For each area, there is an error or defect (-), an absence or deficiency (0), and an excelence or virtue (+). They are listed below each general aspect of thinking.
What you think about: Focus
(-)Vain, Worthless, (0)Vague, Passive, (+) Decorous, Proper
What you believe: Knowledge
(-)Erroneous, (0) Ignorant, (+) Knowledgeable
How you think: Processing
(-) Stupid, (0) Dull, (+) Smart
All three areas combined:
(-) Foolish, (0) Naive, (+) Wise
Thursday, April 30, 2009
C4. Comfort and Change
People will change when the pain of staying where they are becomes greater than the prospective pain of attempting to make a change in their lives.
C3. Idea Viruses and Responsibility
Meme: idea large enough to influence behavior, but small enough to be identified as one concept.
Ideas are a lot like microbes, in the way they grow and influence us, are propagated, and controlled or protected against.
Ideas are a lot like microbes, in the way they grow and influence us, are propagated, and controlled or protected against.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Some General Instructions
1. From week to week, I’m going to simplify things for you by just having you send me the homework, the weekly response, and the criteria altogether. As per the syllabus, you can earn up to a total of 30 points for WRs. But in the class, that was usually an opportunity to respond to anywhere from 5 to 9 criteria presented over the course of the week. Since one hour per week is likely to be much slower (as last night proves), I’ll allow you to still comment on two ideas per week if you want to. Just keep in mind that this would normally be 2 out of 5-9 rather than 2 out of 2, so if you only want to do one per week, that would make perfect sense. In any case, when you get to 30, you may keep doing them, but you won’t get any extra credit. I just didn’t want you to feel like you had to force two out of only one hour, which wouldn’t normally be a problem.
2. Send everything to me by noon on Monday. Please send it in a text email, Arial black (I find other fonts hard to read) rather than an attachment. This will allow me to comment back to you easily. I will be trying to get them graded/commented on and returned to you before the show that evening. This allows me to clarify anything before moving on, so that misunderstandings don’t compound.
3. When you listen to a show, you get credit for that hour, but obviously I need you to tell me the fact. So, along with your HW, WR, CR email, you can include a notice that you did or did not hear the previous show.
4. I’m really hoping you guys will make use of the blog comments section, so I’m going to make a post for every Criteria we cover. They will not have much details, essentially only what I would ordinarily have put on the board in class and possibly things that I did not have time to include in the broadcast. As I said, I hope you will treat these like discussion zones.
5. Podcasting. I know. I know. Not yet. Hopefully, but no promises. On the flip side, there was never a podcast for my lectures in class. People who wanted to make up work had to get notes from someone who was there. Unless I’m mistaken about how Outlook works, the recipients of this email should have the ability to contact other class members by email pretty easily.
6. Emailing me during the show is a great way to get questions answered. Obviously, you can also call (602) 274-1360.
7. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m pretty excited to be doing this, and I hope you are also. =)
2. Send everything to me by noon on Monday. Please send it in a text email, Arial black (I find other fonts hard to read) rather than an attachment. This will allow me to comment back to you easily. I will be trying to get them graded/commented on and returned to you before the show that evening. This allows me to clarify anything before moving on, so that misunderstandings don’t compound.
3. When you listen to a show, you get credit for that hour, but obviously I need you to tell me the fact. So, along with your HW, WR, CR email, you can include a notice that you did or did not hear the previous show.
4. I’m really hoping you guys will make use of the blog comments section, so I’m going to make a post for every Criteria we cover. They will not have much details, essentially only what I would ordinarily have put on the board in class and possibly things that I did not have time to include in the broadcast. As I said, I hope you will treat these like discussion zones.
5. Podcasting. I know. I know. Not yet. Hopefully, but no promises. On the flip side, there was never a podcast for my lectures in class. People who wanted to make up work had to get notes from someone who was there. Unless I’m mistaken about how Outlook works, the recipients of this email should have the ability to contact other class members by email pretty easily.
6. Emailing me during the show is a great way to get questions answered. Obviously, you can also call (602) 274-1360.
7. Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m pretty excited to be doing this, and I hope you are also. =)
Monday, April 20, 2009
Homework 2
Instructions for HW 2: Answer the following questions. The more you think about your answers, the more valuable class will be to you. Email to atallman (at) salemphx.com by 12PM 4/27.
