ethical theories evaluation

Topic: In this course we have covered four major ethical theories – Aristotle’s virtue ethics, Humean morality (moral sentimentalism), Kantian morality (deontology), and Mill’s qualitative indirect utilitarianism (consequentialism). In your paper you must critically evaluate any one of these theories. It is up to you to choose which of the four you will evaluate. To evaluate the theory, you must first explain the essential elements of the theory and apply it to an example. You must then choose a major objection to your chosen theory (either a major objection that we have covered in the course or you can come up with one on your own. The danger of coming up with an objection on your own is that it might choose an objection that is not strong enough to allow you to say anything meaningful about your chosen moral theory). You must then consider how a proponent of your chosen moral theory would/could respond to the strong objection. Finally, you will evaluate the response. Can your chosen moral theory withstand the objection? Why/why not?

Formatting requirements: All submitted papers must meet the following formatting requirements: 1) 12-point, Times New Roman font; 2) double-spaced 3) either left aligned or justified; 4) include a title page.

 Length: The minimum length is 1000 words. If formatted correctly (see above), this should be at least three pages. Papers that do not meet the minimum length will automatically receive a grade of “0”. Note that this word count is the count of the words in the intro paragraph, the body of the paper, and the conclusion all added together.

Think of the paper as consisting of five essential parts:

 Part 1 – Introduction paragraph (1 paragraph): Your intro paragraph is the blueprint for the reader of your paper and clearly states the thesis. In this paragraph, you MUST tell the reader everything that you will be doing in your paper. Because of this, you should write this after writing parts 2, 3 and 4. The intro paragraph tells the reader what you will do in your paper and what you will CONCLUDE. The reader should know exactly what you are going to do in the paper and what you will argue. There should be NO surprises. It is an intro to your paper, not an intro to the topic! A successful thesis statement lets the reader know what position you will evaluate, how you will evaluate it, and which way the evaluation will go. 

 Part 2 – Present/explain your chosen moral theory: Although it starts in the second paragraph of the paper, this should be the first part that you actually write. Here you present and explain the position that you have chosen to evaluate. Ensure that you present the position as strongly as possible and provide reasons why someone would think that the position is good and worthwhile. In this way, you can think of it as presenting an argument for the position. What are the reasons that would lead one to accept this position?

 Part 3 – Present/explain major objection(s): Once you have written part 2, present and explain at least one major objection to the moral theory that you have chosen to evaluate. The objection should be used as a tool for evaluating the position expressed in part 2. Clearly explain both the objection and what specific problem it poses for the moral theory that you have chosen to evaluate.

 Part 4 – Present your evaluation and judgement. In part 2 you presented the moral theory that you have chosen to evaluate and in part 3 you presented a major objection. In this part, you make a positive contribution by evaluating whether the moral theory you have chosen can withstand the objection. To do so, you must consider how a proponent of the moral theory that you have chosen could/would respond to the major objection and provide reasons why you judge that such a response is adequate or inadequate. Your final judgement of the position occurs here. 

Part 5 – Concluding paragraph: The final paragraph in the paper is the concluding paragraph. It should more or less mirror your intro paragraph, recapping for the reader all that you have done in the paper 

References: Outside references are not required for this assignment. You should be able to complete it using the course readings, the class lectures, and your thoughts. If you do use outside references, be sure to completely cite your sources in a footnote using MLA or APA citation formatting (citation guides for each can be found at https://guides.iona.edu/citingsources/mla and https://guides.iona.edu/citingsources/apa). A “References” or “Literature Cited” page is not necessary. Quoting from the textbook is to be avoided. It is better if you can restate the point made in the textbook in your own words. If you must quote something from the text, make sure you include the page number and edition where the quotation can be found. Note that quotations will not count towards the word count of the paper