Discipline/Program: Course Title: Course Rubric and Number: Semester with Course Reference Number (CRN): Course Location/Times:

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1 Discipline/Program: Philosophy Course Title: Philosophy 2306: Introduction to Ethics Course Rubric and Number: PHIL 2306 Semester with Course Reference Number (CRN): Summer 2016; & Intro to Ethics. Course Location/Times: Online Course Semester Credit Hours (SCH): 3 Hours, Lecture Course Contact Hours: 48 Contact Hours Course Continuing Education Units (CEU): 0 Course Length (number of weeks): 8 weeks Type of Instruction: Online Instructor Contact Information: Name: Danny Brown Phone Number (Office): Not in office during summer session. Address: danny.brown@hccs.edu Please remember to put CRN Number (class number) in the subject line of your . Office: I do not have office hours for this class but am always available by at the below addresses or through the Eagle Online system. Please state that you are a DE Student in subject line of all correspondence and which specific class you are enrolled. I will respond within 24 hours, excluding weekends and holidays. Course Description: This is a systemic evaluation of classical and/or contemporary ethical theories concerning the good life, human conduct in society, morals, and standards of value (Texas ACGM). This course provides a practical, community-minded introduction to questions of character and human excellence in a multi-cultural, global environment. Traditional and contemporary views concerning the nature of goodness, happiness, duty, and freedom serve as points of departure for this largely thematic inquiry into right conduct and ways of thinking that leads to that conduct (HCC Catalogue). This course stresses the HCC CORE Objectives of Critical Thinking, Communication, Social Responsibility, and Personal Responsibility. Course Prerequisites: Must be placed into college level reading and college level writing. Course Goal: This course provides a practical, community-minded introduction to questions of character and human excellence in a multi-cultural, global environment. Traditional and contemporary views concerning the nature of goodness, happiness, duty, and freedom serve as points of departure for this largely thematic inquiry into right conduct and ways of thinking that leads to that conduct. Particular emphasis is placed on the scope and problems of sound reasoning and decision-making and may include correlative inquiries into current social, workforce, and professional moral issues. Course Student Learning Outcomes (SLO): 1. Read, analyze, and critique philosophical texts. 2. Define and appropriately use important terms such as relativism, virtue, duty, rights, utilitarianism, natural law, egoism, altruism, autonomy, and care ethics. 3. Demonstrate knowledge of major arguments and problems in ethics. 4. Present and discuss well-reasoned ethical positions in writing. 5. Apply ethical concepts and principles to address moral concerns. 1

2 6. Apply course material to various aspects of life. 7. Discuss ways of living responsibly in a world where people have diverse ethical beliefs. Learning objectives: The student will develop an understanding of: Acquire a broad familiarity with the names of major thinkers, the schools they represent, geographical location, and historical periods Learn historically significant questions of philosophy, definitions of special terms, and concepts of knowledge, ethics, and human condition Cultivate reading comprehension of philosophical writings Distinguish various approaches to interpretation, including conceptual analysis, testing for validity, determining if sound or not sound Articulate the relevance of philosophy and philosophical questioning to everyday life Consider how philosophy may or may not apply to differing ways of thinking and cultural influences Inventory, Summarize, and Assess correlative questions, concepts, and schools of thought found in the history of ideas Create and cultivate alternative philosophical positions on presented course content Develop coherent arguments for chosen positions, bringing to bear the rules of logic, written expression and disciplined thinking Critique chosen positions and adequately Defend against possible objections, both theoretical and applied. Course Calendar: Course Calendar with Due Dates for Assignments LECTURE NOTES ARE POSTED IN EACH SECTION LEARNING MODULE. Students: The Distance Education system automatically locks you out of making submissions for Discussion Boards and Assignments after 11:55 P.M. on the due dates. Discipline yourselves to submit your material before the deadline. Otherwise your score will be zero for the assignment. All assignments due by Wednesday night at 11:55 pm. 2