1. Is the person who wins the argument right?
2. Do people who think fast tend to be right more often or wrong more often?
3. Have you ever lost an argument but still refused to change your mind? Why?
4. Have you ever won an argument but knew you were wrong? How? What did you do?
5. What does it mean to be open-minded?
6. Why might someone say that being judgmental is the most valuable thing humans do with their thinking?
7. Are there any subjects about which you should not be open-minded?
8. Is there any belief you have that you would not give up no matter what the evidence against it was?
9. Is there any belief you would not accept regardless of the arguments for it?
10. How important is proof to you? Why?
11. Do you believe in God? What would it take to change your mind?
12. Do you believe in life on other planets? What would it take to change your mind?
13. Do you believe politicians are trustworthy? What would it take to change your mind?
14. What does it practically mean when you trust someone?
15. How do you decide whom to trust? Do you start with trust or distrust toward strangers?
16. If you disagree with an authority (parent, law, boss, priest, e.g.), how do you handle that problem?
17. Under what circumstances will you do what someone says to do even though you disagree with him?
1. Is the person who wins the argument right?
2. Do people who think fast tend to be right more often or wrong more often?
3. Have you ever lost an argument but still refused to change your mind? Why?
4. Have you ever won an argument but knew you were wrong? How? What did you do?
5. What does it mean to be open-minded?
6. Why might someone say that being judgmental is the most valuable thing humans do with their thinking?
7. Are there any subjects about which you should not be open-minded?
8. Is there any belief you have that you would not give up no matter what the evidence against it was?
9. Is there any belief you would not accept regardless of the arguments for it?
10. How important is proof to you? Why?
11. Do you believe in God? What would it take to change your mind?
12. Do you believe in life on other planets? What would it take to change your mind?
13. Do you believe politicians are trustworthy? What would it take to change your mind?
14. What does it practically mean when you trust someone?
15. How do you decide whom to trust? Do you start with trust or distrust toward strangers?
16. If you disagree with an authority (parent, law, boss, priest, e.g.), how do you handle that problem?
17. Under what circumstances will you do what someone says to do even though you disagree with him?
C2. The Importance of Thinking Well
T --> A --> C
Thinking -->Actions-->Circumstances
T-->A = Freedom or Free Will
A-->C = Responsibility
Consequentialism: something is right because it produces a good result.
Deontology: something is right because it is inherently good or right.
This is a consequentialist model, but one could also say thinking is important deontologically by claiming that it is in humans' nature (whether designed by God or evolution) to think, therefore we should express our designed nature and think well.
Thinking -->Actions-->Circumstances
T-->A = Freedom or Free Will
A-->C = Responsibility
Consequentialism: something is right because it produces a good result.
Deontology: something is right because it is inherently good or right.
This is a consequentialist model, but one could also say thinking is important deontologically by claiming that it is in humans' nature (whether designed by God or evolution) to think, therefore we should express our designed nature and think well.
C1. Three Kinds of Education
Classic Conservative: Teach one set of ideas --> Unity
Classic Liberal: Exposure -->Understanding-->Judgment
Modern Liberal: Exposure-->Understanding-->Get along
Classic Liberal: Exposure -->Understanding-->Judgment
Modern Liberal: Exposure-->Understanding-->Get along
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Homework 1
Note on homework assignments: Many questions are phrased so that a “Yes” or “No” could be given. However, answering “Yes” or “No” will not earn you credit. You must say why you give that response. In other words, think about what the question is asking you to consider, and give an appropriately thoughtful response. Keep in mind that these questions ARE designed to make you think. They may even make you feel confused as you try to give clear answers to them. That is part of the point. Homework is supposed to take you about an hour to an hour and a half. If you find yourself taking less time, it probably means you aren’t doing enough thinking about the questions. If you find yourself taking much more time, see me. Please don’t spend three or four hours on an assignment and then come to class complaining about the amount of work. Just do what you can in that rough time frame.
Instructions for HW 1: Answer the following questions. The more you think about your answers, the more valuable class will be to you. Email to atallman (at) salemphx.com by 12PM 4/20.
1. What influences your thinking about right/wrong?
2. Have you changed significantly over the course of your life in thinking about right and wrong? How?
3. What rules or principles do you try to follow in your life?
4. Why is it important to think well?
5. The Declaration of Independence claims that “All men are created equal….” Does this mean that all people are equally able to think well?
6. What standards does our society use to determine how well someone thinks? Are these good measures of thinking ability? Why or why not?
7. How would you know if someone is a “wise man?”
8. What does the word “responsibility” mean?
9. How are ideas transferred from one person to another?
10. If a teacher enables a student to do something good in life, should the teacher receive praise for it?
11. If a teacher enables a student to do something awful in life, should the teacher be blamed for it?
12. What makes humans different from animals?What areas of life are important to think well in to be successful/happy?
Instructions for HW 1: Answer the following questions. The more you think about your answers, the more valuable class will be to you. Email to atallman (at) salemphx.com by 12PM 4/20.
