Summer1 2014 Ethics Course Study Questions

Class Dates

Monday May 19, 2014

• First Day, no study questions.

Tuesday May 20, 2014

1. What were Ariely's findings on honesty?
2. What is the possible significance of his research for understanding the nature of ethics?
3. Identify the ethical issues facing Italy according to "Girlfriend in a Coma".

Wednesday May 21, 2014

1. Describe Haidt's research on disgust. What is its possible significance for understanding the nature of ethics.
2. What is Haidt's criticism of developmental psychology's past approach to understanding the nature of ethics?
3. Why does Haidt think that Turiel's and Schweder's research represent an improvement over the nature/nuture debate?

Thursday May 22, 2014

1. How do we use metaphors to think about the psyche, soul, and human identity?
2. What organic features of consciousness does Haidt think we need to consider when doing ethics? How might they be usefull?
3. What picture of the mind does Haidt leave us with and what is its relevance to ethics?

Monday May 26, 2014

1. How does Haidt criticize philosophers on the topic of the relationship between reason and emotion?
2. How do evolutionary psychologists help us see the elephant talking? (And what does that even mean?)
3. What is the social intuitionist model of moral judgement? (Start comparing to other theories, like virtue ethics.)

Tuesday May 27, 2014

1. Do we have an inner lawyer?
2. Does it operate the way Haidt thinks?
3. How do you get the elephant to listen?

Wednesday May 28, 2014

1. What is Veneer Theory? Who believes it and why?
2. How does our "sociality" bear on the question of whether morality evolved from nature?
3. What evidence do Darwin, Smith, and Westermark cite for the naturalness of moral values?

Thursday, May 29, 2014

1. What is empathy? What is sympathy?
2. Distinguish relatively simple forms of empathy from more complex ones using examples from de Waal.
3. What are some of the apparent prerequisites for cognitive empathy?
4. Present and assess the evidence on monkey fairness.
5. What is de Waal's meta-ethical theory? (49-58)

Monday June 2, 2014

Holiday

Tuesday June 24, 2014

Holiday