Forum 4: Salaam Bombay

Assignment
Spend at least 20 minutes thinking about the question below, and write a substantive response to post in comments.

Your response to the question is due by Sunday morning at 8 a.m.; respond to a colleague by Tuesday morning at 8 a.m.

A good response will be at the very least 1/2 a page, double-spaced in a word processing program.

In your response to your colleague, try to drive the conversation forward in some way. Press the person (politely) on their response; ask a question to try to examine the idea; disagree (politely); examine the premises the person is relying on - that is, try to add to the original post with your response. Don't just say you agree with the person.

Question
*UPDATE*

Let's ignore the question of responsibility for the time being, as it's distracting from the second question: if you think the situation is unjust, why? If not, why not?

Address all of the questions below:

The people depicted in this film lived in circumstances that made human flourishing extremely difficult if not impossible. Do you think it's just (that is, does it reflect justice) that they're more or less trapped in these circumstances? If so, why? If not, why not? Who's responsibility is it to try to improve the circumstances of the desperately poor?

Term Paper 2: Utilitarianism

Here's a link to the second term paper assignment. You won't be able to complete the paper until we've covered On Liberty in class - I'm just posting this early in case it will help you to have the paper in mind while we go over the material.

The term paper is due November 30.

Term Paper 2: Utilitarianism.

The Texas statute is Texas False Disparagement of Perishable Food Products Act, Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. §§ 96.001-.004

Grade Update

Here's the link to your grade update. Philosophy 110 Grades

If you're missing a grade and you know you completed the assignment, or if I typed a grade in wrong, let me know.

Have a great weekend!

Midterm 2: Kant

Here's the link to your second midterm.

Please type your answers. Answers are due next Tuesday, November 2.

Email me if you have any questions. Good luck, and have fun!

Midterm 2: Kant

Grade Update

Here's a link to your current grades in the course: Philosophy 110 Grade Update

Look up your grades by student ID number.

Grades are listed in 6 sets of 3 pages each. The first set shows a general overview of the grades for the course. The column on the very furthest right shows your current percentage grade in the course, as a decimal. .895 or higher is an A; .795-.894 is a B, etc. The second-to last column on the right shows the total number of points you've earned so far.

The next set of three pages shows current term paper grades (you don't have any, yet), then midterm grades, forum grades, forum response grades, and the set after that shows current quiz grades.

Except for the final column on the main, "Grades" page, all of the numbers listed are points, not percentage grades. The highest points you could get for each forum post is 75; the highest for each response is 50, for each quiz, 25. The Midterms are worth 150 points each.

Forum 3: The Laramie Project

***UPDATE 3***

Please read all of the comments before you post - we're covering a lot of old territory with new comments, and my goal for these projects is to make them a real conversation. So see what other people have talked about before you post, and then take that into consideration in your own comments.

**UPDATE 2**
Please stick very closely to the questions below. There are all kinds of discussions one could have about the ethical issues raised by this film, and there's value in having those discussions. But if we're all going off in different directions, it's impossible to pursue any one question in depth, and that's what I want to do.

In particular, please refrain from sharing your religious affiliation and the beliefs of your particular branch of that religion. It does not help to elucidate the questions raised below, and will have a strong tendency to throw us off track in discussions. Remember what we learned in the Euthyphro.

**UPDATE**

Don't forget to sign your name to your post! I have more than one class at a time posting to various blogs, wikis, and whatnot, and my elderly brain cannot keep track of everyone's handle. Put at least your first name and last initial so I can record your grade.

Please post your response to one of the questions below by Saturday, October 9, at 8 a.m. Then respond to 1 of your colleagues by Monday, October 11 at 8 a.m. Your comments should be substantive and thoughtful. Try to elaborate on your ideas, and explain why you think about things the way you do.

1. Many people were particularly upset that Matthew Sheperd was murdered because he was gay. Do you think there's something particularly bad about crime when it's aimed at someone because of their inherent characteristics (like their race, ethnicity, gender) rather than, say, because you got in a fight over something with them? Why or why not?
2. What ideas and assumptions do you think the young men had, that made them react the way they did to Matthew?

If you missed watching the movie in class, you can get it from the library: The Laramie Project

I can't find transcripts from McKinney's trial online; here's a story about the defense from the New York Times.
image published by Xnatedawgx under a creative commons attribution/share alike license

First Term Paper

Here's a link to your first term paper assignment: Nicomachean Ethics

The paper is due Tuesday October 12.

Get started right away so that I can help you if you have any questions. Contact me if you're having any problems at all on the paper - if you need help organizing your thoughts, understanding part of the question, or determining whether you're missing something important.

You're welcome to watch the movie again online if you want to review. Here it is on YouTube; streaming on Netflix; streaming on Amazon.

Good luck, have fun!