spwhitton/ philos/ teaching/ PHIL 205 winter

PPEL/PA/PHIL 205 Winter session:
The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation

In this course we seek to apply philosophical methodology to the ethical issues that arise from wealth creation in a globalised world.

You will gain an understanding of the relevant ethical and economic issues, and improve your ability to philosophically analyse the issues in writing.

Learning objectives

  1. You read and gain an understanding of some representative texts in historical and contemporary Western philosophy.

  2. You will study and explore core philosophical questions regarding wealth creation in a globalised world.

  3. You will write and revise philosophical essays explaining and analysing the views presented in the course reading material.

Learning outcomes

  1. You will be able to understand what an author means to say in difficult philosophical texts, and demonstrate this understanding by answering comprehension questions.

  2. You will be able to defend in depth your understanding and conception of a philosophical topic in the writing of a philosophical essay.

  3. You will be able to identify and engage in distinctively philosophical theorising about a number of topics, and express this understanding in formulating the basic structure of your written answers.

Learning outcomes

Instructor

  • Sean Whitton <spwhitton@email.arizona.edu>
  • Virtual office: Zoom link available on D2L
  • Office hours: By appointment between 1pm and 4pm each weekday of the course, or at other times if you are in a different timezone

During the course, I expect to respond to all e-mails within 24 hours. Please do not expect a response sooner than 24 hours after you send your e-mail. Plan ahead.

To be sure of an appointment in office hours, be sure to write before 5pm on the day before when you wish to attend.

Please do not e-mail me if your question could be answered by reading the syllabus.

Required Text

Creating Wealth: Ethical and Economic Perspectives (2nd ed.), edited by David Schmidtz and John Thrasher, published by Cognella. Please let me know if you have any difficulty obtaining this book. Please ensure you buy the second edition, not the older version. There will be additional readings on D2L.

Inclusive Access information

  • Course materials are being delivered digitally via D2L through the Inclusive Access program.

  • Please access the material through D2L on the first day of class to make sure that there are no issues with delivery so any problems can be addressed quickly.

  • You automatically have access to the course materials FREE through 12/22/2020.

  • You must take action (even if you have not accessed the materials) to opt-out if you do not wish to pay for the materials and choose to source the content independently.

  • Deadline to opt-out is 12/22/2020.

  • If you do not opt-out and choose to retain your access, the cost of the digital course materials will appear on your December Bursars account.

  • Please refer to the Inclusive Access FAQs at https://shop.arizona.edu/textbooks/Inclusive.asp for additional information.

Course Format and Teaching Methods

The structure and content of the course will be as follows:

  1. There are three units.
  2. We will study one unit per week, roughly, but it’s a bit complicated due to Christmas and New Year:
    • Unit 1 is 21st December to 29th December
    • Unit 2 is 30th December to 6th January
    • Unit 3 is 7th January to 11th January.
  3. Units 1 and 2 will contain
    • five or six reading assignments; and
    • four or five video lectures (posted throughout the week).
  4. Unit 3 will contain
    • three reading assignments; and
    • three video lectures (posted throughout the week).
  5. For each reading assignment I will post discussion questions.
  6. You should make two discussion posts during unit 1 and two discussion posts during unit 2.
    • each week, one post should either:
      • respond to my discussion questions; or
      • post your own discussion question, and respond to it; and
    • the other post should respond to another student’s post or to one of the instructor’s replies.
    • Each post should be of at least 200 words.
  7. You should make one discussion post during unit 3. You can either:
    • respond to my discussion questions; or
    • post your own discussion question, and respond to it; or
    • respond to another student’s discussion contribution.
    • Your post should be of at least 200 words.
  8. On the final day of each unit there will be a multiple-choice/multi select quiz on the content of the unit, due by 11:59pm on the final day of the unit.
  9. You should also write a final paper answering the essay prompt I will post at the beginning of the final unit of the course.

In a face-to-face class I can look at the faces of my students and judge how well they are following the material. Even if I asked each of you to send me a selfie for every day of the course, I can’t make that kind of judgment over the Internet. So you need to let me know immediately if you think you’re falling behind. I want to help you, but you need to keep me informed.

You must have a reliable computer and Internet connection available to participate. I won’t accept computer problems as an excuse for missing any deadlines—it’s impossible for me to verify your claims.

I recommend completing the reading assignments by the fourth day of each unit. Then you can spend the fifth day reviewing the parts you didn’t understand before taking the quiz. Your schedule during each unit is up to you, though.

I will provide further guidance on the final paper when I set the paper topics.

Late Registration

Since this is a short winter session course, you cannot register after the first 48 hours of the course.

Course Communications

News about the course will be posted on the D2L course homepage. Please enable D2L e-mail notifications and/or check the D2L course homepage regularly.

I will hold Internet office hours using Zoom between 1pm MST and 4pm MST each weekday of the course. The Zoom link and passcode are available on D2L under “Content”. You need to request a meeting the day before so I know to expect you. I can meet at other times if you’re in a different timezone such that you can’t make 1pm MST to 4pm MST. The password is available on D2L. At other times I will be available by e-mail. I will try to reply to all e-mails within 24 hours.

”MST” means “Mountain Standard Time”—that’s Tucson’s timezone.