1. What influences your thinking about right/wrong?
2. Have you changed significantly over the course of your life in thinking about right and wrong? How?
3. What rules or principles do you try to follow in your life?
4. Why is it important to think well?
5. The Declaration of Independence claims that “All men are created equal….” Does this mean that all people are equally able to think well?
6. What standards does our society use to determine how well someone thinks? Are these good measures of thinking ability? Why or why not?
7. How would you know if someone is a “wise man?”
8. What does the word “responsibility” mean?
9. How are ideas transferred from one person to another?
10. If a teacher enables a student to do something good in life, should the teacher receive praise for it?
11. If a teacher enables a student to do something awful in life, should the teacher be blamed for it?
12. What makes humans different from animals?What areas of life are important to think well in to be successful/happy?
Monday, April 13, 2009
Syllabus
Introductory Note for Radio Listeners
This class will be held on Monday evenings at 6PM on AM1360 KPXQ in Phoenix or may be listened to on the Internet at http://www.kpxq1360.com/ it will last for as long as it takes to go through this material. My best estimate is 5-6 months, but I'm not really sure because I haven't done this on the air before. There are three degrees of participation.
1. You may listen to the shows.
2. You may listen to the shows and occasionally do some of the work and interact with the blog I’ve set up for the course.
3. You may treat this as if were actually a college course, doing the assignments, participating in the discussions, and turning in work to me for credit. That means you’ll want to take notes during the show, if you can. If you’re driving, I know this will not be possible, and since I don’t have podcasting at the moment, I don’t have a great solution for you. Discussions will be held on the blog comments threads unless I think of a better format.
I will grade and comment on your work if you want to be in group 3, presuming that I don’t have so many people sign up that the numbers become prohibitive. Until that problem occurs, I will treat this as if it is a class I am teaching. If you’re interested in actually taking the class, email me to be on that list, and then email me your work as you complete it. Use this email: atallman (at) salemphx.com (You’ll have to manually replace the (at) with the @ symbol. I do this to reduce spam. If you want to be included on the class list, tell me, and I will send out an email with all enrollees in a week or two. Everything else here is written primarily to those who want to take this as a course. Enjoy.
Synopsis
Philosophy is not the accumulation of facts. The essence of philosophy is the ability to think about the important areas of life and come to conclusions which then lead to actions which improve your own quality of life. Too often, philosophy courses are nothing more than the memorization of other people’s ideas. Ethics in particular is a perfect example of this problem, often becoming a history class rather than a course to help you learn to make good decisions about your life. I refuse to teach this way. Instead, I believe philosophy should focus on the development of the student’s ability to think well.
Thinking is a learned skill, and skills cannot be developed by merely listening to a radio show. The ability to think well is not easily developed. If it were, everyone would have it. Clearly they do not. Since my purpose is to help you to think better about ethics, this class will be very thought intensive, action oriented, and practical. That means it will not be easy, but it will be productive. If you have ever had a class which you doubted would have any impact on your life in five or ten years, you will understand the problem I am attempting to avoid. I can guarantee from experience that this class will not fall into this category…provided that you engage in the assignments and activities of class. If all you want from this class is a grade, you may well be better off taking it with someone else. If instead you genuinely want to learn about ethics and be able to make better ethical decisions in the future, stay here, and you will not be disappointed.
People sometimes complain about the amount of work I assign or my personality in teaching. They never complain about the value of the class or the impact of it on their thinking. I design my courses so that there is more than enough content to satisfy anyone, and you can choose what to take from them what you find beneficial. Think of this as a smorgasbord, where there is much more available than anyone will want individually. We will touch on a great many subjects, without deeply investigating any of them. You will not always agree with me. In fact, I expect this class will upset you sometimes, perhaps often. If it does not, then either we aren’t talking about anything important, or you already have a very reliable ethical framework. I have two basic goals for this class:
1. You should come to understand many different and new viewpoints on how to live well.
2. This understanding will allow you to make more excellent ethical decisions and have better lives.
Grading
Once you grasp the grading system, I think you will really enjoy it. It is really quite simple. Everything you do will earn a certain number of points. The final grade for the class is based entirely on how many points you earn. Every one of you starts with zero points, and there are no letter grades for anything in this class until the final grade.
Attendance (50 maximum)
Each hour of the show you listen to earns one point, although only Monday’s at 6 count. Notice that attendance, like everything else in my grading system is a positive only. You start with zero, and accumulate points as you earn them. If you are listening, you get the point. If you are not, you don’t. Therefore, there is never a need to explain or excuse any absences you experience. If there is an extreme situation such as a heart transplant, we will work out alternative arrangements. Otherwise, this portion of your grade simply depends on how many days you come to class, not (as with some grading systems) on how many days you miss. The reason you get credit for being in class is that being here is a central component of the learning you will do this semester.
