inequality. Explain the concept of social justice from both utilitarian and deontological points of view. Describe why charity might be considered supererogatory. Identify differences between capitalism and socialism. 12 Environmental Ethics Lecturing Chapter 16 Explain how cost benefit analysis applies in thinking about environmental issues. Understand the idea of environmental justice. Explain the idea of Leopold s land ethic. Outline basic differences between ecofeminism and deep ecology. Defend a thesis with regard to environmental issues and the value of nonhuman nature. Understand current environmental challenges, including pollution, climate change, and wilderness preservation. Explain the difference between anthropocentric and ecocentric or biocentric ideas about environmental ethics. Clarify the difference between intrinsic value and instrumental value. 13 Violence and War Lecturing Chapter 19 Explain and apply key terms employed in the just war tradition including just cause, legitimate authority, discrimination, and noncombatant immunity. Demonstrate how the doctrine of double effect applies within the just war theory to deal with the problem of collateral damage. Understand the history and concept of war crimes and crimes against humanity. 7
14 Research Projects Presentations 15 Research Projects Presentations Defend your own ideas about the ethics of war. Describe issues arising in the context of the war on terrorism including the use of drones and targeted assassination, and the morality of terrorism and torture. Articulate arguments for pacifism. Articulate arguments for realism. Understand basic distinctions made within the just war theory between jus ad bellum and jus in bello. 8