Written Assignment

This assignment allows you to connect the theories that you learned in the first half of the semester to topics you’ll be learning about in the second half of the semester. The assignment has three parts:

Part One
Choose one of the following topics: abortion, same-sex marriage, assisted suicide, war, or the death penalty. Then, consider each of the following moral theories: divine command theory*, Bentham’s utilitarianism, Kant’s deontology, and Rawls’s social contract theory. Think about what each theory would say about the issue you are considering. Do not Google the philosophers’s opinions on the topic or ask yourself about their social context. You are not trying to figure out what (for instance) Kant himself would have said 400 years ago. Instead, imagine Kant living now and use what you know about his theory to figure out what you think he would say. For this reason, outside research neither required nor permitted. The best question to begin with is to ask what questions each philosopher would ask about the topic: for instance, a divine command theorist would ask “What does God say?” You should devote 200-250 words to each philosopher.

Part Two
Pick the philosopher whose approach to the topic you like the best (not just what they conclude about it, but how you believe they would reason it out.) Why do you like that philosopher’s approach? What are its pros and cons? You should devote 200-250 words to this section.

Part Three
Answer the following question: if a person wanted to learn more about your topic, or figure out what to believe about it, what would you suggest that they do? Make three suggestions that an individual person could follow. This section can be in point form.

Your assignment should be in the format demonstrated here https://fsw.instructure.com/courses/1098937/files/75810831/download?wrap=1
Any plagiarism will earn the student an automatic zero.

*Divine Command Theory is Augustine’s theory as well as William Lane Craig’s: There can be no morality without God, for what is good is what God tells us to do.