Online Professional Ethics (section 2)
with Professor Chad Okrusch

Montana Tech, Fall 2010

Chad M. Okrusch

CLICK HERE WITH QUESTIONS


Syllabus | Blog | Contact Info

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Updated Wednesday March 10 @ 6:30am.

I still need to hear from Kelsy about her examination. Please resend.

Sorry for the late post. The most insane semester in my life continues.

Have a great week.

Jump to Week 9.


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
1 Monday January 11

No class today

Last days of Winter Break...
Wednesday January 13

Introduction to
Professional Ethics
1. Blog: Introductions. Again, using our course blog, respond to the blog introductions posting. a) Tell us a bit about yourself: First name, hometown, year in school, major, etc. b) in your own words, define ethics. c) Reply to the postings of others if you are so moved.

Class participation / Due Friday by midnight.

Friday January 15

Belief, Doubt, &
Open-minds

 

2. Blog: Virtual Attendance. Reply to my virtual attendance posting to let me know you're actively participating in the class. Post any outstanding questions you may have here.

Class participation / Due Friday by midnight.

3. Blog: Take-home Lessons. What are the ties that bind today's readings? What are the 3-5 take-home lessons you culled from them? What questions do they call to your mind?

50-pts / Due Sunday by midnight.


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
2 Monday January 18

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Holiday

No class today...

Wednesday January 20

Ethics & Religion

  • Read Weston, chapters 2-3: p.20-54 (text
  • Read Gert, Morality vs. Slogans
  • Read Baggini & Fosl, "Divine Command" (pp.68-70)
  • Religion & Ethics Newsweekly (www) -- browse this and get a sense of what some contemporary issues in religion and ethics are.

4. Blog: Ethics & Religion. Weston noted that religion is the only formal ethical training most of us ever receive. Many of our enduring and most important conflicts arise from differences in religious moral training (i.e., the abortion debate). Can people from different religious traditions get along? Is religion the problem? Why or why not? What didi you think about Gert's take? Respond to the postings of others. 

50-pts / Respond by Thursday by midnight

Friday January 22

Professionalism

 

 

5. Blog: Would academics like Bivins consider your probable future career to be a profession? Why or why not? Referring to today's readings, identify your probable future career (based on our degree and field of study). Using Bivins and the Wikipedia entry, determine whether your career is considered to be a profession or not.  

50-pts / Friday by midnight


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
3

Monday January 25

Communication Ethics

  • Read Weston, chapter 4
  • Read Baggini & Fosl
    • 2.5 discourse ethics

6. Blog: Communication Ethics. What rules (if any) ought to guide the way we communicate with each other? Why? Referring to today's readings, consider communication as a moral phenomenon. Does the way we communicate with each other matter? Are there good and bad, better and worse, ways of sharing ideas through symbolic exchange? What are the implications for you as a future professional?

50-pts / Due Wednesday by mdnight

Wednesday January 27

Moral Ecosystem

7. Blog: Your moral ecosystem. Situate yourself as the moral agent at the center of your own professional moral ecosystem. Describe who your immediate, proximate, and distant claimants are. What rights do they have in this professional context? What obligations do you have to them as a professional? How far does your world of moral considerability extend? Future generations, animals, the economy, nature? Respond thoughtfully to the postings of another classmate.

100-pts | Due by Friday at midnight

Friday January 29

Review

 

No homework--have a good weekend. 

 


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
4

Monday February 1

Taking Values Seriously

  • Read Weston, ch.6
  • Read Baggini & Fosl
    • 1.21 tradition and history
    • 3.16 intrinsic/instrumental value
    • 3.9 facts/values
    • 5.15 standpoint

8. Blog: Virtual Attendance. Check-in and let me know you're participating.

Class participation / Due Wednesday by midnight

Wednesday February 3

When Values Clash

  • Read Weston, ch.14
  • Read Baggini & Fosl
    • 4.17 thought experiments

9. Blog: 5 Take-home Lessons. Review the readings for this week and distill the five most important take-home lessons you've learned from them. Present your clear and concise lessons to the class in this blog. Be sure to cite the readings where appropriate.

50-pts / Due Friday by midnight

Friday February 5

Review for Week 6 Exam

 

No homework. Have a good weekend. Next week, we'll prepare for the first examination (to be given in Week 6). We will also brainstorm final project ideas.

 


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
5

Monday February 8

Examination Review

No assignment. Review your notes and the blog-postings thus far. For Wednesday's assignment you will need to post 10 short-answer/essay questions. I will draw fro your questions as much as possible on the examination.

Wednesday February 10

Examination Review (continued)

10. Blog: Examination Questions. Respond to this blog with 10 potential examination questions. Refer to the guidelines and characteristics of good examination questions I outlined in today's course materials for guidance.

Due Sunday by midnight / 50-pts

Friday February 12

Final Project Ideas

11. Blog: Final Project Ideas. Respond to this blog posting describing 1-3 possible probable future moral dilemmas that you will wrestle with in the final project for this class.

Due Sunday by midnight / 50-pts

 


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
6

Monday February 15

Presidents Day

No Class

Wednesday February 17

Examination

Take the examination and email it to me as an attachment. Send it to COkrusch@mtech.edu.

Friday February 19


No Class

Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
7

February 21-25

(Professor Okrusch in Eugene, OR)


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
8

Monday March 1

Grade Updates &
Ethical Tools

No homework

Wednesday March 3

Ethical Tools:
The Ethics of Persons

  • Read Weston, ch.7
  • Baggini & Fosl
    • 2.4 deontological ethics
    • 3.19 means/ends
Take good notes. You will need them for Friday's assignment.

Friday March 5

Ethical Tools:
The Ethics of Happiness


12. Blog: Compare and Contrast Ethics of Persons vs. Ethics of Happiness. Define and characterize each way of moral problem-solving. How are they similar? How are they different? Do you tend to reason more one way than the other? Why?

50-pts / Due Sunday by midnight


Week Day/Topic Course Materials Assignments & Due Dates
9

Monday March 08

Technical Difficulties: Web Connection Down.

No readings. No homework.

Wednesday March 10

Virtue Ethics

  • Read Weston, ch.9 (Ethics of Virtue)
  • Baggini & Fosl
    • 1.6 character
    • 1.10 flourishing
    • 2.16 virtue ethics
No homework. Take good notes.

Friday March 12

Five Foundations of Morality (self-exploration) + Results


13. Blog: What insights, if any, did you gain from the readings from Yourmorals.org and through the Moral Foundations Questionnaire? What did you learn about your moral reasoning foundations?

50-pts / Due Sunday by midnight