3 Be diligent: This is a full 16 week course that is being condensed to only 8 weeks! WEEK ONE & TWO (June 6-15) (Reminder: 10 days to finish 2 Discussion Board posts and 1 Short Essay) Introduction to Ethics: Introduction to Ethics, Critical Thinking, and Plagiarism. Read over the syllabus and be VERY FAMILIAR with the policy for ASSIGNMENTS and PLAGIARISM, as well as the COURSE CALENDAR. Does Professor Brown accept late entries? What happens if I cut and paste from the Internet for my assignments? What if I cannot finish an assignment? All of these questions are answered in the syllabus. Go over it. There will be questions on the first practice test over the material provided in the syllabus. Read Power Point: Introduction to Philosophy/Ethics. Take Practice Test: This will acclimate you to DE test taking. Questions are over material in the syllabus. Practice Test Grade not factored in Final Semester Grade. This is for your own benefit. Use it. Learn the Process. Discussion Board Post #1: Mandatory Introductions due by 11:55 p.m. on June 15th. Discussion Board Post #2: What is Plagiarism? Research to be done by student on this subject and subsequent answer(s) due by 11:55 p.m. on June 15 th Short Essay #1: Logical Fallacies due by 11:55 p.m. on June 15th. WEEK THREE (June 16-22) Reading: Euthyphro and/or Read Power Point: Plato Euthyphro.DCT: Quiz #1: Over Plato Power Points and Reading, Timed one hour, one attempt. If you leave browser will not be let back into quiz questions. Due by 11:55 pm. on June 22. WEEK FOUR & WEEK FIVE (June 23-July 6) Suggested Reading: Nicomachean Ethics and/or Read Power Point: Nicomachean Ethics.Virtue Ethics Paper due by 11:55 p.m. on July 6. WEEK SIX (July 7-13) [Reminder: July 11 th at 4:30 pm, last day to drop] Suggested Reading: Utilitarianism and/or An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation Read Power Point: Utilitarianism Ethics Short Essay # 2: due by 11:55 p.m. on July 13. 3

4 WEEK SEVEN (July 14-20) (Suggestion only: If you have time it would be advised to start Week Eight s DB post so you can have the entire week to study for Final Exam) Suggested Reading: Nietzsche: Genealogy of Morality and/or Read Power Point: Nietzsche. Genealogy of Morality Discussion Board Post #3 due by 11:55 p.m. on July 20. WEEK EIGHT (July 21-27) Suggested Reading: Kant: Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and/or Discussion Board Post #4 due by 11:55 p.m. July 27. Final Examination due by 11:55 p.m. July 27. The final exam consists of 50 questions (4pts each) totaling 200pts. Types of questions are true/false and multiple-choice. Most if not all the questions come from the PowerPoints provided throughout this semester. You have only one attempt to take the test, do not leave browser otherwise you will be kicked off. You will have a 2 hour window to finish the exam once you have opened the exam. Good luck. Instructional Methods: Lecture Notes, PowerPoint Presentations, Unit Quizzes, Papers, Essays, Discussion Board Postings and Final Exam. Student Assignments: Read a variety of philosophical material, complete quizzes and exams, submit 1 major paper, 2 Essays, and participate on Discussion Board. Student Assessments: Student Assessments: 4 Discussion Board Postings 4 x 50pts = Quiz 1 x 100pts = Short Essays 2 x 150pts = Paper 1 x 200pts = Final Exam 1 x 200pts = 200 Total points 1000pts NO LATE ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. There will be no extension of due dates and/or make-ups for Online Requirements. Except for a medical excuse, there is no exemption from these rules. Friendly reminder, medical excuses will be fact checked. Plagiarism: ALL SOURCES MUST BE CITED IN THIS CLASS AND YOUR PAPERS MAY NOT BE TAKEN WORD FOR WORD (CUT AND PASTED) FROM INTERNET SITES. THIS WILL RESULT IN AN F IN THE COURSE. I DO RUN ALL ASSIGNMENTS THROUGH A PLAGIARISM WEBSITE CHECKER. 4

