Statement of the Competency: to think critically about ethical issues. Students who successfully complete the APPLIED ETHICS course in Humanities should be able to:
The APPLIED ETHICS course is designed to provide students with the basic ideas and skills of moral reasoning so that they can identify and analyze various issues, including program related ones, from an ethical perspective. Students become acquainted with a number of ethical theories and learn how to analyze and evaluate ethical arguments.
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Applied Ethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The Applied Ethics course is designed to provide students with the basic ideas and skills of moral reasoning so that they can identify and analyze various issues, including program related ones, from an ethical perspective. Students become acquainted with a number of ethical theories and learn how to analyze and evaluate ethical arguments. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Applied Ethics: Contemporary Issues |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Applied ethics is a branch of moral philosophy that uses ethical theory to resolve moral conflict at the level of the individual (should I use plastic straws?) and at the level of society as a whole (should we institute a ban on plastic straws?). By the end of this course, students will be able to define and apply the theories of ethical egoism, utilitarianism, virtue ethics, and deontology (rights discourse) in relation to contemporary environmental problems. Students will also consider concepts such as fairness, justice, respect for rights, human flourishing and the flourishing of nonhuman entities. Students will also learn to conduct ethical analysis and will be able to distinguish between anthropocentric, zoo centric, biocentric and ecocentric systems of ethical thought. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Between the Self and Other |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Who are we talking about when we say ‘we’? What is the difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’? Am I responsible to others, and if so, who? This course introduces students to an understanding of ethics that is defined by the relationship between self and other. We will investigate the concept of the ‘Other,’ explore the egotistical and ethical dimensions of the self, and define the concept of responsibility as a relation between self and other that encourages diversity, curiosity and self-growth. Students will learn how to think critically about ethical issues using the concepts of self and other. We will learn how to identify, analyze, and critique the ways that certain groups are stereotyped and defined as ‘other’. EG: the demonization of death row prisoners, the vilification of Arabs & Muslims in Hollywood, stereotypes about ‘tough’ masculinity & the ‘othercide’ of indigenous culture in the Americas. Students are encouraged to bring their own examples and interests into class. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Buddhist Ethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Approximately 2500 years ago, Siddhartha Gautama Shakyamuni developed teaching centered on understanding and ending suffering. This teaching served as the foundation of Buddhism, one of the most influential religious and philosophical traditions in world history. In this class, we will examine the foundations of Buddhist ethics; explore multiple lines of Buddhist thought; and compare Buddhist moral philosophy with "Western" approaches such as Kantianism and Utilitarianism. The course also surveys recent movements in "engaged Buddhism," examining how the tradition has been applied to issues such as environmental justice, anti-racism, and conflict resolution. We will also study instances where Buddhists have not always lived up to their teachings' lofty goals, considering how ideals and actualities sometimes clash. Finally, we will engage in meditation inspired by Buddhist practice--but open to those of all world views—to help understand how ethics may be supported by mindfulness. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Cancel Culture |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Classical Approaches to Contemporary Issues |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course is designed to allow students to apply a reasoned and coherent analytical process to the question of how human beings should behave. Is morality always relative to one’s own standpoint, preferences and opinions? Is it, on the contrary, tied to the divine commands of some religious authority figure? If not, what are the main criteria that can help us define the rules of right conduct? In order to provide answers to such questions, students will be introduced to a number of classic theories pertaining to the field of ethics. These theories will, in turn, be applied to controversial issues in contemporary society such as end-of-life care, abortion, wealth inequalities, and many others. Ultimately, participants in this class will be invited to articulate a point of view concerning an ethical issue related to their field of study in a philosophical manner. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Desire |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Are some preferences better than others, or is there simply “no accounting for taste”? Should we be held responsible for our desires, or only for our actions? Is a good person someone who enjoys doing the right thing, or someone who does the right thing even though it hurts? Are our desires out of our control, or can we cultivate better desires over time? In this course, we will investigate these ethical questions by studying the contrasting answers provided by two great moral thinkers: Aristotle and Immanel Kant. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Ethical Issues |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course introduces students to some of the most influential ethical theories and concepts. It relates these general theories and concepts to specific ethical issues and debates, and it familiarizes students with key controversies in the history of ethics. By the end of the term, students will be able to identify and compare some of the central beliefs and concepts in the history of ethics. They will be able to relate these beliefs and concepts to many current debates surrounding moral issues. They will also be able to analyze various influential arguments and texts in the history of ethics. Students who complete this course successfully will also improve their reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Ethical Issues in Medicine and Health |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The objective of this course is to enable students to think, speak and write intelligently about ethical questions that arise in connection with health care. The course examines a number of ethical systems and considers how they might be applied to medicine and health. Among the issues considered are the autonomy of patients, the relationship between doctor and patient, informed consent, euthanasia, abortion and the distribution of health care. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Ethics: Theory, History and Issues |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course is an introduction to the theories, issues and history of ethics. We will study the classic ethical theories and their applications to practical issues. In order to put the investigation of theories and issues into context, we will also explore both the western and eastern history of ethics. Through this course, students may acquire knowledge and skills that help their ethical decision-making in both personal and professional life. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
From Cruelty to Forgiveness |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course addresses two extremes of human behavior by examining our responses, both individual and collective, to human brutality – our desire for vengeance and punishment, our search for acknowledgment and justice, and the possibility for remorse, forgiveness and reconciliation. Students will be asked to consider their ethical responsibilities towards both victims and perpetrators, to righting old wrongs, and to reflect on how a concern with human suffering is relevant to their own field of study. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Happily Ever After |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course will critically evaluate ethical theories and theories of happiness. Students will combine their abilities from their knowledge and world views courses and gain the ability to reason well and get themselves through ethical problems they might encounter. The course will investigate happiness. It will follow two parallel tracks through ethical theories and theories of happiness. The ethical theories dealt with will be Consequentialism, Deontology and the Categorical Imperative. Happiness will be viewed as pleasure, reward and finally, the contemplative life. Students will read classics in philosophy and literature in order to gain an understanding of these theories. Students will end the course by applying what they have learned to their area of study. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
How Can That Be Legal? |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course encourages students to explore the connection between law and ethics as expressed in legal theories. Students will study legal theory and legal reasoning as a way to analyze ethical issues from within a field of professional knowledge. The goal is to understand legal reasoning as one among many possible ways to ask questions and argue about moral issues. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Human Rights and the Ethics of Global Migrations |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Introduction to Ethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course aims to explore three interrelated questions: (i) What is ethics? (ii) What ethical theories are available to us for distinguishing good from bad, and right from wrong? (iii) How can ethical theories help us to examine and resolve debated ethical issues in our society and everyday moral dilemmas in our own lives? We will begin by considering the nature of ethics itself, defining the language and basic concepts of ethics as they apply to our everyday lives and the society we live in. We will then explore four major ethical theories in the history of ethics: (i) divine command ethics; (ii) virtue ethics; (iii) deontological ethics; and (iv) utilitarianism. In the final part of the course, we will apply these ethical theories to reflections on current ethical issues such as: abortion, euthanasia, the acceptable limits of scientific research, animal rights, feminism, moral relativism, and environmental issues. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Introduction to Moral Philosophy |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course aims to introduce students to moral philosophy, which is (roughly) the study of what, if anything, one ought to do. This course examines several influential theories in the Western philosophical tradition, like utilitarianism, relativism, virtue ethics, and Kantian deontology. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Investigating Story Value(s) |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Individuals and groups across cultures and throughout history have long recognized that storytelling is a form of power. But what gives stories their power? Who gets to tell them? Who is impacted by them? And how are new technologies, such as social media and Artificial Intelligence, affecting the flow of stories of all kinds in our society? This paired course will explore the territories of both personal and public discourse across the disciplines and will consider the moral implications of the stories we tell. Students will discover how these territories are marked by good-faith discussion, argument and research as well as by censorship, propaganda and “fake news”, and how so much of our discourse is organized by a common device as old as the human species itself: story. Completion of the Investigating Story Value(s) paired course fulfills the foundational knowledge component of the SPACE: Arts and Sciences Certificate. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Issues in Bioethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines the social and ethical dimension of medical and biological research, practice and technology. This includes controversial issues such as health care, abortion, euthanasia, reproductive technology, surrogacy, “test tube babies”, genetic testing and genetic manipulation of plants and animals, including human beings. Through the examination of a number of bioethical issues, this course helps students acquire the knowledge and sensitivity necessary for ethical deliberation and action in the public sphere and in personal life. This course introduces students to the basic vocabulary used in bioethical discourse, and situates various bioethical issues in their historical and philosophical contexts, underlining both their local and global importance while helping students articulate their own personal ethical outlook. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Modern Mythology: Human Values Through a Comic Book Panel |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Descriptions for Course: |
Societies throughout history have established, questioned and expressed their values and identities through various disciplines, especially mythology. Much as the epic tales of mythical champions served to examine what a virtuous life should look like, so do the superhuman stories of modern heroes. This course will examine different models of the virtuous life through the contemporary mythology of the superhero genre. Students will learn to appreciate classical moral ethics theories through a popular and contemporary vehicle: learning about the philosophy of Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche through the actions of familiar heroes such as Batman, Superman and the Watchmen. The students will adopt a critical approach to studying ethical theories. Using comparison, students will witness ethics in action through the narratives of the superhero characters. (Eric Van Der wee)
Societies throughout history have established, questioned and expressed their values and identities through various disciplines, especially mythology. Much as the epic tales of mythical champions served to examine what a virtuous life should look like, so do the superhuman stories of modern heroes. This course will examine different models of the virtuous life and ethics through the contemporary mythology of the superhero genre. Students will learn to appreciate classical moral ethics theories through a popular and contemporary vehicle: learning about the philosophy of Aristotle, Plato, Kant, and Bentham through the actions of familiar heroes such as Batman, Wonder Woman, and the Watchmen. The students will adopt a critical approach to studying ethical theories. Using comparison, students will witness ethics in action through the narratives of the superhero characters. (Eric Van Der wee) |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Moral Choices in Literature |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This Ethics course examines the Christian revolution in understanding the world and modern man's place in it. That revolution may be said to have begun with Dante Alighieri and his monumental poem The Divine Comedy (1321). This one encyclopedic text, which represents the finest flowering of the medieval age in Europe, was conceived by Dante as "the new epic of Christendom," a journey through Hell and Purgatory and Paradise that was designed to bring readers from a state of misery to one of happiness. By acquainting themselves with substantial selections from "history's greatest poem," students will acquire a direct understanding of Dante's medieval view of ethics, as well as some still older moral foundations as defined by Aristotle. Students will also be exposed to some contemporary commentaries on Dante's continued relevance to modern life. Students will thus learn to appreciate the medieval world of ideas and values in relation to their own knowledge and experience of modernity. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Moral Issues in Law |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course encourages students to explore the connection between law and ethics as expressed in legal theories. We will relate these theories to elements of the world views which gave rise to them. Students will study legal reasoning as a way to analyze ethical issues from within a field of professional knowledge. The goal is to understand legal reasoning as one among many possible ways to ask questions and argue about moral issues. In this course, we will: 1. Critically examine the relationship between law and morality. 2. Identify ethical issues in the making and application of law. 3. Defend an opinion on an ethical issue using legal reasoning – and explain the limits of that reasoning. 4. Situate legal concepts such as individual rights and the rule of law in world views and fields of knowledge. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Moral Issues in Law (Liberal Arts) |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course encourages students to explore the connection between law and ethics as expressed in legal theories. We will relate these theories to elements of the world views which gave rise to them. Students will study legal reasoning as a way to analyze ethical issues from within a field of professional knowledge. The goal is to understand legal reasoning as one among many possible ways to ask questions and argue about moral issues. In this course, we will: 1. Critically examine the relationship between law and morality. 2. Identify ethical issues in the making and application of law. 3. Defend an opinion on an ethical issue using legal reasoning – and explain the limits of that reasoning. 4. Situate legal concepts such as individual rights and the rule of law in world views and fields of knowledge. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Science Fiction and Ethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Through the study of science fiction and related genres such as the Weird, magical realism, and manga, this course examines important modern ethical dilemmas. Technology, the media, artificial intelligence, sexuality, race, politics, war, and bioethics are some of the issues that we will explore. The course materials include examples of global science fiction and short readings in ethics, philosophy, and the social sciences. Students will be given the option to submit creative writing as part of their final project. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Society and the Other |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines how we relate to others and how we ought to relate to others. The distinction between ethos (world views) and ta ethika (fields and problems of knowledge) proves central to the inquiry into what it means to not only feel the weight of socially determined notions of what is good but to also feel the weight of universal obligations. Thus the course begins with sociological descriptions of self and other and it turns to traditional ethical theories about justice and the good, theories such as utilitarianism, Kant’s categorical imperative and the ethics of care. These ethical theories in mind students present and debate various ethical issues, including euthanasia, capital punishment, abortion, pornography, poverty, animal rights, global warming and others. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Staging the Strange: Disorientation and Ethics in Immersive Performance |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this paired English and Humanities Reflections seminar, we will seek out the strange in drama, literary fiction, film, and performance art, with special attention paid to historical and recent trends in immersive and interactive theatre. We will address motifs of theatricality, artifice, ritual, and reenactment as they intersect with concepts such as the uncanny, the weird, and the absurd. Studying recent examples of experimental performance, like Bo Burnham’s Inside, Nathan Fielder’s The Rehearsal, and Marina Abramovic's The Artist is Present, we will delve into the ethics in/of performance — both as something applied and born of the medium itself. In addition to reading literary and philosophical material, students can expect to write about and to perform in interactive theatre and RPG exercises. Texts may include selections from Erving Goffman’s The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life, and literature and film by Samuel Becket, David Lynch, and Igmar Bergman. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
The Ethics of Resistance |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
This course examines the ethical issues associated with resisting authority. Is it permissible to attempt to overthrow a violent regime? Is it ethical to choose violent means to affect change in a society or must one always use non-violent means? We will discuss and debate these, and many other questions in this course. We will learn about the different ethical theories and apply them to historical and modern examples of resistance in an attempt to decide if authority must always be obeyed or if resistance might be the more ethical choice. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
The Ethics of the Past: Archaeology, Ownership, and the Antiquities Trade |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Archaeology has over the last two centuries developed as a discipline that discovers and interprets the material remains of the past. This discipline emerged as a specific method of studying the past in a largely “imperialist landscape,” where scholars from wealthy and powerful Western countries examined the cultures of other often colonized peoples, in the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Asia, and the Americas. This course will focus on the contemporary ethical implications of the study of the past. Issues covered will include the ethics of how archaeology is carried out in the field, the physical ownership and cultural expropriation of the past and the distortion of historical narratives to serve present day political and economic interests. Attention will also be given to the illegal antiquities trade, a lucrative industry fueled by the looting of archaeological sites, often with the connivance of legitimate museums and auction houses. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
The Individual and State |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
In this course we will examine both the ethics of how individual human beings should act towards one another, and what sort of rules and behaviour citizens of a state (in this case, Canada) should agree to follow and impose on each other. We will begin by examining different ethical theories, including but not limited to the Divine Command Theory, the Social Contract Theory, the Categorical Imperative, Utilitarianism and Relativism. After studying, understanding and critiquing these different approaches to ethics, we will apply our knowledge to an issue of perpetual importance: the balance between individual liberties and group security. This part of the course will include readings and discussions of issues such as online surveillance and data collection, torture and the imposition of the War Measures Act during the October Crisis of 1970. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
