DPLS 745fa06 - Leadership and Personal Ethics
DPLS 745 - Leadership and Personal Ethics
Fall 2006 2 Credits
Instructor: Jon Stratton, Ph. D.
Phone: 509.527.4222 or 509.301.7713
Email: dplsethics@hotmail.com
8 – 12 Noon
RC 201
Saturdays (September 9, 16, 30, and October 14, 28)
NOTE THAT YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT ON Hawthorne’s THE SCARLET LETTER FOR THE FIRST SESSION UNDER “ASSIGNMENTS” BELOW
General Description of the Course’s Content
Ethics can be studied from at least two perspectives; we can examine character or actions. The first is an examination of the makeup of a good person, sometimes called the “sagacious” approach because it emphasizes the wisdom of the moral “sage.” The second is focused on the application of right decisions. It is a practical approach to right and wrong, a focus on real world aspects of morality more than on personal character. This course takes the first route. We study the four most influential sagacious traditions, which can be classified in general as the Western, Eastern, Feminist, and Christian approaches to being a good person, an important aspect of being an ethical leader.
Each of the four traditions is a complex and diverse gathering of assumptions, questions, contradictions, and resolutions that congregate around a central mode of life that is markedly distinct from those of the other three. Over the centuries, each tradition’s internal dialogue has generated lines of demarcation between various schools of thought. Yet, no matter how these schools diverge, their continued dialogue necessitates enduring allegiance to a central theme. Thus, for the West, to seek the good life is inevitably marked with the pursuit of justice. For Eastern thought, the relief of suffering is the central concern. Feminism’s central theme is the maintenance of caring relationships. Christianity’s path is clearly that of following Jesus’ law of love. Each of these traditions has its own moral focus, its own way of defining and discussing moral issues, and its own convictions about the central themes of being a good person and a good leader.
The Course’s Anticipated Outcomes
Self-reflective criticism is an essential component of the moral wisdom we justifiably expect from responsible leadership. Thus, the primary outcome of the course is an articulation, reflection, and reevaluation of the student’s approach to personal ethics in light of four sagacious moral traditions. We each already have an initial “moral perspective” on the world, a “way of being moral” that mirrors our conception of what it is to be a good person. The course asks for an articulation of that initial perspective, and a reevaluation of it that is grounded in a grasp of the four sagacious traditions that articulates an integrated personal ethical approach.
The course’s secondary outcome is an understanding of and appreciation for the contributions of philosophical analysis and reflection in gaining an integrated ethical perspective. Philosophical analysis breaks down ideas, questions their meanings, and criticizes their assumptions. Philosophical reflection is inherently speculative; an exercise of imagination and intellect that creates cognitive responses to serious questions. Thus, each tradition we study will be subject to significant analysis (interrogation and criticism as well as significant reflection on possible resolutions of the questions that analysis brings to light.
How the Course Reaches its Anticipated Outcomes
The course has three elements. First, you read, reflect, and discuss Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter with the goal of articulating your initial perspective on moral character (see below for a more thorough description of this initial assignment). Second, you read, reflect, and discuss each of the four sagacious traditions we study in the course (the West, the East, Feminism, and Christianity. Your goal here is to grasp the primary concepts and insights regarding moral character each tradition presents. The weekly reading, reflective quotation assignments, the lectures, discussions, and class session summaries complete this task. Third, you synthesize your initial moral perspective with your study of the four traditions in a self-critical manner. This is completed with your final paper. It is an analysis and criticism of your initial moral perspective essay from the philosophical points of view established by the four traditions.
The final paper satisfies primary outcome of the course. It should reveal an intellectual and personal reevaluation of your initial approach, articulate specific difficulties you now have with it, clarify its strengths, and show a good understanding of the four traditions we have studied in the course.
The second outcome is reached by display of analytic precision, clarity in expression, and philosophical imagination in the written work and discussions throughout the course, and especially in the final paper.
The Assignments
There are six different assignments in the course: The initial response to The Fall, the initial moral perspective essay, the weekly reflective quotations, the weekly participation in lecture, the weekly summaries of the traditions, and the final paper. All written work must be word-processed (double spaced) and turned in on time.
The Initial Response to The Scarlet Letter.