Homework (40 maximum)
There will be homework assignments given to prepare you for each class discussion. Most homework assignments you complete earn two points, provided you do them thoroughly. Some will be worth more because they require more work. Each homework assignment is due on the day assigned before class begins. You may perform the homework and give it to me ahead of time if you are going to be absent for whatever reason. Credit on the homework does not depend on getting the “right” answers. Instead it depends on you showing me you have done the exercise as best you could. In my class, homework is not designed to make you practice what you have already learned. Instead, homework is designed to stimulate your thinking in preparation for learning the things we will cover in class.
Criteria (70 maximum)
Because tests are often counter-productive to learning, I do not use them. Instead, each week, you will have a writing assignment which will be the equivalent of a take-home test. The first ¾ of the semester will be spent going over a series of concepts itemized on the attached list. We will cover 5-10 of these per week. Then you will select the criteria you think you understand the best, and you will write a summary which explains each concept in such a way that I can tell you understand it. This means writing a paragraph or two for each one, but I am not setting a length requirement. The key is for me to know you understand the idea. The guiding principle in writing the criteria is that you should be able to read your summary out loud without elaboration to someone who does not know the material, and that person should be able to learn it from what you have written. For each of these assignments you turn in, you will receive points depending on how many of the attempted criteria you summarized properly. If you do not pass a particular one, you will have one week to submit a revision along with the original graded paper in order to attempt to pass it again. If you continue not passing, you may continue resubmitting.
Weekly Responses (30 maximum)
During the course of this class, many ideas will be discussed which should stimulate your thinking. The purpose of the WR is for you to take something you find interesting and disagree with it, respond to it, or expand on it with your own thoughts and applications to life. Many times the lecture will pass too quickly for you to process the ideas properly. The WR gives you a chance to take your time and think through the implications of an idea and respond to it at your own pace without the pressure of other people evaluating you on the spot. It also allows you a chance to consider topics not explicitly covered as criteria. Questions, criticisms, examples, applications, expansions are all appropriate in the WR. There will not always be enough time for thorough discussion of the ideas presented in class lectures. The WR gives each and every one of you a chance to voice your thoughts about ideas covered in class as well as ask any questions about the material. Think of this assignment as a short office visit with me after every class period. You could also think of this as an editorial response to the week’s material. Each week, you will select up to two ideas you find interesting and discuss your thoughts on them. These are due at the beginning of the next week of instruction. I expect each of the two thoughts to be around one third to half a page in length.
Ethical Experiments (20 maximum)
Since ethics is a practical field which deals with the way you live your daily lives, it only makes sense that you would have learning opportunities outside of the classroom. I will be offering you a series of ten different week-long experiments which are designed to cultivate various experiences and character skills. After conducting the experiment in your own life for a week, you will write a short (½ page) paper explaining how it went and what you learned. After we begin doing these, feel free to suggest ones to me if you think of any that might be interesting.
Reading Reports (20 maximum)
Another way of earning points this semester is by reading and discussing selections from texts relevant to ethics. You will have the chance to pick from a list of recommended readings and write a short paper about what you have read. As you would suspect, I will want you to write a summary of the contents of the selection and then write a thoughtful response of your own to the ideas in the reading. Each report will be worth four points (2 for the reading itself and two for the paper), and you may complete up to five of these for credit this semester.
Teaching Project (10)
Many of the things you learn in this class should be useful to you in your daily lives. As such, they would also be useful to other people. For your own benefit and also for the benefit of those around you, you will perform a teaching exercise to teach some of these ideas to others outside of class. This means teaching a group (4-8 people) some (3-4) of the criteria from class. You may select which ones interest you most. Your project proposal will explain to me what topics you will cover, how you will teach them, and what evaluation methods you will use. If your plan is thorough enough, I will approve it and you may do the project. What I am looking for in the plan is for you to be completely ready to do the teaching with whatever preparation you have already done for the proposal. In other words, all you should need is approval from me and the people to begin. After teaching your group, you will submit a brief (2-3 page) paper explaining what you did to teach them, how it went, and what you learned from the exercise.
Final Paper (5)
Instead of taking a final exam, you will submit a short (2-3 page) paper in which you will discuss what you have learned this semester, how this class has impacted your thinking, and how you plan to live differently as a result. You should also discuss what you think was done well in this course and what could be done to make this course more effective. This is something you should do for any class, but in my class it is an actual assignment.