The Sorcerer's Feast |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Globalization is considered by some to be the defining social process of our time. The goal of this course is to look at the phenomenon of globalization and the ethical issues at stake in the process. Is this process as pervasive as some claim? If it is, what benefits or drawbacks can we distinguish in this seemingly imminent progression of events? Once we do this, we can examine topics associated with globalization, such as the changing relationship between individual and the state, the market and public policy decisions, issues pertaining to terrorism, political protest and dissent, culture and international development. Philosophical issues to be thought about critically are historicism, modernity, human development and democracy, among others. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
The Universe on Your Plate |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Many of us do not consider that we are making an ethical choice at every meal. We do not often realize that our food decisions have enormous consequences for the environment, the people who grow and process our food, and our health. All of these factors are important to consider if we want to determine the most ethical way to eat. This course is designed to give you a basis for making ethical choices at your dinner (and lunch, and breakfast) table. During the first part of the course, we will examine several ethical theories, including utilitarianism, deontology, and Buddhist ethics. We will also consider whether our understanding of the universe, specifically that the atoms in our food and our bodies were forged in the bellies of exploding stars, could inform our ethical choices. In the second part of the course, we will go over many of the facts about the industrial food system, and apply the ethical theories we’ve learned. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Theories in Normative and Applied Ethics |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The course entitled "Theories in Normative and Applied Ethics" is designed to equip students with the necessary tools for the normative analysis of different controversial ethical issues in contemporary society. During the first half of the term, students will be introduced to the fields of meta-ethics and normative ethics. They will become acquainted with at least two of the dominant approaches in normative ethics: consequentialism and deontology. During the second half of the course, students will be introduced to a few of the topics studied in the field of applied ethics, including meat production in North America. Students will learn to critically analyse, from the main ethical perspectives, some of the most pressing ethical issues of our time. Students will acquire the knowledge and skills needed in order to construct well-informed and sound arguments with regard to these ethical issues. Students will be required to communicate their positions clearly and effectively. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Welcome to the Machine |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Are humans just wind-up toys? Do we control machines or live in the belly of one? Is so-called “reality” merely a simulation? Are our fates determined by our programming? If so, do choices matter? Welcome to the machine! Strap in as we travel through space and time and ponder questions foundational to Sci-Fi and Ethics. Our journey begins with myth and metaphysics in Ancient Greece. From there we’ll jump to the ethical implications of early mechanistic philosophers and of modern thinkers including Bentham, Nietzsche, and Freud. We’ll then turn to recent scholarship on the uncanny valley; cosmic dread; robot rights; alternate techno-histories; and black, queer, and Indigenous futures. Authors and directors might include: Ray Bradbury, E.T.A. Hoffmann, Philip K. Dick, H.P. Lovecraft, Octavia Butler, Ira Levin, Stanley Kubrick (2001), Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and the genre-bending David Lynch. This course is paired with English 103, Section 18001. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Welcome to the Machine: An Introduction to Ethics and Sci-Fi |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
Are humans just wind-up toys? Do we control machines or live in the belly of one? Is so-called “reality” merely a simulation? Are our fates determined by our programming? If so, do choices matter? Welcome to the machine! Strap in as we travel through space and time and ponder questions foundational to Sci-Fi and Ethics. Our journey begins with myth and metaphysics in Ancient Greece. From there we’ll jump to the ethical implications of early mechanistic philosophers and of modern thinkers including Bentham, Nietzsche, and Freud. We’ll then turn to recent scholarship on the uncanny valley; cosmic dread; robot rights; alternate techno-histories; and black, queer, and Indigenous futures. Authors include: Philip K. Dick, H.P. Lovecraft, Octavia Butler, Sherman Alexie, and Seo-Young J. Chu. Directors include: Stanley Kubrick (2001), Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and the genre-bending David Lynch. This course is paired with English BXE, Section 18001. |
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| 345-BXH-DW |
Who Does the Law Serve? |
3 - 0 - 3 |
45 |
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| Description for Course: |
The description for this course is not available at this time.
Please check with the Program Coordinator. |
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