PRIOR TO THE FIRST SESSION you are assigned a two page essay on Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter that responds to two questions. 1. On the basis of your initial reading of the novel, what do you think are the primary good and bad character traits of each of the three primary characters (Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth)? 2. What do you think is the general ethical point of view Nathaniel Hawthorne gives us in this novel?
DISCUSSION OF THIS INITIAL WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT IS THE FOCUS OF OUR FIRST CLASS SESSION. IT IS VITAL THAT YOU COME TO THE FIRST CLASS SESSION WITH THIS COMPLETED ESSAY IN HAND.
The more reflection and authentic soul-searching you do in preparing this initial moral perspective essay, the richer the foundation of your final paper will be. You may use any unabridged edition of the novel. Please cite all quotations or paraphrases of the edition you use in APA format.
Weekly Reflective Quotations. Each week (except for the first week), you will be assigned a specific page range in the reading assignment for the following week from which you should select a quotation that you find worthy of discussion and write a three—four paragraph commentary on it. The commentary can explain the reading’s insights into personal morality, or summarize its main ideas. It can explore some strengths and/or weaknesses that you find. These reflective quotation assignments are the basis for the class discussion of the reading. You should always read the entire reading assignment, of course. However, you are the class “primary source” for discussion of your assigned page range.
Weekly Lecture. The lectures provide background, clarification, and commentary on the next session’s ethical perspective. They are intended to provide guidance in regard to the reading assignments.
Final Paper. Your final paper is a self-critique. More specifically, it is a philosophical reevaluation of concepts and feelings in your initial moral perspective essay on the characters and general ethical theme of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. It evaluates your initial moral perspective essay through the lenses of each of the traditions you have studied during the course. It explains how each of the traditions would find shortcomings, misperceptions, and/or lack of moral sensitivity in your initial essay, as well as ideas and feelings each would applaud. Your reflective summaries of the traditions should be helpful in bringing your ideas together in preparing to write the final paper.
The paper describes how your initial moral perspective can be enlarged, deepened, and made more ethically insightful, as well as why you disagree with particular criticisms leveled by one or more of the four traditions. You may want to explore some ideas that you didn’t address in the initial moral perspective essay, but the primary focus of the paper should be on self-criticism. The final paper, in a nutshell, is a description of a “dialogue” between your initial moral perspective essay and the four sagacious traditions. The final paper has a more intellectual approach than your initial essay, but it should also express your feelings about the characters and general ethical theme of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. The final paper should be 15—18 pages in length. Always cite all quotations or paraphrases (APA).
Typical Class Session Schedule
8:00—8:15: Gather assigned written work, initial informal discussions.
Session One: The Initial Response to The Scarlet Letter
Session Two: “Initial Moral Perspective” on Hawthorne’s The Scarlet LetterSessions Two, Three, Four, Five: Reflective Quotation Assignments on Western philosophy, Buddhism, Feminism, and Christianity
8:15—9:00 Small group discussions of reflective quotations assignments from the
reading
9:00—9:20 Long Break
9:20—10:20 Large group discussion about central ethical themes in the reading that came out in the small group discussions with special focus on The Scarlet Letter
10:20—10:45 Summary discussion about the week’s sagacious tradition
10:45—11:00 Short Break
11:00—11:40 Lecture on the next session’s sagacious tradition
11:40—12:00 General Discussion
Reading Assignments
Books are available in the Gonzaga University Bookstore
Prior to the first session, read The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne) and complete the 350-word essay assignment, “The Initial Response to The Scarlet Letter.” (See above)
Saturday, September 9
The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne
Saturday, September 15
Republic, Plato (Translator, Grube. Hackett Edition) Book I, Book VI, 506a-511e, Book VII, 514a-518e, Book IX, Book X, 609b-621d
Saturday, September 29
The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh, pp. 3-118, 161-175
Saturday, October 13
Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, Nel Noddings, Chapters 1-4.
Saturday, October 27
Go and Do Likewise, William C. Spohn
> The Final Paper is due 10:00 PM on Saturday, November 11.
You may email the final paper as an attachment in Microsoft Word to the address on this syllabus. If you prefer, you can mail it to:
Jon Stratton
Philosophy
Walla Walla Community College
Walla Walla, WA 99362
Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of your paper