Grading

Scale

  • 90%+: grade A
  • 80%+: grade B
  • 70%+: grade C
  • 60%+: grade D
  • Less than 60%: grade E

Breakdown

  1. Unit 1 multiple choice quiz: 20%
  2. Unit 2 multiple choice quiz: 20%
  3. Unit 3 multiple choice quiz: 20%
  4. Participation in online discussions: 10%
  5. Final paper: 30%.

Rules

  1. Late work will not be accepted, except where mandated by university policy, or where we have agreed, several days in advance, to extend your deadline.

    It is your responsibility to contact me early enough, not my responsibility to arrange an extension at the last minute. I really mean it. You’ll simply get a zero.

  2. The paper must be submitted in PDF format, on D2L. No Word documents, no Pages documents. If you submit in the wrong format, you will lose 10% of the points for the paper. If you have any doubt about your ability to convert to PDF, talk to me well in advance.

    If you have D2L issues close to a deadline you may e-mail me the PDF as proof you did it in time, but it cannot be graded until it has been uploaded to D2L.

  3. You may go 10% above or below the word limit for the paper. Beyond that, you will get a zero.

  4. There will be no extra credit.

  5. Please double-space, use one inch margins, and a size 12 font. Other than that I do not care about your formatting choices, so long as you satisfy the requirements of academic integrity.

General Information on Taking a Philosophy Course

Philosophy is not like other subjects. Please review my notes on taking a philosophy course.

Course Schedule

Unit 1: Ethics and Ethical Obligations to the Poor

  • Reading assignments for this unit:
    1. Singer: Famine, Affluence and Morality
    2. Schmidtz: Islands in a Sea of Obligation
    3. Hardin: Tragedy of the Commons
    4. Satz: The Moral Limits of Markets: The Case of Human Kidneys, pp. 269–277 only (PDF on D2L)
    5. Goodin: The Classic Case for Collectivization Restated
  • Watch five video lectures.
  • Post two discussion contributions.
  • 29th December: unit 1 quiz due by 11:59pm.

Unit 2: Trade, Credit and Regulation

  • Reading assignments for this unit:
    1. Hayek: The Use of Knowledge in Society
    2. Zwolinski: The Ethics of Price Gouging
    3. ”A fare shake”, The Economist, 14th May 2016
    4. ”Pricing the surge”, The Economist, 29th March 2014
    5. Smith: The Wealth of Nations, bk. I, ch. I only
    6. Lomasky: Liberty after Lehman Brothers
  • Watch four video lectures.
  • Post two discussion contributions.
  • 5th January: unit 2 quiz due by 11:59pm.

Unit 3: Property, Labour and Alienation

  • Reading assignments for this unit:
    1. Locke: from Two Treatises of Government
    2. Gaus: The Idea and Ideal of Capitalism
    3. Marx: Alienation
  • Watch three video lectures.
  • Post one discussion contribution.
  • 11th January: unit 3 quiz due by 11:59pm.
  • 12th January (last date of classes): final paper due by 11:59pm.

UA-mandated notices

https://academicaffairs.arizona.edu/syllabus-policies

Absence and Class Participation

The UA’s policy concerning Class Attendance, Participation, and Administrative Drops is available at: http://catalog.arizona.edu/policy/class-attendance-participation-and-administrative-drop

The UA policy regarding absences for any sincerely held religious belief, observance or practice will be accommodated where reasonable, http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/religious-accommodation-policy

Absences for groups of more than three students that are pre-approved by the UA Dean of Students (or Dean Designee) will be honored. See: http://policy.arizona.edu/employmenthuman-resources/attendance

Threatening Behavior Policy

The UA Threatening Behavior by Students Policy prohibits threats of physical harm to any member of the University community, including to oneself. See http://policy.arizona.edu/education-and-student-affairs/threatening-behavior-students

Accessibility and Accommodations

At the University of Arizona, we strive to make learning experiences as accessible as possible. If you anticipate or experience barriers based on disability or pregnancy, please contact the Disability Resource Center (520-621-3268, https://drc.arizona.edu/) to establish reasonable accommodations.

See http://drc.arizona.edu/instructors/syllabus-statement.

Code of Academic Integrity

Students are encouraged to share intellectual views and discuss freely the principles and applications of course materials. However, graded work/exercises must be the product of independent effort unless otherwise instructed. Students are expected to adhere to the UA Code of Academic Integrity as described in the UA General Catalog. See: http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/policies/code-academic-integrity and http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu/academic-integrity/students/academic-integrity

UA Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy

The University of Arizona is committed to creating and maintaining an environment free of discrimination. In support of this commitment, the University prohibits discrimination, including harassment and retaliation, based on a protected classification, including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information. For more information, including how to report a concern, please see http://policy.arizona.edu/human-resources/nondiscrimination-and-anti-harassment-policy

Classroom Behavior Policy

To foster a positive learning environment, students and instructors have a shared responsibility. We want a safe, welcoming, and inclusive environment where all of us feel comfortable with each other and where we can challenge ourselves to succeed. To that end, our focus is on the tasks at hand and not on extraneous activities (e.g., texting, chatting, reading a newspaper, making phone calls, web surfing, etc.).

Subject to Change Statement

Information contained in the course syllabus, other than the grade and absence policy, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor; see http://policy.arizona.edu/faculty-affairs-and-academics/course-syllabus-policy-undergraduate-template