Censorship
Pick a current censorship issue from here in the United States or elsewhere in the world
what are the issues at stake -- what arguments are being put forward by opposite sides in the controversy?
What (if any) are some reasonable kinds of censorship? Should governments lie to their citizens to protect them? Should parents lie to their children to protect them?
Should the media be more heavily or less heavily censored? How can a person tell the difference between censorship in the public interest (if there is such a thing) and censorship that is paternalistic and overbearing (which tends to take people's agency away from them)?
Last weeks of the class
Translate:
If Russia intervenes in Syria, then if the United States acts to protect its interests in the Middle East, either there will be a confrontation between Russia and the United States or Israel will act as a surrogate for the United States. Israel will act as a surrogate if and only if it is assured of unlimited supplies of American weapons.
If the United States meets this condition, however, the friendly Arab States will turn against the United States; and the United States cannot allow that to happen.
Therefore, if Russia intervenes in Syria and the United States acts to protect its interests in the Middle East, there will be a confrontation between the two superpowers.
The following passages argue for conclusions in ways that should provoke questions. For each example below, state some questions relevant to the issue raised in the argument. What is your response to the argument?
1. God is being greater than which cannot be conceived. If we compare a being who does not exist to a being who actually exists, the latter is greater. Therefore, God must exist.
2. Children are not born knowing how to cooperate with others or sacrifice themselves for others. They are naturally selfish instead. They must be taught to overcome mere instinct in order to act from altruism. But spiritual values are necessary to teach altruism. Therefore, moral education has to be based on religious teachings.
3. One-man one-vote democracy ignores the rights of minority populations whose representation can never equal that of the dominant group. A majority can tyrannize a minority. A truly just society must regulate its governmental policies so that injustices are addressed and redressed.
Therefore, democracies should amend their constitutions to increase the power of minorities--for example, through proportional representation.