Term Paper 2: Mill's On Liberty

Here's a link to your term paper on J.S. Mill's On Liberty. Term Paper here.

The paper is due on Tuesday, May 10 in class.

You won't be able to complete the assignment yet, as we haven't finished going over Mill's arguments, but you'll be able to read through the paper and think about it as we cover the arguments in class.

Let me know if you have any questions while you're working on it.

Make-up Assignment for Group Project 4/7

If you missed class on Thursday, April 7, complete the make-up assignment below.

The Humanity Formula of the Categorical Imperative is pretty abstract (briefly paraphrased, "always act so as to treat humanity as an end-in-itself, never merely as a means."). It takes work to figure out how that should actually "play out" in real life. For this assignment, we're going to start thinking about what specific obligations we have, to uphold the humanity formula.

Step 1:
Spend 10 minutes brainstorming about a real life situation that you think is meaningful and important.

Start by briefly describing the situation.

Then say what's required in that situation in order to treat everyone (yourself included) as an end-in-itself.

Step 2:
Post your brainstorm in the comments below.

Step 3:
Over the weekend, keep checking back in and reading your classmates' stories and thoughts (there were 8 of you who missed class).

Based on the collection of stories, generate a list of general rules about how you should act in life in order to be treating all people as ends-in-themselves. Discuss back and forth with one another in the comments. As a group, the 8 of you will decide on your list of general rules for treating people as ends-in-themselves. You'll put your final list in the comments here.

Progress Report - Course Grade Updates

Here's a link to your current grade in the course.

Your grades are in sets of 4 sheets.

The first set is your overall grade so far in the course. The second column from the right is the total number of points you have so far in the course. 875 is the highest total number. The column furthest to the right shows your current percentage grade as a decimal point. Anything from .895 and up is an A; .795 and up is a B; etc. This is your current grade – it will change as we complete more assignments. I have dropped one quiz grade, so a few of you have over 100%.

The next set is your term paper grade. You’ve completed one term paper so far, so only the first column has a grade in it.

The next set is your exam grade; you’ve also completed one exam so far.

Etc. Each set is labeled with the category.

Look for your grade with your student ID number. This was a ton of data entry, and I’m not good at data entry – double check your grades carefully to be sure I haven’t made a typo or missed entering a grade. It’s very easy to fix now, so just send me an email if you see a mistake.

Forum 3 Grades

Excellent job on Forum 3, everyone! That was an interesting discussion, and I liked that you were having more of a conversation with one another.

Here's a link to your grades. As always, send me an email if you know you posted but don't see a grade - it's very easy to lose track in these threads, and I may just have typed in your student ID number incorrectly.

The post is worth 75 points; response is worth 50 points.

Forum 3 Grades

Midterm 2: Kant

Here's a link to your Kant Midterm; you won't be able to complete all the questions yet, but if you want to download it and get started, feel free. Read the instructions carefully!

Let me know if you have questions while you're working on the exam; get started early so that you can get help if you need it.

Good luck, have fun.

Forum 3: The Laramie Project

***NOTE***

Because of the power outage, we introduced Kant in class today instead of finishing the movie. We'll finish watching the movie on Tuesday (I'll email the location before class). New due dates for your forum answers are below.

***NOTE***

Please read all of the comments before you post - 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.

**NOTE**
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.

***NOTE***
Make absolutely sure that you're speaking with respect for everyone in your comments. Comments that display disrespect for persons will be deleted and you will not get credit for your answer.

**NOTE**

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 I can't 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 Friday, March 25, at 8 p.m. Then respond to 1 of your colleagues by Sunday, March 27, at 8 p.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 wanted to steal something from them? Why or why not?
2. What unexamined ideas and assumptions do you think the young men had, that made them react the way they did to Matthew? What do you think motivated those assumptions?

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

Term Paper 1: Aristotle

Here's the link to your Aristotle paper. Some of the questions may not make sense until we're finished discussion on Thursday, but if you want to get started on the earlier questions, go ahead!

Term Paper 1: Aristotle