Make-up Assignments
My policy on missed work is simple. All assignments are due when stated, whether you are in class or not. You are allowed a one week extension on up to ten points of work during the semester. You do not need to explain why the work is late, simply turn it in with a note that you are using an extension. These may apply to any assignment except the final paper (because it is due the last day of class.) Anything above these ten points worth of late assignments will not be counted for credit. Note: revisions of criteria do not count against your extensions.
Summary
The purpose of all this is to let you know ahead of time exactly what you are expected to know or be able to do in order to earn the various grades. In part this is to remove my subjective judgments from the grading process. It is also to give you a specific idea of what you may expect to learn in this class. I also like this system because it puts the responsibility for education back on the student, where it should be. I am here to make your education possible, but you are responsible for becoming educated.
Your commitment is to show up and do the things I ask you to do in and out of class as best you can. My obligation is to conduct class in such a way that if you do your part then you will get the grade you desire. My real goal is that you learn as much as possible from me, and I have found that students learn better when they are challenged, know what is expected of them, and given the freedom to earn their rewards based on their individual effort. My most frustrating college classes were the vague ones where I didn’t know what I was supposed to do or where I felt my grade depended on the whim of the instructor. In my class, your grade is entirely up to you. If you earn an A and we do not get along, you get an A. If we are best of friends, but you earn an F, you get an F. However, it is my sincere hope that everyone would choose to earn an A. I have no problem giving everyone an A…if they earn it. I also have no problem giving everyone an F…if they earn it.
There are many different kinds of work you can do to earn points toward a grade. I think of a grade as a total amount of learning acquired through work done rather than as the percentage of some maximum number of possible points. This system allows you to choose which kinds of points you want to focus on earning, so you get to select the kind of learning activities which are most useful to you. You should plan precisely how you want to achieve the grade you desire and do the appropriate work. I guarantee that you will have earned whatever grade you receive. If you do more than is required for your grade, you will certainly learn more, but such benefit is optional.
Below is an rough estimate of the time I expect each kind of assignment to require. These numbers are based on responses from previous students, and they are somewhat above the actual averages reported, just to be safe. Some of you will require more time, most less. The total time is an estimate of how much time will be spent out of class per three hour in-class session, assuming that you do all the assigned work.
Assignment------------Points-----Approximate Time To Complete
Attendance---------------50 Total----1 hour per point (during show)
Homework----------------40 Total-----1 to 1½ hour per 2 points
Criteria---------------------70 Total----½ to 1 hour per 2 points
Weekly Response-----30 Total----¾ to 1 hour per 2 points
Ethical Experiment----20 Total----1 to 1½ hour per 2 points
Reading Reports-------20 Total----1½ to 2 hours per 4 points
Teaching Project-------10 Total----4-5 hours for 10 points
Final Paper--------------05 Total----1½ to 2 hours for 5 points
Total------------------------245-----------Approx. 4-7 hours per week
Grade Scale
A = 180
B = 160
C = 140
D = 120
Criteria List
1. Three Styles of Education
2. Importance of Thinking Well
3. Idea Viruses and Responsibility
4. Comfort and Change
5. Aspects of Thinking
6. Levels of Thinking
7. Areas of Thinking
8. Intelligence Trap and Reason
9. Open vs. Closed Minded
10. Proof, Doubt, and Skepticism
11. Principles and Exceptions
12. Levels of Cognitive Maturity
13. Paradigms and Worldviews
14. Programming and Relativism
15. Experience and Empiricism
16. Reason and Rationalism
17. Faith and Realism
18. 95% Rule
19. Fruit on the Trees Principle
20. Principle of Association
21. Liberal Flaw/Excellence Model
22. Presumptive Morality
23. Tolerance and Judgment
24. Temptations vs. Dilemmas
25. Morality and the Law
26. Culture, Normality, and Archetypes
27. Persuasion, Emotion, Bonding
28. Hypocrisy and Ideals
29. Little Things and Big Things
30. Segmented vs. Unified Character
31. Tallman’s Theory
32. Is and Ought
33. Moral Authority and Religion
34. Can, Should, and Must
35. If and How
36. Why Moral Theories Matter
37. Explain Individual Relativism
38. Critique Individual Relativism
39. Explain Cultural Relativism
40. Critique Cultural Relativism
41. Explain Ethical Egoism
42. Critique Ethical Egoism
43. Explain Utilitarianism
44. Critique Utilitarianism
45. Explain Kantianism
46. Critique Kantianism
47. Explain Social Contract Theory
48. Critique Social Contract Theory
49. Explain Virtue Theory
50. Critique Virtue Theory
51. Explain Divine Command Theory
52. Critique Divine Command Theory
53. Explain Natural Law Theory
54. Critique Natural Law Theory
55. Freedom and Morality
56. Self-rule and Government
57. The Nature of Civil Government
58. Crisis, Fear, and Power
59. Rule of Law
60. Rights and Justice
61. Legal Plunder
62. Tradition and Democracy
63. Scarcity and Abundance
64. Value Theory of Wealth
65. Technology and Wealth
66. Value-Splitting
67. Supply-Side Economics
68. Justice and Equality
69. ESBI and Education
70. Cash-flow Model
This class will be held on Monday evenings at 6PM on AM1360 KPXQ in Phoenix or may be listened to on the Internet at http://www.kpxq1360.com/ it will last for as long as it takes to go through this material. My best estimate is 5-6 months, but I'm not really sure because I haven't done this on the air before. There are three degrees of participation.
