PHIL 3281 Exam #1

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University of North Carolina, Pembroke *

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Philosophy

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Feb 20, 2024

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PHIL 3281 On-Line Emily Strickland Professor Smith Exam #1

Essay #1: Write a short essay (1-2 pages) in which you indicate what this course is about, where it is to be placed in ECU's "general education" and "humanities area," and what your course requirements will be. PHIL 3281 (PHIL Ethics in health care) is a course that focuses on moral relativism. This course is classified by ECU as part of the "humanities," which can encourage students to challenge their personal beliefs concerning the nature of human existence. Courses in the humanities require students to be critical thinkers, as well as could take and apply knowledge to their daily lives. The topic of moral relativism in this course allows students to take popular concepts in philosophy and use them to modern ideas, such as the nature of America's founding and domestic diversity. The humanities allow students to be successful members of a democratic society, as well as will enable them to develop and have several skills, which can be divided into two categories: General Education requirements and Domestic Diversity requirements. The General Education requirements deal with the application of the discipline-specific knowledge that goes with a philosophy course. Artistic, literary, philosophical, or religious creations must be distinguished and applied to current human concerns and conditions. Additionally, the Domestic Diversity requirements focus further on application, as students are expected to take the material they learn in class and apply it to their desired area of study. In PHIL 3281, students are also likely to use critical philosophical contributions to other disciplines in the arts, social sciences, and other humanities. With this method of application, students that take this class can construct sound and valid moral arguments and use those arguments in both professional and personal settings. Additionally, they can further describe how the analysis of moral claims is relevant to domestic diversity in particular social and professional contexts. Overall, this course provides a detailed overview of ethical concepts and will provide students that take it with the skills to ethically succeed in their personal and professional lives. Through this class, I hope to gain a further understanding of the philosophy and ethics in the health care world, as well as the ability to interpret moral situations in a non-relativistic way. PHIL 3281 will be an excellent and helpful course to take in the humanities.

Essay #2: Write a short essay (1-2 pages) in which you describe and explain how Professor Smith begins this course with the Nashu Story and why he does so. Be sure to include the ballot history, what that history shows, what problems that lead to, and how we resolve them via RQ 6 and RQ 13. The story of Nashu was written by Professor Smith to validate Allan Bloom's thesis: that most American college students were (or had the mindset of) moral relativists. Nashu was a young teenager who was a part of a culture that made frequent sacrifices to their deities (the under gods) to prevent volcanic eruptions and further catastrophes. She was chosen to be sacrificed (her family was honored because of it), but it is unclear whether she decided to leave on her own. Along with Nashu's story, Professor Smith included a ballot that contained questions concerning whether the actions of her culture were right or wrong. Surprisingly, the results of the ballot mirrored Bloom's conclusion, as 45-90% of students chose the answers that highlighted both the principles of cultural and moral relativism: "What happened to her was not wrong because that's how her culture does things." and "I think that what happened to her was wrong, but that's only because I'm from a different culture.". The results from the Nashu Ballot open a robust discussion concerning moral and cultural relativism. Ethical relativism can be defined by the statement: "An action is morally right or wrong only if some group or individual says so.", and this reasoning is naturally incorrect. Likewise, cultural relativism is the view that cultures can vary (either slightly or significantly) about what they value. There is a distinct difference between these two philosophies, as cultural relativism is a factual claim, while moral relativism is based on morality. Unlike cultural relativism, ethical relativism can be proven to be naturally incorrect. If moral relativism is correct, then the individual or collective power is categorized as the summum bonum (highest good) and should be what we as humans seek to reach. However, power (of any type) is never the highest good, meaning that group or individual decisions cannot determine what is right or wrong. Additionally, a moral relativist could not justifiably condemn actions that could be categorized as immoral or inhumane (like actions of the Nazis or terrorist groups). Furthermore, the answers reflected in the Nashu ballot provide an explanation for the meaning behind this class. As highlighted previously, 45-90% of the course chose solutions

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