This is a course in contemporary moral issues. We will not attempt to cover general
theories of ethics in any detail. Instead, we will adopt a philosophical frame of mind toward some
controversial moral issues of the day. As heated as some of the discourse can be, we will try to
make it boring. That is, we will have a dispassionate, analytic approach. This includes a willingness
to entertain sometimes disagreeable views with an open mind and reply not with the passion of
an advocate nor the dismissiveness of a dogmatist, but with the measured argumentation of a
truth seeker. I want you to think clearly, identify key claims, identify the reasons given for those
claims, pick apart (what you take to be) bad arguments, and build (what you take to be) good
arguments.