1. You may listen to the shows.
2. You may listen to the shows and occasionally do some of the work and interact with the blog I’ve set up for the course.
3. You may treat this as if were actually a college course, doing the assignments, participating in the discussions, and turning in work to me for credit. That means you’ll want to take notes during the show, if you can. If you’re driving, I know this will not be possible, and since I don’t have podcasting at the moment, I don’t have a great solution for you. Discussions will be held on the blog comments threads unless I think of a better format.
I will grade and comment on your work if you want to be in group 3, presuming that I don’t have so many people sign up that the numbers become prohibitive. Until that problem occurs, I will treat this as if it is a class I am teaching. If you’re interested in actually taking the class, email me to be on that list, and then email me your work as you complete it. Use this email: atallman (at) salemphx.com (You’ll have to manually replace the (at) with the @ symbol. I do this to reduce spam. If you want to be included on the class list, tell me, and I will send out an email with all enrollees in a week or two. Everything else here is written primarily to those who want to take this as a course. Enjoy.
Synopsis
Philosophy is not the accumulation of facts. The essence of philosophy is the ability to think about the important areas of life and come to conclusions which then lead to actions which improve your own quality of life. Too often, philosophy courses are nothing more than the memorization of other people’s ideas. Ethics in particular is a perfect example of this problem, often becoming a history class rather than a course to help you learn to make good decisions about your life. I refuse to teach this way. Instead, I believe philosophy should focus on the development of the student’s ability to think well.
Thinking is a learned skill, and skills cannot be developed by merely listening to a radio show. The ability to think well is not easily developed. If it were, everyone would have it. Clearly they do not. Since my purpose is to help you to think better about ethics, this class will be very thought intensive, action oriented, and practical. That means it will not be easy, but it will be productive. If you have ever had a class which you doubted would have any impact on your life in five or ten years, you will understand the problem I am attempting to avoid. I can guarantee from experience that this class will not fall into this category…provided that you engage in the assignments and activities of class. If all you want from this class is a grade, you may well be better off taking it with someone else. If instead you genuinely want to learn about ethics and be able to make better ethical decisions in the future, stay here, and you will not be disappointed.
People sometimes complain about the amount of work I assign or my personality in teaching. They never complain about the value of the class or the impact of it on their thinking. I design my courses so that there is more than enough content to satisfy anyone, and you can choose what to take from them what you find beneficial. Think of this as a smorgasbord, where there is much more available than anyone will want individually. We will touch on a great many subjects, without deeply investigating any of them. You will not always agree with me. In fact, I expect this class will upset you sometimes, perhaps often. If it does not, then either we aren’t talking about anything important, or you already have a very reliable ethical framework. I have two basic goals for this class:
1. You should come to understand many different and new viewpoints on how to live well.
2. This understanding will allow you to make more excellent ethical decisions and have better lives.
Grading
Once you grasp the grading system, I think you will really enjoy it. It is really quite simple. Everything you do will earn a certain number of points. The final grade for the class is based entirely on how many points you earn. Every one of you starts with zero points, and there are no letter grades for anything in this class until the final grade.
Attendance (50 maximum)
Each hour of the show you listen to earns one point, although only Monday’s at 6 count. Notice that attendance, like everything else in my grading system is a positive only. You start with zero, and accumulate points as you earn them. If you are listening, you get the point. If you are not, you don’t. Therefore, there is never a need to explain or excuse any absences you experience. If there is an extreme situation such as a heart transplant, we will work out alternative arrangements. Otherwise, this portion of your grade simply depends on how many days you come to class, not (as with some grading systems) on how many days you miss. The reason you get credit for being in class is that being here is a central component of the learning you will do this semester.
