RELG 245-01 Modern Moral Issues in Religious Perspective

 

 

Instructor: Joyce McClure Office Hours: Mon. and Wed., 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Office: Rice 328 or by appointment

Office Phone: ext. 8534

email: joyce.mcclure@oberlin.edu

Objective: This course will explore a variety of issues that raise moral questions. We will look at how these issues

are addressed from both religious and philosophical perspectives. In the process, students will have the

opportunity to consider both particular social issues and ethical approaches to moral questions. The

primary goal is for students to come to understand the complexity of the issues and to explore ways

religious and philosophical thinkers have attempted to address them.

Texts: David Theo Goldberg, Ethical Theory and Social Issues: Historical Texts and Contemporary Readings

Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman, Contemporary Jewish Ethics and Morality: A Reader

Sissela Bok, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response

RESERVE READINGS--Indicated on syllabus by "**"

Course Requirements:

Attendance: Students are expected to attend all classes. Should the occasional absence be

necessary, students are completely responsible for obtaining class notes, handouts, and

information disseminated at missed classes. Repeated absences will exert a downward pressure on the final grade.

Class Participation: Class participation is also expected. The format for class meetings

includes formal discussion periods, but students are invited to engage the material and ask questions during the

lecture portions of class meetings as well. Quality class participation can raise the final grade.

Grading: Students are required to take a midterm exam and a final exam. Students are also required to

submit a 5-6 page paper on an ethical issue covered in the course. The paper must be rooted in

the course.

Each component will be weighted as follows:

Midterm: 35%

Final: 35%

Paper: 30%

Students must complete all of the requirements of this course to pass the course.

 

Please note: The paper is due Tuesday, May 14, 12:00 n.

Extensions will be granted only for true emergencies, such as a death in the family. The honor

code applies throughout the course, including appeals for extensions. Late papers, those received after

the time indicated for the due date, will be penalized. Any paper not submitted by noon on

May 14th will be counted late.

Assignment Schedule: All readings are required except those in brackets [ ]

Feb. 1�Introduction

Feb. 6�Ethical Theory

Goldberg, pp. 27-54: Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics

Feb. 8�Ethical Theory

Goldberg, pp. 91-113: Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals

Feb. 11�Ethical Theory

Goldberg, pp. 116-129: Utilitarianism

Goldberg, pp. 188-197: MacIntyre, "The Virtues ..."

Feb. 13�Religious Ethics: Christian Ethics

**James Gustafson, "Christian Ethics," in Encyclopedia of Ethics

**Roger Crook, pp. 23-28: "Roman Catholic Moral Theology," An Introduction to Christian Ethics

[**"Modern Roman Catholic Moral Theology," in Westminster Dictionary of Christian Ethics]

Feb. 15─Religious Ethics: Jewish Ethics

Dorff, pp. 12-19: Kellner, "The Structure of Jewish Ethics"

**David Novak, pp. 3-19: "Introduction," Jewish Social Ethics

Feb. 18�Lying

Bok, pp. xv-xxii; 3-31

Feb. 20�Lying�Discussion

Bok, pp. 32-56; pp.250-255: excerpt from Augustine; pp. 282-286: excerpt from Bonhoeffer

[Bok, pp. 255-261: excerpt from Aquinas; pp. 267-272: excerpt from Kant]

Feb. 22�Lying

Bok, pp. 73-106; 146-164

Feb. 25�Lying�Discussion

Bok, pp. 165-181; 220-249

Feb. 27�Euthanasia

Goldberg, pp. 459-479

Mar. 1�Euthanasia

**John Paul II, pp. 441-444: "Euthanasia", On Moral Medicine

**Lisa Sowle Cahill, pp. 445-453: "A 'Natural Law' Reconsideration of Euthanasia," On Moral Medicine

**Gilbert Meilaender, pp. 455-460: "Euthanasia & Christian Vision," On Moral Medicine

Mar. 4--Euthanasia�Discussion

Dorff, pp. 140-149: Loius E. Newman, "Woodchoppers and Respirators"

Dorff, pp. 350-361: Fred Rosner, "Euthanasia"

Dorff, pp. 362-376: Byron Sherwin, "A View of Euthanasia"

[Dorff, pp. 149-156: Newman, "Woodchoppers" cont'd.]

Mar. 6�E uthanasia/Assisted Suicide

**Sidney Wanzer, et al, pp. 844-849: "The Physician's Responsibility toward Hopelessly Ill Patients," New

England Journal of Medecine, Vol. 320, No. 13

**Timothy E. Quill, pp. 691-694: "Death and Dignity: A Case of Individualized Decision Making,"

NEJM, Vol. 324, No. 10

**Timothy E. Quill, pp. 1039-1040: "The Ambiguity of Clinical Intentions," NEJM, Vol. 329, No. 14.

**David M. Eddy, pp. 179-181: "A Conversation With My Mother," Journal of the American Medical

Association (JAMA), Vol. 272, No. 3

Mar. 8�Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide�Discussion / Review for Midterm

 

**Timothy E. Quill, pp. 98-120: "The Limitations of Comfort Care," Death and Dignity

**Richard A. McCormick, pp. 1132-1134: "Physicain Assisted Suicide: Flight from Compassion," The

Christian Century, December 4, 1991

Mar. 11�Midterm Exam

Mar. 13�Abortion

Goldberg, pp. 419-444

Mar. 15�Abortion

Goldberg, pp. 445-457

**Judith Jarvis Thomson, pp. 47-66: "A Defense of Abortion," Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1971

Mar. 18�Abortion�Discussion

Dorff, pp. 382-401

**Aharon Lichtenstein, pp. 3-12: "Abortion: A Halakhic Perspective," Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox

Thought, 25(4), Summer 1991

Mar. 20�Abortion

**James Gustafson, pp. 403-412: "A Protestant Ethical Approach," On Moral Medicine

**Stanley Hauerwas, pp. 212-229: "Abortion: Why the Arguments Fail," A Community of Character

 

Mar. 22 CLASS CANCELLED make-up class = movie, Sunday May 5, 7 p.m. Attendance is mandatory.

