Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Fall Semester 2026

Social Ethics and Values (Face-to-Face)

PHIL 2050-02

Course: PHIL 2050-02
Credits: 3
Term: Fall Semester 2026
Department: Languages and Philosophy
CRN: 32033

Course Description

This course will introduce students to the philosophical and theoretical dimensions of pressing social and ethical problems. For example, we may discuss the nature of social inequality, our moral relations to animals and the environment, the complex role of technology in contemporary life, and our individual and collective responsibilities in understanding and solving these problems. We will address these and related issues by reading a variety of historical and contemporary philosophical texts. Works of literature, cultural criticism, and popular media may also be assigned to connect these social and moral theories to contemporary issues and human experience. (As Needed) [Graded Letter] General Education Category: Humanities

Required Texts

You do not need to purchase any books for this course. All the readings will come in the form of articles that will be posted on our course Canvas page. 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the General Education Humanities requirement through this course, students will be able to:

Examine: Examine how humanities artifacts (such as oral narratives, literature, philosophy, media, and artworks) express the human condition;
Explain: Explain how humanities artifacts (including philosophical theories and arguments) take on meaning within networks or systems (such as languages, cultures, values, and worldviews) that account for the complexities and uncertainties of the human condition;
Analyze: Analyze humanities artifacts according to humanities methodologies, such as a close analysis, questioning, reasoning, interpretation, and critical. In this course, this will consist primarily in analyzing philosophical theories and arguments.
Compare and Contrast: Compare and contrast diverse humanistic & philosophical perspectives across cultures, communities, and/or time periods to explain how people make meaning of their lives; and
Apply: Using humanities & philosophical perspectives, reflect on big questions related to aesthetics, values, meaning, and ethics and how those apply to their own lives.

Course Requirements

Attendance, Participation, and Professionalism (20%)

In this class you are held to a standard of professional conduct relative to your position as students. You will come to class having done the relevant preparatory work (usually reading the assigned texts), which will allow you to be an engaged and active member of the learning experience. This might involve participating directly in discussion, either whole-class or small group (where this is something you are not comfortable with, being active might involve demonstrating that you are an engaged listener, etc.). I also expect you to turn in work on the day that it is due; complete short in-class assignments; and communicate with me about any problems you might be having with the course so that we can work together towards a satisfactory solution that will help you get back on track (I try to be quite responsive over email, so please do not hesitate to reach out). Meeting these standards of professionalism will help the class run smoothly and will promise that we will get a lot out of our time together.

Reading Quizzes & Checks (30%)

There will be a quiz at the end of each Module that will consist of true/false, multiple choice, and short answer questions. There will also be periodical reading checks at the start of class. These might include quiz-like questions (e.g. true/false, multiple choice) or they may consist in my going around and asking students a question whose answer demonstrates that they have at least attempted to keep up with the reading. Sometimes I will announce that there will be a reading check the night before, but not always. In sum, the purpose of this grade category is to ensure that you are doing your best to keep up with the reading so that you come to class prepared and able to be a valuable contributor to class discussion. 

The Journal (20%)

On the first day of class I will give you a composition notebook. At the beginning of every class you will spend five or so minutes writing in this notebook. Sometimes I will give you a prompt, other times I will simply leave it up to you what you wish to write that day. Sometimes I will ask you to share an observation or experience from outside of class that you think has an interesting moral or ethical dimension; this could be about something you witnessed, something that happened to you, or something reported in the news. It could also be a reflection on an ethical dilemma present in a TV show you are watching; or a TikTok or Youtube channel you like. There's a lot of possibility for what will go into the journal. I will say more about it on the first day of class. You will not be graded on whether or not you write in this journal every day or in every class. Rather, this grade will be assigned holistically based on your level of commitment to moral reflection and observation throughout the semester.    

Ethics Project (30%)

The aim of the Ethics Project is to give you a chance to creatively and experiential apply what you have learned in this course. To that end, it is an open-ended assignment with lots of room for you to pursue something that actually matters to you.

Some options: You can write a philosophical essay; you can write a philosophical short story or dialogue; you can conduct a philosophical interview with a friend, family member, co-worker, etc.; you can head out into the wider SUU campus community or into Cedar City and conduct an ethics assessment of an organization, event, department, etc.; or you can pursue a more experiential project option (e.g. going vegetarian for two weeks and write a reflection on the experience; you can research the origins of a product you consume every day and reflect on the ethics of its origin and production; or you could research a local government initiative that you are passionate about and attending a meeting to raise an ethical question or concern). 