Homework (40 maximum)
There will be homework assignments given to prepare you for each class discussion. Most homework assignments you complete earn two points, provided you do them thoroughly. Some will be worth more because they require more work. Each homework assignment is due on the day assigned before class begins. You may perform the homework and give it to me ahead of time if you are going to be absent for whatever reason. Credit on the homework does not depend on getting the “right” answers. Instead it depends on you showing me you have done the exercise as best you could. In my class, homework is not designed to make you practice what you have already learned. Instead, homework is designed to stimulate your thinking in preparation for learning the things we will cover in class.
Criteria (70 maximum)
Because tests are often counter-productive to learning, I do not use them. Instead, each week, you will have a writing assignment which will be the equivalent of a take-home test. The first ¾ of the semester will be spent going over a series of concepts itemized on the attached list. We will cover 5-10 of these per week. Then you will select the criteria you think you understand the best, and you will write a summary which explains each concept in such a way that I can tell you understand it. This means writing a paragraph or two for each one, but I am not setting a length requirement. The key is for me to know you understand the idea. The guiding principle in writing the criteria is that you should be able to read your summary out loud without elaboration to someone who does not know the material, and that person should be able to learn it from what you have written. For each of these assignments you turn in, you will receive points depending on how many of the attempted criteria you summarized properly. If you do not pass a particular one, you will have one week to submit a revision along with the original graded paper in order to attempt to pass it again. If you continue not passing, you may continue resubmitting.
Weekly Responses (30 maximum)
During the course of this class, many ideas will be discussed which should stimulate your thinking. The purpose of the WR is for you to take something you find interesting and disagree with it, respond to it, or expand on it with your own thoughts and applications to life. Many times the lecture will pass too quickly for you to process the ideas properly. The WR gives you a chance to take your time and think through the implications of an idea and respond to it at your own pace without the pressure of other people evaluating you on the spot. It also allows you a chance to consider topics not explicitly covered as criteria. Questions, criticisms, examples, applications, expansions are all appropriate in the WR. There will not always be enough time for thorough discussion of the ideas presented in class lectures. The WR gives each and every one of you a chance to voice your thoughts about ideas covered in class as well as ask any questions about the material. Think of this assignment as a short office visit with me after every class period. You could also think of this as an editorial response to the week’s material. Each week, you will select up to two ideas you find interesting and discuss your thoughts on them. These are due at the beginning of the next week of instruction. I expect each of the two thoughts to be around one third to half a page in length.
Ethical Experiments (20 maximum)
Since ethics is a practical field which deals with the way you live your daily lives, it only makes sense that you would have learning opportunities outside of the classroom. I will be offering you a series of ten different week-long experiments which are designed to cultivate various experiences and character skills. After conducting the experiment in your own life for a week, you will write a short (½ page) paper explaining how it went and what you learned. After we begin doing these, feel free to suggest ones to me if you think of any that might be interesting.
Reading Reports (20 maximum)
Another way of earning points this semester is by reading and discussing selections from texts relevant to ethics. You will have the chance to pick from a list of recommended readings and write a short paper about what you have read. As you would suspect, I will want you to write a summary of the contents of the selection and then write a thoughtful response of your own to the ideas in the reading. Each report will be worth four points (2 for the reading itself and two for the paper), and you may complete up to five of these for credit this semester.
Teaching Project (10)
Many of the things you learn in this class should be useful to you in your daily lives. As such, they would also be useful to other people. For your own benefit and also for the benefit of those around you, you will perform a teaching exercise to teach some of these ideas to others outside of class. This means teaching a group (4-8 people) some (3-4) of the criteria from class. You may select which ones interest you most. Your project proposal will explain to me what topics you will cover, how you will teach them, and what evaluation methods you will use. If your plan is thorough enough, I will approve it and you may do the project. What I am looking for in the plan is for you to be completely ready to do the teaching with whatever preparation you have already done for the proposal. In other words, all you should need is approval from me and the people to begin. After teaching your group, you will submit a brief (2-3 page) paper explaining what you did to teach them, how it went, and what you learned from the exercise.
Final Paper (5)
Instead of taking a final exam, you will submit a short (2-3 page) paper in which you will discuss what you have learned this semester, how this class has impacted your thinking, and how you plan to live differently as a result. You should also discuss what you think was done well in this course and what could be done to make this course more effective. This is something you should do for any class, but in my class it is an actual assignment.
Make-up Assignments
My policy on missed work is simple. All assignments are due when stated, whether you are in class or not. You are allowed a one week extension on up to ten points of work during the semester. You do not need to explain why the work is late, simply turn it in with a note that you are using an extension. These may apply to any assignment except the final paper (because it is due the last day of class.) Anything above these ten points worth of late assignments will not be counted for credit. Note: revisions of criteria do not count against your extensions.
