Anyone took Philosophy- intro to Ethics???

guiltysins · Jun 24, 2009

I took Philosophy and ethics. It wasn't exactly hard to me, I had to take two classes of it and got A's in both. The main focus of the class is of course what is morally right and what is morally wrong. You'll focus on little things like lying and gradually move onto things like life and death. You go over a few philosophers that describe what their criteria of what is right and what is wrong and why their way was a good arguement. Then you compare each of them to one another. In doing so you'll also cover topics on their definitions of good and evil, happiness and suffering and whether people truly have free will.

The main problem that most people had was that they focused more on their own personal opinions of the philosophers views and less on what the philosopher was trying to say. The class isn't about what your specific opinion is. Whether you believe that is the way to judge right and wrong actions, but moreso to understand why they felt it was the best way to go about it.

For an example the professor gave us a scenario that there is a runaway train and 5 people are tied to the tracks. You have the ability to flip the switch and change the train onto a different track where there is one person tied to the tracks. Now you can either flip the switch and one person dies or you can do nothing and the five people die. One philosopher said to flip the switch because you save more people that way and you only risk one life while the other philosopher said you shouldn't do anything because it's wrong to kill anyone and if you do nothing, you're not really killing the five people because you're not doing anything.

Now it's not important which one you agree with, but moreso of why each philosopher thought the way they did and how they differ. I wouldn't say the class is hard but it can definetely be confusing. We didn't use a book so the notes that we took in class were crucial. Make sure you highlight the philosopher, the time period and the name of any of their theories (because most of them had named theories for what they were trying to explain).

Tonyapate · Jun 24, 2009

Thank you so much! (I thought I'd never get a reply..lol..) I like how you gave me insight to philosophy class. I appreciate that. I will start brushing up on it now. Oh, Did you have to write a lot of papers? I hear that I will be writing and reading a lot. I will most def. Highlight those that you listed. Thanks again!

louieloueee · Jun 24, 2009

I'm in the last few days of a similar class right now, and it's been one of my favorite classes I've ever taken.

The subject matter itself isn't difficult, there's just a lot of thinking involved to figure out the arguments being made. Some concepts may be a little foreign if you haven't been exposed to philosophy before.

The point in the class I'm taking is to be able to make an argument, and back it up, using different elements of the different philosophies studied. We've had to write a total of 6 papers, 5 that were expected to be 2-3 pages long, and one that was to be around 5.

If there's reading, do it.. highlight the key points, and try to get the jist of what the author's trying to say.

For each of the concepts involved, I found that it was very handy to do a mind map (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map) of the topic to keep the ideas and relationships straight. (This method will likely work well for every other class too).

Also, participate in class. The discussions are really interesting if you get what's going on and can contribute. Chances are, your teacher will be looking for that and will determine it as part of your grade as part of the whole engaged-learning thing. If you can show you're thinking, then he/she has done their job well.

Topics covered:

Psychological/Ethical Egoism

Relativism

Utilitarianism (Act & Rule)

Hobbes

Kant

Feminism

Hume

Moral Sentiment Theory

etc

Good luck!

guiltysins · Jun 25, 2009

Thank you so much! (I thought I'd never get a reply..lol..) I like how you gave me insight to philosophy class. I appreciate that. I will start brushing up on it now. Oh, Did you have to write a lot of papers? I hear that I will be writing and reading a lot. I will most def. Highlight those that you listed. Thanks again!

We had to write four (2-3pg) papers. You definetely do a lot of writing with papers and class notes and even more reading, especially if you are having time grasping the material. The subject itself is interesting though and it will definetely get you to think totally different from the way you normally do and I agree with the person above, participation is also crucial. There are really no right or wrong answers in philosophy, you just have to state your case and have something to back it up with. It was one of my favorite classes though.

Tonyapate · Jun 25, 2009

Thank you guys! I will make sure I put a key effort into participation with the class. I am kind of excited after reading you all's thoughts on it. Maybe I will benifit form this class after all. Thanks and God Bless!

Javeed · Jun 25, 2009

WOW thanks everyone. I am taking a class similar to that this fall. I appreciate all the advice. I think I will enjoy this class. I love this type of discussion.

PacoUSA, BSN, RN · Aug 22, 2010

I'm taking Intro to Ethics this fall, it's a prereq for like 3 of the nursing schools to which I am applying. I am glad I found this thread as it gives me some good insight into what to expect, thanks!