5 Discussion Board: (4 x 50pts = 200) Each student is required to participate in public discussion forums. Discussion satisfies the intellectual competencies of reading, writing, critical thinking, and computer literacy. Discussion is to be found under the discussion tools section of the Blackboard course. The discussion section is divided into topics. Under each topic the instructor will initiate the discussion by posing a given philosophical question. Student responses to the discussions should be a minimum of one paragraph (minimum of 5 or more coherent sentences on the same topic). Paragraphs should end with a question. Students should read and post to the discussions according to the reading schedule. Once closed the discussions will not be reopened and no late discussion postings are accepted. Use your own words. If you Plagiarize you will Fail The Course. Students should respond to follow up questions posted. Everyone should post at least once during the discussion. These Discussion Board topics will be utilized as a public learning forum for the entire DE class. Ask pertinent questions about the subject at hand. The instructor may guide the discussion with his own threads. My threads will be posted in capital letters. It does not indicate that he is yelling, it is just a good way of distinguishing his comments from the students. Public discussions make up 20% of the final grade. Public discussions will be graded once they have closed. All Points will be awarded for completed topics. Once graded, the student's score can be found under the grades section on Eagle Online. Quiz: 1 x 100pts =100) The quizzes are due on Eagle Online by 11:55 P.M. on the date that is posted in the syllabus Short Essays: (2 x 150pts = 300) Write a minimum of three paragraphs for essay answering the topic given. The essays will be completed and submitted by the time specified on the course calendar. Please note, these examinations are essays in answer to a specific question that seeks your understanding of the course content. These essays are not to be construed as being research papers and all questions are to be addressed as asked. The grading of exams follows established standards of critical thinking and philosophical argumentation. You will be submitting your essays through Eagle Online which will forward it to turnitin.com. If you feel that your essay may not have submitted properly to turnitin.com you may also me your essay (attached) by the due date and I will accept your submission. Plagiarism will result in a 0 for the course. F. Paper: (1 x 200 pts. = 200) The papers are due on Eagle Online by 11:55 P.M. on the date that is posted in the syllabus. These assignments should contain normal margins, New Times Roman, 12 point font, double spaced. The papers are to be at least the minimum of 3 full pages worth of work. Not including title page and citation/resource page. All sources require full citations. All references to texts and other copyrighted sources are to follow MLA style guides, including a Work s Cited page. Important: I will be processing your papers ALL of your papers through turnitin.com. If you cite any source it must be in quotations and referenced on your resource page. If not, you will receive an F for the course!!! Please do not make this mistake. Quick Outline of Paper requirements: 3-5 Pages. This means the minimum of 3 full pages worth of work. Not including title page (if you choose to make one) and citation/resource page. 5

6 You will be submitting your paper on Eagle online which will automatically upload it to turnitin.com. Do not wait until the last minute to upload papers. I DO NOT ACCEPT LATE PAPERS! IF and ONLY IF you run into a problem uploading paper, send an attachment of your paper to me through . This also has to be posted (sent) BEFORE due date and I will accept the paper and upload it to turnitin.com manually. Plagiarism will result in failing the course. (As if I haven t said this enough.) You can tell the problems I ran into last semester, thus the redundancy of this statement. Cite all sources Do not attach any paper in wps. Format I will not be able to open it. If you do I will drop your paper assignment one letter grade. Students in the past have done this to buy themselves more time. Just do not do it. Cumulative Final Examination :( 1 x 200 pts. = 200) Course Materials: I will make ALL of the required and suggested readings available via Online to opensource files. I also recommend, for each topic we cover, looking it up on either, or both, of the following online encyclopedias: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (SEP) and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (IEP) You may also use any reliable outside sources for this course to obtain information to answer any and all assignments. Obviously, if you choose to directly quote a source be diligent and cite the source to avoid plagiarism and the consequences of such action. (I.e. failing the course) Also very useful is the following philosophy website: - this site has a dictionary, study guides, history, individual philosophers as well as notes on logic and writing philosophy essays (in study guide section). CLASS ATTENDANCE As stated in the HCC Catalog, all students are expected to attend classes regularly. Students in DE courses must log into their EO2 class or they will be counted as absent. Just like an oncampus class, your regular participation is required. Although it is the responsibility of the student to withdraw officially from a course, the professor also has the authority to block a student from accessing EO2 for failure to participate regularly. DE students who do not log into their EO2 class before the Official Day of Record will be automatically reported to the state for non-attendance which could affect your financial aid and consequent grade. Completing the DE online orientation does not count as attendance. DISABILITY SERVICES Any student with a documented disability (e.g. physical, learning, psychiatric, vision, hearing, etc.) who needs to arrange reasonable accommodations must contact the Disability Support Services Office at the beginning of each semester. Professors are authorized to provide only the accommodations requested by the Disability Support Services Office. DE students who are requesting special testing accommodations may choose the most convenient DSS office for assistance each semester: 6