Summary
The purpose of all this is to let you know ahead of time exactly what you are expected to know or be able to do in order to earn the various grades. In part this is to remove my subjective judgments from the grading process. It is also to give you a specific idea of what you may expect to learn in this class. I also like this system because it puts the responsibility for education back on the student, where it should be. I am here to make your education possible, but you are responsible for becoming educated.
Your commitment is to show up and do the things I ask you to do in and out of class as best you can. My obligation is to conduct class in such a way that if you do your part then you will get the grade you desire. My real goal is that you learn as much as possible from me, and I have found that students learn better when they are challenged, know what is expected of them, and given the freedom to earn their rewards based on their individual effort. My most frustrating college classes were the vague ones where I didn’t know what I was supposed to do or where I felt my grade depended on the whim of the instructor. In my class, your grade is entirely up to you. If you earn an A and we do not get along, you get an A. If we are best of friends, but you earn an F, you get an F. However, it is my sincere hope that everyone would choose to earn an A. I have no problem giving everyone an A…if they earn it. I also have no problem giving everyone an F…if they earn it.
There are many different kinds of work you can do to earn points toward a grade. I think of a grade as a total amount of learning acquired through work done rather than as the percentage of some maximum number of possible points. This system allows you to choose which kinds of points you want to focus on earning, so you get to select the kind of learning activities which are most useful to you. You should plan precisely how you want to achieve the grade you desire and do the appropriate work. I guarantee that you will have earned whatever grade you receive. If you do more than is required for your grade, you will certainly learn more, but such benefit is optional.
Below is an rough estimate of the time I expect each kind of assignment to require. These numbers are based on responses from previous students, and they are somewhat above the actual averages reported, just to be safe. Some of you will require more time, most less. The total time is an estimate of how much time will be spent out of class per three hour in-class session, assuming that you do all the assigned work.
Assignment------------Points-----Approximate Time To Complete
Attendance---------------50 Total----1 hour per point (during show)
Homework----------------40 Total-----1 to 1½ hour per 2 points
Criteria---------------------70 Total----½ to 1 hour per 2 points
Weekly Response-----30 Total----¾ to 1 hour per 2 points
Ethical Experiment----20 Total----1 to 1½ hour per 2 points
Reading Reports-------20 Total----1½ to 2 hours per 4 points
Teaching Project-------10 Total----4-5 hours for 10 points
Final Paper--------------05 Total----1½ to 2 hours for 5 points
Total------------------------245-----------Approx. 4-7 hours per week
Grade Scale
A = 180
B = 160
C = 140
D = 120
Criteria List
1. Three Styles of Education
2. Importance of Thinking Well
3. Idea Viruses and Responsibility
4. Comfort and Change
5. Aspects of Thinking
6. Levels of Thinking
7. Areas of Thinking
8. Intelligence Trap and Reason
9. Open vs. Closed Minded
10. Proof, Doubt, and Skepticism
11. Principles and Exceptions
12. Levels of Cognitive Maturity
13. Paradigms and Worldviews
14. Programming and Relativism
15. Experience and Empiricism
16. Reason and Rationalism
17. Faith and Realism
18. 95% Rule
19. Fruit on the Trees Principle
20. Principle of Association
21. Liberal Flaw/Excellence Model
22. Presumptive Morality
23. Tolerance and Judgment
24. Temptations vs. Dilemmas
25. Morality and the Law
26. Culture, Normality, and Archetypes
27. Persuasion, Emotion, Bonding
28. Hypocrisy and Ideals
29. Little Things and Big Things
30. Segmented vs. Unified Character
31. Tallman’s Theory
32. Is and Ought
33. Moral Authority and Religion
34. Can, Should, and Must
35. If and How
36. Why Moral Theories Matter
37. Explain Individual Relativism
38. Critique Individual Relativism
39. Explain Cultural Relativism
40. Critique Cultural Relativism
41. Explain Ethical Egoism
42. Critique Ethical Egoism
43. Explain Utilitarianism
44. Critique Utilitarianism
45. Explain Kantianism
46. Critique Kantianism
47. Explain Social Contract Theory
48. Critique Social Contract Theory
49. Explain Virtue Theory
50. Critique Virtue Theory
51. Explain Divine Command Theory
52. Critique Divine Command Theory
53. Explain Natural Law Theory
54. Critique Natural Law Theory
55. Freedom and Morality
56. Self-rule and Government
57. The Nature of Civil Government
58. Crisis, Fear, and Power
59. Rule of Law
60. Rights and Justice
61. Legal Plunder
62. Tradition and Democracy
63. Scarcity and Abundance
64. Value Theory of Wealth
65. Technology and Wealth
66. Value-Splitting
67. Supply-Side Economics
68. Justice and Equality
69. ESBI and Education
70. Cash-flow Model
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