Two-Page Essays for Ethical Theory, Fall Term 2003

 

Everyone will do one two-page essay that counts by itself as 10% of your grade.  Essentially, they are assigned at various times throughout the semester and your individual due date is based on the first letter of your last name.  Due dates are different for different letters.

 

TOPICS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN CLASS AND/OR LISTED ON THIS PAGE PRIOR TO THE DUE DATE FOR EACH ONE.  So make sure that you check this page prior to the due date.

 

Because people whose last names begin with letters between “A and E” always end up doing everything first, and the people with “S-Z” almost always end up last, I’ve rearranged the alphabet a bit to provide some variation on that common phenomenon.

 

In general, the instructions are to write a 2-page essay (and make sure it is only two pages – you can single or double-space, or do 1.5 spacing, and you can fiddle with the margins, but make sure that the font is no smaller than 10 point and no larger than 14) on the topic assigned, providing YOUR OWN argument based on the parameters listed as the topic.  That is, you won’t need to do any heavy research – what you need to do for these essays is to use the information you have about some particular ethical theory or ethical theories and apply them to the problems or cases in the topic.  For example, you might have a topic such as this:  From the movie “Changing Lanes,” explain the way in which the lawyer’s behavior would be evaluated from a utilitarian point of view.

 

Essay 1 (Letters L-R):  Due on September 25, 2003. 

          Here’s the topic:

                     Watch one of the movies listed below and, after you have done so, take into consideration the following.  Explain the way in which one of the main characters in that movie exhibits or fails to exhibit the character traits or “way of being” that defines or captures the meaning of Aristotle’s virtue theory or some particular aspect of it.

          Here’s the list:

                     Changing Lanes (with Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson)

                     What Dreams May Come (with Robin Williams and Anabella Sciorra)

                     The Matrix (with Keanu Reeves and Lawrence Fishburne)

                     Quiz Show (Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro)

                     The Majestic (Jim Carrey, et. al.)

 

Essay 2 (Letters S-Z): Due on October 9, 2003: 

          Here’s the topic:

                     Watch one of the movies listed below and, after you have done so, take into consideration the following.  Explain the way in which some aspect or general theme of one of these movies exhibits or fails to exhibit a major aspect of Hobbesian ethics or politics.

          Here’s the list:

                     Changing Lanes

                     Lord of the Flies

                     Platoon

                     Gladiator

                     The Matrix

 

Essay 3 (Letters A-E):  Due “officially” on October 30, 2003, but you can have ‘til November 6 if you need a couple of extra days:

          Here’s the topic:

                     Watch one of the movies listed below and, after you have done so, take into consideration the following.  Explain the way in which some aspect or theme, or character in one of these movies, exhibits or fails to exhibit the requirement of Kantian ethics that every person be treated always as an end in himself or herself, and never merely as a means to an end.

          Here’s the list:

                     The Life of David Gale

                     The Matrix

                     Whose Life is It, Anyway? (an older movie with Richard Dreyfuss)

                     Men of Honor (with Cuba Gooding, Jr.)

                    

                    

 

Essay 4 (Letters F-K):  Due on November 13, 2003 – but if you wish, you can wait ‘til the 18th if that is convenient for you:

          Here’s the topic:

                     Again, watch one of the movies listed below and, after you have done so, take into consideration the following.  Explain the way in which some aspect or theme, or character in one of these movies, exhibits or fails to exhibit the requirement of utilitarianism that an action is right when it promotes happiness or reduces pain, or wrong when it promotes pain or reduces happiness.  Or, if you prefer, consider Wollstonecraft’s commentary on the moral development of women and explain the way in which some aspect or theme or character in one of these movies exhibits or fails to exhibit the traits of character that Wollstonecraft finds inappropriate and morally debasing in women.

          Here’s the list:

                    The Life of David Gale

                    White Oleander

                    The Matrix

                    Thelma and Louise

                    The Majestic