Projects
Select one of the following final projects.
All projects require a 1-2 paragraph final project proposal. The proposal must indicate which project you plan to do and give me a clear idea what you intend to do with your project, which theorists/theories you plan to use, and what you imagine your thesis will be.
Project #1. The Standard Ethics Paper: 12 pages
PART 1: The Problem and the Proposal
Step 1
Either
Identify a moral problem in your own life. (This can be a problem you have lived through, one that you are confronting now, or one that you anticipate having to confront in your future).
Or
Identify a moral problem that is of immediate importance to you, your family, your community, or your city.
Once you have identified your moral problem, you are ready for Step 2.
Step 2
Select moral theories we have covered this term. These are the theories you will you use to attempt (1) to resolve your moral problem and do ‘the right thing.'
Once you have identified your moral problem and selected your moral theories, you are ready to complete Part 1.
Completing Part 1. Your term paper proposal. In (2) well-written paragraphs:
1. Describe your moral problem and identify the ethical issue(s) your problem involves.
2. State the central question your problem raises.
3. Indicate which moral theories you plan to use to work through this question.
4. Give at least some indication of what you think your thesis/position/answer will be (it is fine if it changes as you write your term paper).
5. Email me your proposal with a phone number I can call to reach you.
Example of a term paper proposal:
My cousin and her husband would like to adopt a girl from China. Because I am both an adoptee and a professor of ethics, they have asked me for my opinion on the matter. They claim that there are neglected orphan children who need love; that they have a moral duty to care for those in need; and that they are prepared to love this girl as their own. They understand that as a child of Chinese descent, she might have particular needs; these needs they feel can be met by the larger community of Highland Park, Texas. "There are some Chinese people in Dallas," they say. When asked what their motive is for adopting, their response is that "they have tried to have a girl." After three boys, however, they are no longer willing to try, and what is more, because of my cousin's age and history, there will likely be complications with any future pregnancy. When I ask whether they have thought about what it might be like for a Chinese adoptee to grow up in a white family and in an almost completely white community, they tell me that they will treat her like their "princess."
The situation and the issues it raises can be addressed by answering a single question: should this couple at this time go forward with this adoption? Based on the reasons they have given, the answer is "no;" and I plan to voice strong objections. They are not adequately prepared to go forward. Their Kantian view that we have a moral duty to those in need and their belief that love and a good will can conquer all are both naïve. They have failed to consider the long-term consequences of trans-racial adoption on either the adoptee or the adoptive family. This is not to say that trans-racial adoption is morally wrong. On the contrary, it is to claim that potentially difficult/painful consequences can be avoided when appropriate conditions are met prior to the adoption proper. Since in this case these conditions have not been met, the action is morally wrong and its Kantian/conservative justification, misguided.
(Moral theories: Kant and Consequentialism)
After your proposal is approved, you can begin working on Part 2.
PART 2: Writing the Term Paper
If you have done a thorough job with Part 1, Part 2 should come easily.
Before you start writing:
1. Be sure that you can state the thesis you plan to defend in the course of your paper in one sentence.
As you write:
1. You must state your thesis at the outset of your paper.
2. You must identify and address any and all ethical issues your problem raises.
3. You must make reference to no fewer than (2) additional texts on the topic on which you are writing.
For example: If I decided to write on my cousin's situation, I might refer to Freundlich's Ethics and Adoption: The Impact of Race, Ethnicity, and National Origin on the Adoptee and Adoptive Family and Sally Haslanger's article on trans-racial adoption entitled You Mixed?.
4. You MUST use the 12 pages to:
a. Defend your position on theoretical grounds.
b. Explore at least one serious objection to your position.
c. Offer a thoughtful response to this objection.
Project #2. Application of Ethical Theory: 12 pages
First: Choose an artifact. Your artifact can be just about anything that involves theology, ethics, and/or culture, and was created recently. You might choose a documentary like Jesus Camp, The Laramie Project, The American Ruling Class, For the Bible Tells Me So, or The One Percent; you could select a movie like Left Behind, The Omega Code, Apocalypto, Another Earth, Saved, Magnolia, Dogma, Fight Club, Twilight, The Hunger Games, Spike Lee's Malcolm X, Ghandi, Groundhog Day, The Little Mermaid, or possibly even The Passion of the Christ. You could choose a television show, a musical act, a series of paintings, or an architectural structure (like Mega churches, for example). Youtube videos and web pages might work too.
Second: do your analysis and write your paper. To do this part, imagine that you are placing your artifact under a microscope that has (2) lenses. Each lens represents one thinker we have studied this semester. So if you choose Kant and Levinas, you paper will present a Kantian and Levinasian analysis and evaluation of the artifact you choose to study.
You must choose (2) of the following theorists:
West
Zizek
hooks
Levinas
Kant
Nielsen
Aristotle
If you decide to do this paper, you must submit a brief proposal that outlines both the artifact that you will be studying and the thinkers you will be using to analyze it.
Project #3. Ethical Theory Paper: 10 pages
This is the shortest of all papers, but likely the most difficult. Write a paper about (2) of your favorite or least favorite ethical theorists. You must examine some portion of these thinkers work, but which thinkers you choose and how you approach the topic are up to you.
So for example: in this theoretical paper, you might compare Levinas' notion of "that which we have always already known" to Kant's view on the Moral Law; or Levinas' notion of the "other" vs Zizek's concept of the "neighbor;" Jewish ethics vs Christian ethics; hooks on love vs Zizek on love, etc.
Project #4. Ehyeh Imach B'sarah, Levinas, and Community Service: 8 pages
In short, your job is to be a good Levinasian and attempt to meet your infinite obligation to the other, your neighbor. You may do this project alone or you may work with (1) partner.
1. The first step along the way is either to locate a sight of ‘injustice' OR to find an organization whose mission it is to respond to ‘injustice.'
2. The second step is to decide how you can work to alleviate that ‘injustice' OR to figure out how you can assist the organization you identified above as it works to alleviate ‘injustice.'
3. Once you have completed steps (1) and (2), you will need to write a proposal. One paragraph will suffice. In this proposal, you will need to tell me about EITHER the ‘injustice' OR the organization. It should explain what you plan to do by way of your community service and when and where you plan to do it. You may not be able to be specific about the when and where by April 21st, but if you are not, you will have to turn in a schedule including dates and times BEFORE you do your service.
4. After you have done your community service, you will need to write up a short two part paper.
In the first part, tell me all about the details of your service project. In the second part, give an account of the following:
a. What do you imagine the consequences of such activity are in the lives of the others you assisted? Do you have any evidence that would support your views?
b. Has the project had any impact on your own life? Has it made you cynical? Hopeful? Has it discouraged you from further community service? Encouraged you?
c. What kind of relationship is there, if any, between service to others and the cultivation of community? Based on your experience, what evidence could you present that would serve to ground your views?
d. Does Levinas and the ‘new' Phil of Groundhog Day have it right? Is existential meaning attached to the attempt to meet our ‘infinite obligation to the other, our neighbor?' If so, could you add to their account? If it is not, why not? What have they missed? Where did they go wrong?
** The first part of the paper should not exceed (2) pages in length. The second part should be at least (6) pages in length and should focus special attention on prompts C and D.
Project #5
If none of these projects appeal to you, propose another. I am open to new and interesting ideas.
You must submit your proposal by the dates above.