In this assignment, we will work with the interaction of ethics and fiction. Stories, plays, movies—all these can raise important questions and stimulate potentially productive questions about ethics in our lives. And in light of the thinkers we’re reading and discussing, I’d like you to write a three-page paper discussing a story you’ve selected—either from the ones I suggest or ones you’ve experienced previously—in light of the ethical principles and thinkers we’ve reviewed in class. We’ve already talked about some of these fictional connections with ethics—Blade Runner, Huckleberry Finn, Harrison Bergeron, The Grand Inquisitor—and I’ll discuss and make available many others for your consideration in the coming weeks.
We’re moving this assignment back from 26 February to Wednesday, 4 March. For example, you may select one “short story” from the list supplied under Learning Materials for this assignment, or you may pick a story or movie you’re interested in. In three pages, you could discuss how one or two central ethical issues are portrayed in the fiction, then discuss how you might advise the writer or a character of some productive ways to think and act in ethical terms. Keep in mind the thinkers and ethical approaches we’ve studied and discussed in PHIL101. Your personal opinion is valuable, but especially as that opinion is developed and supported by one or more of the ethical approaches we’ve considered.
Remember, this is not a research paper, although you are most welcome to include outside opinions if you’d like. As usual, I’d be delighted to discuss possibilities with each of you in the coming weeks, and I’ll gladly review drafts or “works in progress” before final submission.
Remember, this assignment is a chance for you to grow through thinking deeply in writing about ethics in our lives. I’ll look forward to reading, enjoying, and learning from some very interesting essays.
Hemingway, “Hills Like While Elephantsâ€https://www.gvsd.org/cms/lib/PA01001045/Centricity/Domain/765/HillsPDFText.pdf
Faulkner, “The Bearâ€
http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/sites/default/files/pdf/alumni/faullkner-the-bear.pdf
Camus, “The Guestâ€
http://www.sjsu.edu/people/james.lindahl/courses/Hum2B/s2/Camus1.pdf
Frank Stockton, “The Lady or the Tiger?â€
http://www.english-literature.uni-bayreuth.de/en/teaching/documents/courses/Stockton1.pdf
Ursula LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelasâ€
George Orwell, “Shooting an Elephantâ€
William Carlos Williams, “The Use of Forceâ€
https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/force.html
Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers†(others) or
Hernando Tellez, “Just Lather, That’s Allâ€
http://www.karl-belser.com/Favorite%20Short%20Stories%202006.pdf
Kurt Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeronâ€
http://wordfight.org/bnw/bnw-unit_packet.pdf
Mark Twain, “Was It Heaven? Or Hell?â€
http://livros01.livrosgratis.com.br/ln000840.pdf
O. Henry, “A Retrieved Reformationâ€
https://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/a-retrieved-reformation.pdf
Ambrose Bierce, “The Coup de Graceâ€
https://americanliterature.com/author/ambrose-bierce/short-story/the-coup-de-grace
Richard Matheson, “Button Buttonâ€
http://jhampton.pbworks.com/w/file/fetch/47378440/button
Other Suggestions:
https://ask.metafilter.com/206694/Ethical-testcases-in-literary-form
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