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. Analyze the Virtue Tradition in philosophy and discuss how and why it advocates the formation of a virtuous character, as well as how Virtue Ethics differs from Teleological and Deontological approaches to ethical decision making.
2. Analyze the ideal of Civility within the Virtue Tradition and its role in the search for meaning and the cultivation of humanistic and ethical values; creatively analyze models of civility in the worldviews of secular, religious, and spiritual traditions around the world and across centuries.
3. Apply the key elements in the Virtue Tradition to the challenges of the modern world, innovatively exploring civility’s contribution to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the ideal of cosmopolitanism or world citizenship, the revival of restorative justice, and ecology or concern for the health of the natural and built environments.
4. Analyze the role of film in inviting the viewer to creatively explore and clarify one’s own core humanistic values through the study of ethical questions/issues.

Course Objectives

1. Analyze the Virtue Tradition in philosophy and discuss how and why it advocates the formation of a virtuous character, as well as how Virtue Ethics differs from Teleological and Deontological approaches to ethical decision making.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Test essays one and two
2. Analyze the ideal of Civility within the Virtue Tradition and its role in the search for meaning and the cultivation of humanistic and ethical values; creatively analyze models of civility in the worldviews of secular, religious, and spiritual traditions around the world and across centuries.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Weekly Journals test essay three

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP1
   • CP2

   Program Goal(s)

   Degree: Philosophy and Religious Studies - A.A. Degree (Transfer)

   1. Identify, understand, evaluate, and apply ethical reasoning.

3. Apply the key elements in the Virtue Tradition to the challenges of the modern world, innovatively exploring civility’s contribution to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship, the ideal of cosmopolitanism or world citizenship, the revival of restorative justice, and ecology or concern for the health of the natural and built environments.

   Learning Activity Artifact

   • Other (please fill out box below)
   • Weekly journals

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP3
4. Analyze the role of film in inviting the viewer to creatively explore and clarify one’s own core humanistic values through the study of ethical questions/issues.

   This objective is a course Goal Only

   Learning Activity Artifact

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

   Procedure for Assessing Student Learning

   • Creative Process and Humanistic Inquiry Rubric

   Creative Process

   • CP4