Philosophy 230                                                       Moral Theory and Practice

Dr. Carla Fehr                                                                           Spring 2000

 

 

 

Practical Ethics Component

 

The due date is March 6, 2000

 

The gory details include: Maximum 3 pages, word processed, double spaced, 1 inch margins, 10 or 12 point Times font, black ink, pages numbered and stapled, NO cover page, put your name on every page.

 

The objective of this assignment is to get in the swing of applying the theories that we have been discussing to real life situations.  It is designed to help you answer the question “so what?”

 

 

The assignment:

 

You will perform some volunteer effort in the community.  You will then right a report regarding this volunteer effort or experience that has the following three sections:

 

Section 1: a description of the volunteer effort

Where and when did you volunteer? What exactly did you do?  Was the effort easy or difficult? What was your emotional reaction, if any? Was it difficult to find a place to volunteer?

 

Section 2: an interpretation of that effort in light of one of the ethical theories that we have discussed in class.

Choose one of the theories that we have discussed that seemed the most useful or sensible to you.  Briefly define this theory.  Use this theory to assess the moral worth of your volunteer effort.

 

Section 3: a discussion of the usefulness of the theory in describing your volunteer effort.

What aspects of your experience was this theory good at capturing?

What aspects of your experience did this theory miss?

Does this lead you to like or dislike the theory?

 

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