Background

What is it that makes an act morally praiseworthy ("good" or :right)?  What is it that
makes an act morally reprehensible ("evil" or "wrong")?  Do these determinations hold
universally (for everybody, no matter who they are) or do they vary from culture to
culture?  Even if they do hold universally, what are we to do when our moral intuitions
are not clear or downright confused?  What, if anything, can aid us in dispelling moral
confusion in troubling cases?  Can one respond to these questions without appealing to
religion or a higher power?

These are the core background questions that we will be concerned with in our
introduction to philosophical ethics.  Through our grappling with these questions we will
encounter a variety of ways ethicists have attempted to respond, as well as survey the
range of agreement and disagreement between individual theories.

We shall then move on by applying what we have learned to the specific question of the
ethical status of animals.

The Ethical Status of Animals

Are animals members of our moral community?  Assuming some of them are:  Which
animals?  Just primates?  All vertebrates?  How do we draw these distinctions?
Assuming they are not, do we have any moral obligation to them at all, or do we, as
humans, have complete dominion over them?

Is it possible that much of humanity today is guilty of "speciesism," a prejudicial outlook
no different in kind from racism or other forms of discrimination?

Readings and Requirements

Texts: The Elements of Moral Philosophy by James Rachels; Rattling the Cage: Toward
Legal Rights for Animals, by Steven Wise; and a number of articles.

Students will write weekly quizzes covering both readings and lectures, two essay-type
examinations, as well as a short (5-7 page) paper on some aspect of the ethical status of
animals that we have not discussed in detail, or, another approved "real world" topic that
interests them.