For Paula

PHI208: LIST OF TOPICS TOPICS These are the topics on which you are to formulate an ethical question to address in your papers , along with a few example sub -topics to help you narrow things down. You should peruse the list of required and recommend readings on each topic for fur ther ideas (the weeks containing those lists is next to the topic heading), and y ou might think about or do some research into specific controversies that have appeared in the news, that you have heard about, or that you may have personally encountered. P lease consult the guidance on formulating an ethical question to help you with that task. Just War/Military Ethics (Weeks Three and Four) • The circumstances under which it is or is not legitimate to use military force against another group or country • The conditions under which killing another person is or is not justified within the context of military action • When it is or is not legitimate to use certain controversial weapons to conduct military operations, such as drones, nuclear weapons, chemical and bi ological weapons, carpet bombs, etc. • Disobeying unjust or illegal orders given by one’s superiors • The k inds of actions or responses are characteristic of “virtuous” military personnel and their opposites, and how we should understand those virtues .

Gender and Equality (Week Five) • Sexual harassment in the workplace • Equal pay for equal work • Hiring discrimination • Portrayals of men and women in the media or advertising • The difference that feminine approaches might make to a specific ethical issue Responsibili ty to Animals (Week Two) • Raising animals in factory farm conditions • Raising animals in alternative farming conditions • Hunting animals for sport • Using animals for scientific research , testing cosmetics, etc.

• Consuming animal products (meat, dairy, eggs, lea ther, fur, etc.) obtained from animals raised in poor conditions PHI208: LIST OF TOPICS Responsibility to the Environment (Week Four) • Business practices that impact the environment • Individual behaviors and choices that impact the environment • The balancing of governmental regula tions intended to protect the environment with individual liberty • Climate Change • Clearing forests for farmland • Protecting wilderness areas • Protecting endangered species End of Life Medical Issues (Week One) • Physician -assisted suicide • Voluntary active euth anasia • Non -voluntary active euthanasia (such as seriously ill infants, people with dementia or brain damage, etc.) • Active vs. passive euthanasia • Euthanasia and/or physician -assisted suicide for non-standard reasons, such as non-terminal conditions ( pain, disability, depression, free choice, etc.)