Dr. Julie Ward
Office..............	Crown 352
Office Phone...	(773) 508-2297
Email...............	jward@luc.edu
Office Hours....	Mon.- Thurs. 9:15-10:00 am, and by app.'t

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course introduces the student to some major theories about society from the standpoint of ethics. The class will consider the kinds of value systems underlying various theories about the structure of society such as liberalism, socialism, communitarianism, and feminist social theory. We approach these social theories from the perspective of certain ethical theories including deontological, consequentialist, virtue, and feminist ethics.

COURSE OBJECTIVES
1. To enable students to understand and appreciate some basic philosophical theories in social ethics.
2. To give students the opportunity to apply these theories to some actual social and moral issues and problems.
3. To develop the student's ability to identify and evaluate theories about the best society using philosophical arguments.

COURSE FORMAT AND REQUIREMENTS
This class will combine small group discussion and some lecturing on texts.
Since each summer class session is worth about one week of a regular 15-week term, I expect regular class attendance and class participation in discussion.
The grading will be based on the assigned homeworks** (5 pts. each for max. 30 pts.), take-home mid-term exam (30 pts.), final exam (30 pts.) and class discussion (0, 5 or max. 10 pts.).
** Homeworks are due in class on day assigned to earn points; no late homeworks will be given points.

REQUIRED TEXTS
1.Plato, The Republic, tr. Grube (Hackett).
2. Kant, The Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Hackett).
3. Mill, On Liberty and Other Writings (Oxford).
4. Charlotte P. Gilman, The C, P. Gilman Reader (U. Virginia).
5. Charlotte P. Gilman, Herland.
6. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (Vintage).
7. Reserve Readings to Xerox (in Cudahy Library): Rawls, A Theory of Justice, selections (as marked).

SYLLABUS

Week 1	7/2: Introduction: the Enlightenment ideal: persons and rational nature.  7/3: Read Kant, Groundwork, sec. 1- sec. 2, through para. 420: Duty, the Good Will, Kinds of Imperatives.  7/4: Holiday, No Class. 7/5: Read Kant, Groundwork, sec. 2, para. 421-end, and sec. 3 (all): four examples of CI, its four formulations, morality as freedom of the will. Summary # 1 Due: What is the meaning of the 3rd formula of the Categorical Imperative? How should we regard others? (see text, sec. 2: the formula about treatment of persons).
Week 2	7/9: Review Kant, sec. 3 on Autonomy, and read Rawls, selections (Library Reserves): discussion, what is Rawls' principle of fairness as reflected in his "Original Position"?.  7/10: Read Mill, On Liberty, chs. 1-2: the sphere of liberty, and liberty of thought and discussion.  7/11: Read Mill, On Liberty, chs. 3-4: Individuality, and the limits of social power over the individual. Summary #2 Due: Which individual freedoms does Mill think should be protected, and why? (Choose 2 of those he mentions in chs. 2-3). 7/12: Read Mill, Subjection of Women, ch. 3: the arguments for women's social equality.
Week 3	7/ 16: Read Gilman, The Gilman Reader: "Yellow Wallpaper," "What Diantha Did," "Making a Change," "If I Were a Man," "Cottagette." Discussion: inequality of women in family, society; G's social alternatives. Summary # 3 Due: What are the wrongs in or outside the home that Gilman thinks oppress women? What are some changes that she suggests in her works? 7/17: Read Mill, Chapters on Socialism, pp. 228-259: the Socialist objections to social conditions. Handouts, G's utopian proposals: discussion. 7/18: Read Gilman, Herland: Gilman's utopian society of women. Discussion questions: what kind of society does Gilman envision in Herland? What are some of the specific improvements over current society as she describes it? How does G. use her male characters as contrast to Herlanders? 7/19: Cont. discussion, Herland. In-Class Mid-Term Exam (1 hour). See review topics below.
Week 4	7/ 23: Existentialism and Feminism: Simone de Beauvoir; read The Second Sex, Intro.: woman as Other, as "immanence."  7/24: The Second Sex, ch. 9, 11: the cultural myths of inessential woman, woman as Nature. Summary # 4 Due: Discuss some of the myths about woman in Beauvoir that persist today.  7/25: The Second Sex, chs. 1 (sel.), 19, 25: the body as "situated," reciprocity, Freud, lesbianism, proposals for liberation. 7/26: Discussion: Beauvoir, and essay on Beauvoir's philosophy (handout 7/25).
Week 5	7/30: The Problem of Injustice: read Plato, Republic, Bks. I-II.  7/31: Social Training, read Republic, Bks. II-III (skim III).  8/1:  Organic Theory of the State: read Republic, Bks. IV- V. Summary # 5 Due: How is the best state organized, acc. to Plato? (Bk. IV). 8/2: The Ideal Society, Levels of Knowledge: read Republic, Bk. VI.
Week 6	8/ 6: Philosophers as Rulers: read Republic, Bk. VII. Discussion, what is the political value of theoretical knowledge? Is there an expert knowledge about the best human life? 8/7: Review Day: Plato vs. Mill vs. Gilman on the best society, discussion.  8/8: Study Day, no Class. 8/9: Final Exam: In Class, Essay-type (2 hours).

RULES AND ACADEMIC POLICIES
1. Homework Assignments are due on the day assigned for points to be earned; late homework does not earn any points!

2. Every student is responsible for making up material for missed classes; note that skipping classes will cost you far more in summer session than in a semester.
(If you must miss class, call me or another student to find out what you missed on that day.)

3. All in-class exams and take-home exams are due in class on the day marked above; no late or make up exams accepted.

4. Students are expected to know and abide by rules concerning proper textual usage and the Loyola policy on plagiarism.

REVIEW EXAM TOPICS

1. Compare and contrast the ideal of morality that is reflected in Kant's categorical imperative, and Rawls' principle of justice as fairness: be specific in your comparison of Kantian morality and Rawls' ideas.

2. What is Mill's conception of persons, and how is this conception part of his notion of a liberal society? Furthermore, what are Mill's arguments for expanding women's access to the same goods that men possess?

3. What are the wrongs Gilman finds that women have faced in their roles in the family and in the larger society? Can they be corrected? Use specific texts from Gilman to support your answer.

4. What is Beauvoir's conception of existentialist feminism? What conception of human beings does she describe, and how can women become fully realized human beings, as she conceives it? What kinds of social and cultural changes have to take place?

5. Plato's idea of the just society requires an inegalitarian society: why does he argue that this is necessary, and what are some criticisms that a liberal like Mill would level against it?

6. Compare and contrast Plato and Gilman on the structure of the ideal society, esp. as it includes the roles and the function of women (Republic, Herland).

RELATED LINKS
Click here for a helpful link on ethics.
Dr. Ward's Criteria on Grading Papers