The Psychology of Good and Evil Psychology 291

Chuck Huff	M,T,W,TH 9:00 - 10:00 AM and 10:40-12:40 PM in Holland 514	current as of 1/2/06
Holland Hall 303, 646.3169		Mail to the Prof
Office Hours: sheesh, you see me every day!		Mail to the class

Required Texts
Ervin Staub	The roots of evil: The origins of genocide and other group violence
Franz DeWaal	Good natured: The origins of right and wrong in humans and other primates
Colby & Damon	Some do care: Contemporary lives of moral commitment
Morgan	Classics of moral and political theory (for readings of Plato, Aristotle, Hume, Rousseau, Hobbes, Kant)
Boulton & Kennedy	From Christ to the world: Introductory readings in Christian ethics. (for readings of Rauschenbush, Neibuhr(s), Gustafson, Luther)
Plus many readings of current psycholgical articles (see selections for each day)

We have not succeeded in answering all of your problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things

-- Anonymous quote taken from the radio show Car Talk

Welcome to the first Ethics class in the Psychology curriculum (there are now two). This has been some time in the making, and is the course for which I feel like I have been reading for most of my career. Still, that means I am constantly changing my mind about what the course ought to be about. After 20 years of studying this stuff, I am still confused about what the emotions have to do with morals, how vengance works, why moral heroes think they have no choice, how our evolutionary heritage affects our moral judgments and action, and how religious claims shape moral claims. I hope to help you become confused (on a higher level) about these things too, and to have some idea about why you are confused.

As I am in the process of building a virtue theory approach to understanding the moral behavior of computer scientists, much of this class will be set up to get you to do some theory building too. From the earliest readings on, you will be building your own theory about why people behave morally.

Readings

It will be to your advantage to do the reading for the assigned day. First, this will mean you will be able to get what you need to build your own theory so you can present it to the class. Secondly, it means you will be able to complete the daily assignment to ask three questions about something in the readings.

Daily Questions

There will be daily questions for the readings. In moodle, by 8 AM every day of class, you will write to me three questions about one or more of the readings for that day. I only grade these as present or absent and will not allow late questions (what good do those do to help me prep for class?)

Final Exam

The final exam will be a take home exam based on a set of basic questions with whose answers you should be familiar by the end of the class. I will draw three to five (3 - 5) questions from this set of questions for the final exam. Answers to each question should be no more than 10 sentences long. You may take the exam in teams of three or fewer if you desire. I will be revising the basic questions up through the first three weeks of class, so the current list is not exhaustive.

In Class-Presentations

Two days will be set aside at the end of the term for presentations of the theory you will be building. Teams of two to three will take turns presenting these theories to the class and connecting them to my current work in Virtue theory. Each team's task will be (1) to find some individual difference construct that is related in some manner to the Virtue approach I am constructing (2) to do an exhaustive literature review on that construct and its measurement (3) to develop a reasonable explanation of how the construct would fit in with the virtue theory, (4) to present this entire thing to the class in a 20-30 minute powerpoint presentation accompanied by an annotated bibliography with a 1 page summary.

Grading

Late Policy

In a fast paced course such as this, promptness is crucial. Late papers will not be accepted.

Disability Accomodation

If you have a documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact me to discuss your needs. Additionally, you will need to register with Student Disability Services located at the Academic Support Center in Room 1 of the Old Main Annex. All such discussions will be confidential.

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Schedule

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