Reference no: EM132160538

Discussion

In the Ancient Greek world (the world of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, often regarded as the birthplace of philosophy) a "symposium" was a banquet held after a meal, an "after party" of sorts that usually included drinking, dancing, recitals and engaging conversations on the topics of the day.

For our purposes in this course, the Symposium discussions will not involve dancing, recitals or a banquet, but they will provide food for thought on current ethical issues and direct application of the ethical theory discussed in each of these weeks.

It is almost impossible these days to turn on the news or log onto social media without encountering a controversy that cries out for ethical discussion. For these Symposium discussions, your instructor will choose a topic of current ethical interest and a resource associated with it for you to read or watch. Your task is to consider how the ethical theory of the week might be used to examine, understand or evaluate the issue.

This week, you will consider how virtue ethics applies to a controversy, dilemma, event, or scenario selected by your instructor. It is a chance for you to discuss together the ethical issues and questions that it raises, your own response to those, and whether that aligns with or does not align with a virtue ethics approach. The aim is not to simply assert your own view or to denigrate other views, but to identify, evaluate, and discuss the moral reasoning involved in addressing the chosen issue.

Your posts should remain focused on the ethical considerations, and at some point in your contribution you must specifically address the way a virtue ethicist would approach this issue by explaining and evaluating that approach.

If you have a position, you should strive to provide reasons in defense of that position.

When responding to peers, you should strive to first understand the reasons they are offering before challenging or critiquing those reasons. One good way of doing this is by summarizing their argument before offering a critique or evaluation.

You must post on at least two separate days, must include at least one substantial reply to a peer or to your instructor, and your posts should add up to at least 400 words.

As mentioned in the week 1 video, weeks 2, 3, and 4 will have a symposium discussion. The word "symposium" is a Greek word that refers to a banquet held after a meal, an after-party of sorts that usually included drinking, dancing, recitals, and engaging conversations on the topics of the day.

The word also happens to be the title of the classic text by Plato, whose work you read last week. As you can probably guess, that work features a group of men who take the idea of engaging conversation to a whole new level and practically compete against one another in a sport of wit and words.

For our purposes in this course, the symposium discussions will not involve dancing, recitals, or a banquet, but they will provide food for thought on current ethical issues and direct application of the ethical theory discussed in each of these weeks. It is impossible these days to turn on the news or log on to social media without encountering a controversy that cries out for ethical discussion.

For these symposiums, your instructor will choose a topic of current ethical interest and any resources associated with it. Your task is to consider how the ethical theory of the week might be used to examine, understand, or evaluate the issue.

Technology, Privacy and the Flourishing Modern Life

This week, we are going to be considering the role and function of technological devices in our modern lives, and how the Aristotelian concept of flourishing might be brought to bear on this.

We will be considering a specific device (the plans for which have been discontinued) called 'Aristotle'. It was an interactive tech device that was designed for children, but discontinued amid privacy concerns.

For the symposium, I want you all to refrain from presenting your own personal views, but rather to apply the perspective of Aristotelian virtue ethics to this issue.

Please begin by reading the following article from the Washington Post : Link (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.

This symposium is a chance for you to discuss together the ethical issues and questions that it raises, your own response to those, and whether that aligns with or does not align with an Aristotelian approach. The aim is not to simply assert your own view or to denigrate other views, but to identify, evaluate, and discuss the moral reasoning involved in addressing how Aristotle might approach the issue of the increasing role of technology (especially interactive technology for children, as with the example) and how this would enhance or impede our striving for an excellent / flourishing life.

Your posts should remain focused on the ethical considerations, and at some point in your contribution you must specifically address the way an Aristotelian virtue ethicist would approach this issue by explaining and evaluating that approach. In addition to this, here are some possible other questions to consider:

Would different virtue ethicists disagree about how to act here? Why or why not?

Would the virtue ethics theory encounter contradictions or ambiguities in applying its model to this situation? What might those contradictions or ambiguities be?

When responding to peers, you should strive to first understand the reasons they are offering before challenging or critiquing those reasons. One good way of doing this is by summarizing their argument before offering a critique or evaluation.

You must post on at least two separate days, must include at least one substantial reply to a peer or to your instructor, and your posts should add up to at least 400 words.