Contents of the Paper Topic Packets

(Choose one and only one of these texts for your paper)

Packet II

1.       John Arthur, "God and Morality." Arthur considers arguments for two different ways in which morality might be said to depend on religion: (A) that religion provides knowledge of what is right and wrong, and incentives to do right, and (B) that God decides what is morally right merely by willing that people behave a certain way. Arthur disagrees with both views.

2.                  Thomas Hill, Jr., "Servility and Self-Respect." Using reasoning that derives from Kant, Hill argues that if you have some why to avoid it, it is morally wrong to allow yourself to be a victim of racial or gender discrimination, or otherwise fail to stand up for your rights as a human being. Hill assumes, of course, that denying people their rights is wrong, but he focuses on the moral obligations of the victims to resist injustice.

Packet III

3.                  George Weigel, "From Last Resort to Endgame: Morality, the Gulf War, and the Peace Process." Weigel presents what he calls the "classic canons” [canons are moral rules, not cannons] of the just war, and argues that the 1990-91 Gulf War of the U.S. and its allies against Iraq, was just.

4.                  Stephen Zunes, "The Gulf War: Eight Myths." Although he does explicitly say that the Gulf War was immoral on the part of the U. S., it makes a number of arguments that support to that conclusion.

If you choose 3. or 4., but sure to read the other article before you begin to write. For more information that may help you make the case for or against the morality of the U. S. participation in the Gulf War try:

Michael Parenti, "Intervention: Whose gain? Whose pain?" http://tomweston.net/parenti.htm (Argues that the U. S. is an empire that maintains its domination by military intervention)

"Moral Foundations of Military Service," Martin L. Cook, Parameters, US Army War College Quarterly, Spring 2000, Vol. XXX, No. 1,

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usawc/Parameters/00spring/cook.htm (defends the morality of war and military service in general terms.).

Public Television "Frontline" list of main events in the Gulf War. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/cron/

5.                  R. Frey and C. Morris, "Terrorism." The authors define what they take terrorism to be. They argue that either on "consequentialist" moral theories or on Kantian or "natural law" theories, terrorism is rarely if ever justified. Terminology: A "consequentialist" moral theory is one that says that whether an action is right or not depends on how good or bad its consequences are. Utilitarianism is the most common example of a consequentialist theory of morality. A "natural law" moral theory says that there are moral principles built into the universe or into human nature, rather than invented by human choice or social convention. A reason for acting is called "indefeasible" if it cannot be undermined or outweighed by further information or particular circumstances. For Kant, the categorical imperative to treat each person as an end in himself is indefeasible.

Packet IV

6.                  Mary Ann Warren, "On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion." Warren argues for the right to abortion, basing her case in part on the distinction between a human being in a biological sense and a the moral and legal status of a person.

7.                  D. Marquis, "An Argument that Abortion is Wrong." Marquis makes a case that abortion is seriously wrong, except in unusual circumstances, using the concept of a "future like ours."