7 District ADA Coordinator Donna Price Central ADA Counselors Jaime Torres & Martha Scribner Northeast ADA Counselor- Kim Ingram Northwest ADA Counselor MahnazKolaini Southeast ADA Counselor Jette Lott Southwest ADA Counselor Dr. Becky Hauri Coleman ADA Counselor Dr. Raj Gupta After student accommodation letters have been approved by the DSS office and submitted to DE Counseling for processing, students will receive an confirmation informing them of the Instructional Support Specialist (ISS) assigned to their professor. VIRTUAL CLASSROOM CONDUCT As with on-campus classes, all students in HCC Distance Education courses are required to follow all HCC Policies & Procedures, the Student Code of Conduct, the Student Handbook, and relevant sections of the Texas Education Code when interacting and communicating in a virtual classroom with your professor and fellow students. Students who violate these policies and guidelines will be subject to disciplinary action that could include denial of access to course-related , discussion groups, and chat rooms or even removal from the class. The Distance Education Student Handbook contains policies and procedures unique to the DE student. Students should have reviewed the handbook as part of the mandatory orientation. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the handbook's contents. The handbook contains valuable information, answers, and resources, such as DE contacts, policies and procedures (how to drop, attendance requirements, etc.), student services (ADA, financial aid, degree planning, etc.), course information, testing procedures, technical support, and academic calendars. Refer to the DE Student Handbook by visiting this link: Withdrawal policy-if the student has not completed the orientation and one class exercise, either unit assignment or discussion entry, they may be dropped. I will not initiate a withdrawal except through the early warning system. Students may withdraw themselves online. If they wish to withdraw they must do so by July 11th, 4:30 p.m. This syllabus is meant as a guide and is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor. Instructor Requirements: 4 Discussion Board Postings, 1 Quiz, 2 Short Essays, 1 Paper, and 1 Final Exam. Program/Discipline Requirements: A minimum of 50% of the student s semester average must come from writing assignments. Grading Scale: A = B = C = D = F = 599 and below Instructor Grading Criteria: The semester grade will be calculated by: 4 Discussion Board Postings (20%), Quiz (10%), 2 Short Essays (30%), 1 Paper (20%) and a Final Exam (20%). There is no extra credit offered. 7

8 QUICK REFERENCE: 1. When you me, state which specific DE course you are enrolled in. 2. I do not give extra credit assignments. 3. All due dates are due on Wednesday by 11:55 pm. 4. I do not accept late assignments. 5. All Discussion Board Posts have to be at LEAST 5 sentences long. 6. All Essays must be a minimum of 3 paragraphs long. 7. Paper has to be at LEAST 3 full pages worth of work. Not including citation page and/or title page if you choose to include one. 8. If you feel that your essay/paper may not have submitted properly to turnitin.com you may also me your essay/paper (attached) by the due date and I will accept your submission. 9. If you wait until the last day (the due date: Wednesday) to take the exams, I will not re-set the test for you. NO EXCEPTIONS. Take tests before last due date in case of computer problems. 10. If you plagiarize, you will fail the course and be reported to the head of the department. (End) 8