Group Presentations: 10:00 Class

Here are the group assignments for the 10:00 AM class. If you're not in a group yet, let me know as soon as possible so we can get you in one.

Team Homosexuality (1st on Friday, 5/2/08)
Caleb, Melissa, Mike, Stephanie, Susan, Suzette

Team Torture (2nd on Friday, 5/2/08)
Anne Marie, Jennifer, Jim, Rebecca, Steve, Sean

Team Egoism (1st on Monday, 5/5/08)
Courtney, Frances, Krista, Sochima

Team Steroids (2nd on Monday, 5/5/08)
Erica, Holly, Hugh, Kristina, Nick

Team Stem Cells (1st on Wednesday, 5/7/08)
Anthony, Dan, Dwayne, Jeremy, Kelly, Theresa

Team Moral Psychology (2nd on Wednesday, 5/7/08)
Amanda, Freddy, Jamie, Jenna, Shawn, Tim

Also, I mentioned this in class, but just in case...

Attendance is mandatory for the group presentations on Friday (5/2/07), Monday (5/5/07), and Wednesda (5/7/07). It's the only time I'll be a stickler for it. Basically, I want you to show respect for the other groups presenting.

If you don't attend on either the days your group isn't presenting (and your absence isn't excused), your own personal presentation grade will drop. Each day you don't attend will lower your grade by a full letter grade.

One last thing: be sure to keep the presentations under 15 minutes. A 10-minute presentation is ideal, so we can have time for a short question-and-answer session afterwards.

Team Prostitution

Here are some links on prostitution:

Feminism & Prostitution (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
Radio Show on Morality of Prostitution (Philosophy Talk: check the additional links at the bottom of this page)
Why Is Prostitution Illegal? (Slate)
So Why Is Porn Legal? (Slate)
Legalize It, Already! (Reason)
Prostitution in America and Europe (Atlantic Monthly)
Sex Trafficking Around the World (NY Review of Books)
It Helps Marriages! (Times of London)
Utilitarians for Hookers? (National Review)
Criticism of the Utilitarian Arg (National Review)

And just in case you change you mind and go back to police brutality, here are some links:

Wikipedia Article on Police Brutality
Human Rights Watch Report on Police Brutality (1998)
Culture of Complaint (Slate)
The Police's Code of Silence (New York Times)
"Don't Tase Me, Bro!" Incident: Brutality? (Wikipedia)

Team Moral Psych

First, I recommend reading about the theory of moral development that Lawrence Kohlberg developed in the 1960's, along with Carol Gilligan's criticism of his theory.

Also, here are several links to articles that discuss some recent topics in moral psychology:

Richard Rorty Reviews Moral Minds
Interview: Moral Psychologist Jonathan Haidt
The Disgust Scale
An Evolutionary Theory of Morality
Brain Scans of Moral Decisions

Team Egoism

First, you should read some of the section on Morality and Self-Interest (beginning on page 31o) in our Vice and Virtue textbook. Some specific articles worth reading: Rachels's "Egoism and Moral Skepticism" (pages 332-342), Pojman's "Egoism, Self-Interest, and Altruism" (345-349), Rand's "The Virtue of Selfishness" (342-345), and Browne's "The Unselfishness Trap" (327-332).

Also, here are some links:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Egoism
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Egoism
Reason's Issue on Ayn Rand
Rand, Net Philosopher-Queen (London Review of Books)
Benevolent Egoism: Yes, But is it Egoism? (Reason)

Team Steroids

Here are some links:

An Unfair Advantage (Center of Applied Ethics)
Steroids DESTROY Baseball (Detroit Free Press)
In Defense of Steroids (Reason)
The Overhyped Harm of Steroids (National Review)
Don't Believe the Hype (Reason)
The Steroid Wars (New Yorker)
Yes, Steroids Enhance, But So Does Steak (Slate)
HGH: No Side Effects, But it Doesn't Work (Slate)
Remember, THG Was Legal and Not Banned by B'ball (Slate)

Team Stem Cells & Cloning

First, for research on stem cells, you should check out the section of our Do the Right Thing textbook on fetal tissue transplants (pages 303-328). Then, for research on cloning, you should check out the 3 articles on cloning in our Vice & Virtue textbook (pages 421-462), as well as Shannon Smith's article on cloning in our Do the Right Thing textbook (pages 349-360).

Here are some links on stem cell research:

NEW! Ethics of Stem-Cell Research (SEP)

Wikipedia Entry on Stem Cell Controversy
A Moral Defense of Stem-Cell Research (Boston Review)
New Technique that Doesn't Destroy Embryos? (New York Times)
[Clarification (NY Times) Quelling the Hype (National Review)]
Even Newer Technique
Will Stem-Cell Research Help? (National Review)
Selling Alternatives Short (National Review)
What About Adult Stem Cells? (Weekly Standard)
What Pro-Lifers are Missing in the Stem-Cell Debate (Slate)
Embryo Ethics (Boston Globe)

And here are some links on cloning:

Overview of Cloning Debate
Science of Cloning (Human Genome Project)
Email Debate on Cloning (Slate)
Human Clones: Why Not? (Slate)
UN Urges Ban on Cloning (Weekly Review)
Confusion over Cloning (New York Review of Books)

Team Homosexuality

First, you should check out the section of our Do the Right Thing textbook on homosexuality, which begins on page 607.

Also, here are some links:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Homosexuality
Why the Religious Are Against Gay Marriage (Slate)
The Claims of Nature (Reason)
Gays and Genes (New York Review of Books)
Gay Marriage Email Debate (Slate)
Slippery Slope Args Against Gay Marriage Suck! (Slate)

Team Porn

First, you should check out the section on censorship and porn in our Do the Right Thing textbook, which begins on page 513.

Also, here are some links:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Porn & Free Speech
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy on Porn & Feminism
Can Feminism & Porn Coexist? (Bitch Magazine)
Exorcising Pornography (1985 Boston Review)
Exchange: MacKinnon & Dworkin (New York Review of Books)
In Praise of Porn (Reason)

Team Torture

Here are some links:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy Article on Torture
The Dark Art of Interrogation (Atlantic Monthly)
Torture at Abu Ghraib (New Yorker)
How Much Torture is OK? (Reason)
A "Never Torture" Policy is Absurd (Weekly Standard)
Should We Care How Intelligence Is Gathered? (Atlantic Monthly)

Mashups

For those who don't know what a mashup is, you're in luck. You can start with one of the best ones out there:

(December 4th, from DJ Danger Mouse's Grey Album)

The internet has more to say about the Grey Album here.