Your first assignment: definitions

Due: Thursday through Saturday

 

Your first assignment is to explore some possible definitions of what is meant by the terms "ethics," "morality" and "right."

1. You should look around for a definition or two of "ethics," "morality" and "right" that seem to you to be good ones. I suppose you could go to dictionaries if you like, perhaps a philosophical dictionary like those mentioned under "Research Resources" on our class homepage, but hopefully you’ll also find other sources for definitions that are a little more reflective and well-thought-out than just dictionaries. A library or bookstore may be a good place to start, and so might some sites on the web. I suppose asking people wouldn't be a bad idea either. We may need all the help we can get.

2. Post the definition(s) you've found into the Classroom Discussion folder (click on the blue globe icon and from there open a new message, write your message, then post it). You’ll also need to provide citations describing where you found your definitions, of course.

3. Tell us what you like and dislike about the definition(s) you’ve found.

4. Respond to any postings you find interesting from other people.

This conversation needs to be completed by Saturday evening, so that means you will need to start posting your first definitions this Thursday so that others will have time to think about what you've written and respond. Then you can reply to their responses, etc. So this discussion should continue for two days.

It will be interesting to see how successful we’ll be in finding adequate definitions for the terms "ethics," "morality" and "right."