Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Building

PHIL 203 Civility and Virtue Ethics

This course examines the human search for meaning as reflected in the intersection of civility and the virtue tradition in philosophy; as our ancient world cultures have acknowledged, both individual happiness and a harmonious society depend on the cultivation of humanistic values and a virtuous character. Using written texts (including P.M. Forni’s Choosing Civility), films, and literature, the focus is on the costs of incivility and the benefits of civility. Drawing on insights from the humanities and the arts, this course is interdisciplinary in focus and worldwide in scope, exploring civility and the virtue tradition in the worldviews of Asia, Africa, and the West.

Credits

3

Prerequisite

Eligible to enroll in ENGL 121

Hours Weekly

3

Course Objectives

  1. Identify the key features of the Virtue Tradition in philosophy and how/why it advocates the formation of a virtuous character by organizing the key concepts of the two earliest proponents of this approach, Confucius and Aristotle, and by distinguishing Virtue Ethics from Teleological and Deontological approaches to ethical decision making.
  2. Consider the possibilities offered by the Ideal of Civility within the Virtue Tradition by recognizing and creatively exploring models of civility in the worldviews of secular, religious, and spiritual traditions around the world and across millennia.
  3. Analyze and evaluate the role of film in inviting the viewer to creatively explore ethical dilemmas experienced by characters (through presentations of civility and incivility) and to clarify ethical questions and examine one’s own core beliefs and values.
  4. Apply the key elements in the Virtue Tradition to the challenges of the modern world, by analyzing civility’s contribution to the cultivation of wisdom, empathy, compassion, and respect, to the duties/responsibilities of citizenship, the revival of restorative justice, and renewed concern for the health of the natural and built environments.

Course Objectives

  1. Identify the key features of the Virtue Tradition in philosophy and how/why it advocates the formation of a virtuous character by organizing the key concepts of the two earliest proponents of this approach, Confucius and Aristotle, and by distinguishing Virtue Ethics from Teleological and Deontological approaches to ethical decision making.

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • Test essays one and two

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

    Critical Thinking

    • CT1

    Ethics Goals

    • ET1
  2. Consider the possibilities offered by the Ideal of Civility within the Virtue Tradition by recognizing and creatively exploring models of civility in the worldviews of secular, religious, and spiritual traditions around the world and across millennia.

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • Online discussions; test essay three

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

    Critical Thinking

    • CT2

    Ethics Goals

    • ET1
  3. Analyze and evaluate the role of film in inviting the viewer to creatively explore ethical dilemmas experienced by characters (through presentations of civility and incivility) and to clarify ethical questions and examine one’s own core beliefs and values.

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • Film analysis paper

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

    Critical Thinking

    • CT3

    Ethics Goals

    • ET2
  4. Apply the key elements in the Virtue Tradition to the challenges of the modern world, by analyzing civility’s contribution to the cultivation of wisdom, empathy, compassion, and respect, to the duties/responsibilities of citizenship, the revival of restorative justice, and renewed concern for the health of the natural and built environments.

    Learning Activity Artifact

    • Other (please fill out box below)
    • Online discussions

    Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

    • Critical and Creative Thinking Rubric

    Critical Thinking

    • CT4

    Ethics Goals

    • ET3