SPRING BREAK

Apr. 1�Abortion

**Beverly Wildung Harrison, pp. 422-432: "Theology and Morality of Procreative Choice," On Moral

Medicine

**Sidney Callhan, pp. 394-410: "Abortion and the Sexual Agenda," Moral Issues and

Christian Response

Apr. 3�Abortion�Discussion

**Margaret A. Farley, pp. 434-437: "Liberation, Abortion and Responsibility," On Moral Medicine

**Daniel Callahan, pp. 416-426: Abortion: Law, Choice and Morality

Apr. 5�Sexuality

**Toinette M. Eugene, pp. 330-342: "'Lifting as We Climb': Womanist Theorizing about Religion and the

Family," Religion, Feminism, & the Family

**Christine Gudorf, pp. 251-273: "Western Religionand the Patriarchal Family," Feminist Ethics and the

Catholic Moral Tradition

[Dorff, pp. 271-283: David Novak, "Some Aspects of Sex, Society, and God in Judaism"]

 

Apr. 8�Sexuality

**Barbara Hildert Andolsen, pp. 207-234: "Whose Sexuality? Whose Tradition? Women, Expereience,

and Roman Catholic Sexual Ethics," Feminist Ethics and the Catholic Moral Tradition

Apr. 10�Sexuality�Discussion

**Toinette M. Eugene, pp. 315-335: "While Love is Unfashionable: Ethical Implications of Black

Spirituality and Sexuality," Feminist Ethics and the Catholic Moral Tradition

**Karen Lebacqz, pp. 244-257: "Love Your Enemy: Sex, Power, and Christian Ethics," Feminist

Theological Ethics

Apr. 12�Sexuality

**Karen Lebacqz, pp. 435-438: "Appropriate Vulnerability: A Sexual Ethic for Singles," The Christian

CENTURY, May, 1987

Dorff, pp. 300-313: Martha A. Ackelsberg, "Jewish Family Ethics in a Post-halakhic Age"

Dorff, pp. 289-299: Arthur Waskow, "Down-to-Earth Judaism: Sexuality"

Apr. 15�Sexuality�Discussion

**Rosemary R. Ruether, pp. 28-32: "From Machismo to Mutuality," in Homosexuality and Ethics

**Roger L. Shinn, pp. 3-13: "Homosexuality: Christian Conviction and Inquiry," in Homosexuality and

Ethics

**John Boswell, pp. xiii-xix, "Introduction," in Uncommon Calling

**Margaret A. Farley, pp. 93-106: "An Ethic for Same-Sex Relations," in A Challenge to Love

Apr.. 17�War and Peace

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, pp. i-x; 1-36: The Challenge of Peace

Apr. 19�War and Peace�Discussion

National Conference of Catholic Bishops, pp. 36-84: The Challenge of Peace

Apr. 22� War and Peace

**David Novak, pp. 118-129: "Nuclear War and the Prohibition of Wanton Destruction," Jewish Social

Ethics

**Everett E. Gendler, pp. 189-209: "War and the Jewish Tradition," Contemporary Jewish Ethics

Dorff, pp. 403-421: Irving Greenberg, "The Ethics of Jewish Power"

Apr. 24�War and Peace

**Kenneth Vaux, pp. 63-86: "Islam, Jihad, and Iraq�s Holy War," The Ethics of the Gulf War

**Sohail Hashmi, pp. 158-180: "Saving and Taking Life in War: Three Modern Muslim Views," The

Muslim World, 89/2, 1999.

Apr. 26�War and Peace

**Lisa Sowle Cahill, pp. 205-230: "The Recent Debate, Continued," Love Your Enemies

Apr. 29� War and Peace�Discussion

**John Howard Yoder, pp. 81-102: "'What Would You Do If ...?': An Exercise in Situation Ethics,"

Journal of Religious Ethics, 2/2, 1974

May 1�Death Penalty

Goldberg, 482-514

May 3�Death Penalty

**C. L. Ten, "Retributive Theories"

Sunday, May 5, 7-9:30 p.m., Mudd 050 Film: Dead Man Walking Attendance mandatory: make-up class

May 7�Death Penalty

**Richard L. Nygaard, pp. 251-254: "'Vengeance is Mine' Says the Lord," Moral Issues and Christian

Response

Dorff, pp. 344-348: Elie Spitz, "The Jewish Tradition and Capital Punishment"

**Ernest Van den Haag, pp. 255-265: "The Collapse of the Case Against Capital Punishment," Moral

Issues and Christian Response

May 9�Death Penalty--Discussion

May 11�Review for Final Exam / Paper Workshop

PAPER DUE�Tuesday, May 14, 12:00 n.

FINAL EXAM�t.b.a.

 

 

 

READING NOTES: In order to gain control over such a plethora of material from such a variety of sources, the following method of note-taking for the reading assignments is strongly recommended. It is also a method that will serve you well in other courses once you develop the discipline.

After completing each reading, you should note the author's name, title of the article or chapter, and issue for which it was assigned. Then, in one or two paragraphs, using your own words, state the author's position and then summarize the main points of the author's argument. If there are any new terms used in the article, list them and their meaning as well. Also, if you have any questions about the argument, you should assume that others do as well and that you would be doing everyone a favor by asking them in class!

While it may take some practice to develop the skill of identifying the main points of the argument, doing it on a regular basis will produce the desired results.

Doing this after each reading will greatly assist you in being prepared for class discussions and for the two exams given in this course.