Course Outline

Module 1: Ethical & Social Theory
Topics might include: Utilitarian ethics, Kantian ethics, virtue ethics, social contract theory, Rawlsian justice, and other theories of society
Module 2: Political Ethics
Topics might include: The ethics of voting, civil and uncivil disobedience, prisons and punishment, and more
Module 3: Technology Ethics
Topics might include: AI ethics, ethical issues surrounding privacy and surveillance, the ethics of online behavior, social media and authenticity, and more
Module 4: Environmental Ethics
Topics might include: food ethics, animal ethics, sustainability ethics, ethical obligations to future generations, climate ethics, and more
Module 5: Art and Ethics
Topics might include: The value of AI art, the ethics of streaming services, protest art, and how we should relate to immoral artists

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late work 

Life happens. It is fine to turn in work late provided you communicate with me in a timely fashion about your situation and whatever predicament kept you from completing your work on time. This is a bit of professional conduct that I expect from you. Though of course exceptions can be made in certain emergency situations, in general I ask that you keep an open line of communication with me regarding any matters that are interfering with your ability to complete the work for our course. If you have not communicated with me about what is going on with you, and then work comes in late, it will be graded accordingly. 

Late writing assignments: I have no hard and fast policy on how much your grade on a writing assignment will suffer if it is late, though the longer you go without turning it in, the more likely I am to penalize the assignment in some respect. The key is that you communicate with me in a timely fashion about any problems you might have with turning your work in on time. 

Attendance Policy

Philosophical thinking blossoms and thrives in conversation, and the classroom is where this happens. Thus, I expect you to come to class; this is part of your professionalism grade. That said, here’s my full attendance policy.

You can miss four classes without it having any technical negative impact on your grade (I say ‘technical’ because of course missing classes may put you behind in other ways, like understanding the material based on discussion, rather than merely reading the text). As far as these four absences are concerned, it does not matter to me whether you are missing class with a documented illness/injury, a family emergency, or simply because you feel like sleeping in. Because of the equivalency of these four acceptable absences (meaning, they have no technical negative impact on your grade), you do not need to communicate with me about them. In fact, I will take communication of this kind as you trying to make an exception for yourself, as if you are hoping to save an acceptable absence for later by sending me a message about an absence that would count as one of your acceptable four. After you have missed four classes, you lose a full letter grade on your full-semester professionalism grade until that grade reaches an F. Say you miss four classes, but at the time of your 4th absence your professionalism grade is an A. The next class you miss, it goes down to a B; the next class, a C; etc.

The rationale for this policy is this: It is unprofessional to sign-up for a class which you intend to miss more than four meetings of; and it makes even less sense to sign-up for a class which you plan to miss eight meetings of (that’s nearly 20% of the course!). 

‘But I missed four classes and now I am sick/have a family emergency’! Right! This happens! And because it happens, you should think carefully about using your 4 acceptable absences. Now of course, things happen, and so exceptions may be granted to this policy in certain situations. If you find yourself in that situation, please do not hesitate to communicate with me. But, for example, ‘work scheduled me for class time’ is not an excuse after your 4th absence; neither is ‘I didn’t hear my alarm go off’ or ‘I was up late studying’. 

Course Fees

Content for this section will be provided by the instructor.

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Religious / Conscience Belief Accommodation

RELIGIOUS / CONSCIENCE BELIEF ACCOMMODATION: In accordance with SUU Policy 6.7 Student Belief Accommodation, students may request, in writing, that their faculty accommodate their sincerely held religious or conscience beliefs. Students should provide their faculty with sufficient advanced notice, if possible within the first five (5) business days of the semester or session, or thereafter with good cause for requesting an accommodation after the first five (5) business days.

Faculty must provide a schedule accommodation or excuse an absence, in any course, for students to observe or participate in religious holidays or an organized activity conducted under the auspices of the student’s religious tradition or religious organization.

In courses that are required for graduation or for an academic major, a faculty member may accommodate a religious or conscience belief by modifying an assignment or examination if its content conflicts with the student’s belief. Faculty may decline the accommodation if it would fundamentally alter the course requirements. If declined, the student may request review by a neutral arbiter using the Belief Accommodation Request Form: https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv&layout_id=5

Questions go to Assistant Provost Jake Johnson at johnsonj@suu.edu.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.