DPLS 745 - Leadership and Personal Ethics
Summer 2006                                   2 Credits

Instructor: Jon Stratton, Ph. D.
Phone: 509.527.4222 or 509.301.7713 
Email: dplsethics@hotmail.com
     
6—10 PM
RC 130
Tuesdays (June 20, 27, 30 and July 11, 18, 25)
NOTE THAT YOU NEED TO COMPLETE THE ASSIGNMENT ON CAMUS’ THE FALL 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, Christian, and Feminist 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.  Christianity’s path is clearly that of following Jesus’ law of love.  Feminism’s central theme is the maintenance of caring relationships.  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 Camus’ The Fall with the goal of articulating your initial perspective on the moral character of the main character, Clamence.  The initial moral perspective essay completes this task.  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 essay 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 Fall.  PRIOR TO THE FIRST SESSION you are assigned a 350-word essay on the book that responds to three questions.  1.  What is the significance of the novel’s title?  2.  Is Clamence a morally good person?  Identify and describe three central events in the novel that substantiate your view.  3.  What do you think is the overall theme of this novel?  DISCUSSION OF THIS FIRST 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.
     
      Initial Moral Perspective Essay. This essay is a description of at least four specific ideas you find in Camus’ The Fall about what it means to be an ethically good or bad person.  You should explain where you see Clamence’s good or bad characteristics, and why you think they are good or bad.  It is possible you see some good and some bad characteristics in the character.  Both can be included; the important thing is that your essay avoids ambiguity and equivocation.  Take a stand; what specific events in the novel display good or bad aspects of Clamence’s moral character? The essay is not a summary of the novel.  It is an analytic description of your specific thoughts and feelings about good and bad that come to your mind while reading, reflecting on, and discussing Clamence’s soul. 
      This initial moral perspective essay is primarily an articulation of your personal ethical reaction to Clamence.  In your final paper you will call upon the philosophical material in the course to reevaluate your initial moral perspective. 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.  The initial moral perspective essay should be 3—5 pages in length.  Cite all quotations or paraphrases of the novel (APA).
     
      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 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 Clamence’s moral character in Camus’ The Fall.  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 Clamence.  The final paper should be 15—18 pages in length.  Always cite all quotations or paraphrases (APA).

Typical Class Session Schedule

6:00—6:15: Gather assigned written work, initial informal discussions. 

Session One: The Initial Response to The Fall
Session Two: “Initial Moral Perspective” on Camus’ The Fall
Sessions Two, Three, Four, Five: Reflective Quotation Assignments

 6:15—7:00 Small group discussions of reflective quotations assignments from the
      reading

7:00—7:20 Long Break

7:20—8:20 Large group discussion about central ethical themes in the reading that came out in the small group discussions with special focus on The Fall

8:20—8:35 Summary discussion about the week’s sagacious tradition

8:35—8:45 Short Break

8:45—9:40 Lecture on the next session’s sagacious tradition

9:40—10:00 General Discussion

Reading Assignments
Books are available in the Gonzaga University Bookstor

Prior to the first session, read The Fall (Camus) and complete the 350-word essay assignment, “The Initial Response to The Fall.”  (See above)

Tuesday, June 20
The Fall, Albert Camus (Translator, O’Brien)

Tuesday, June 27
Republic, Plato (Translator, Grube.  Hackett Edition) Book I, Book VI, 506a-511e, Book VII, 514a-518e, Book IX, Book X, 609b-621d

Tuesday, July 11
The Heart of Buddha’s Teaching, Thich Nhat Hanh, pp. 3-118, 161-175

Tuesday, July 18
Caring: A Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education, Nel Noddings, Chapters 1-4.

Tuesday, July 25
Go and Do Likewise, William C. Spohn

• The Final Paper is due 10:00 PM on Wednesday, August 9. 

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