Today's Learning Goal
Dip your toe into the pool of Moral Philosophy!

This Project's Essential Question:
How should the government balance security (welfare), liberty, equality and virtue in order to create just laws?

Starter: Trolley Car Dilemma Case #1
Suppose you are the driver of a trolley car and your trolley car is hurtling down the track at 60 mph.  At the end of the track, you notice 5 workers working on the track. You try to stop but you can’t because your brakes don’t work.  You panic because you know, for sure, that if you crash into these workers, all 5 will die.  You feel helpless until you notice that off to the right is a side track and at the end of that track is just one worker working.  Your steering works so you know that if you turn right, you could avoid killing the five workers but certainly kill the one at the end of the track. What would you do?  Go straight ahead or turn right? These are the ONLY two choices.  Defend your reason.

*The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics, first introduced by Philippa Foot in 1967

Agenda
1. Discuss the Trolley Car Dilemma Case #1

Segue:  But how exactly can we reason our way from the judgments we make about CONCRETE situations to the PRINCIPLES of justice we believe should apply in ALL situations?  Should there be basic rules/principles that we adhere to across all situations, or does it matter on the context?

2.  Discuss case #2
Trolley Car Case #2
This time you are not the driver, you are an onlooker standing on a bridge overlooking the track.  Down the track comes the trolley car, same situation is at hand.  Except, now, you’re not the driver and you REALLY feel helpless until you notice, standing next to you, leaning over the bridge, is a very large man.  And you could give him a slight shove and he would fall over the bridge, onto the track, right in the way of the trolley car, he would die, but he would spare the five.  Now.  How would you push the large man? Explain.

3. Watch this Video reenactment of this dilemma: Does it add to our discussion at all? 

RANDOM TRANSITION!!

4. "Is it ethical to use violence to fight hatred/bigotry?" seminar reflection analysis

• Ashley to hand back your seminar reflections
• Read this student example and discuss the ORGANIZATION, DEVELOPMENT,  and EVIDENCE showcased throughout.

NOW, let's get back to the Philosophy of JUSTICE!.....
5.  Powerpoint Lesson: Introduction to Moral Philosophy and our next book Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?  by Michael Sandel  (Links to important documents are on the DOCUMENTS page, under the heading "Moral and Political Philosophy")

6. ​ Hand out books and go over the reading schedule (write this down on a sticky note in your book) (B.O.C= Read these pages by the beginning of the class on the days listed below)

*Note: 1-5 means pages 1 THROUGH page 5 (including page 5) but start and end reading at obvious section titles

• Wednesday, 9/13: Ch. 1 assigned pages as shown above
• Thursday, 9/14: Ch. 2  [pages 31-35, 37-44, 48-51] (16 pages total)
• Monday, 9/18: Ch. 3 [Entire chapter] (17 pages total)
• Wednesday, 9/20 Ch. 6 [pages 140-142, 151-159] (12 pages total)
• Thursday: 9/21: Ch. 5 [pages 103-124] (21 pages total)
• ​Exam: Monday, 9/25

7.  Read aloud the first page of Justice (real-world relevance here folks!!)

8. Begin reading "Doing the Right Thing"- Chapter 1 of Michael Sandel's book, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?  
Required to only read these pages, but I recommend reading the entire chapter!

• 1-10 (to "What Wounds Deserve the Purple Heart?")
• 12-16 (starting at "Bailout Outrage")
• 19-21 (ending at "Runaway Trolley")
• 24-30 (starting at "The Afghan Goatherds")​​

Spokesperson                     Notetaker                            Taskmaster 

Mini-Lesson: RHETORIC AS A TYPE OF DISCOURSE

Work Time: FINISH reading Herrick and completing the reverse outline for the beginning of class tomorrow!

Review yesterday's class!

1. In your own words, what does "Implicit bias" mean?
2. Summarize the key details from the podcast we listened to on implicit bias.

1. Turn in your seminar reflection!

2. Ashley to define what "partisan" means

3. Read this list of Causes of Partisan Perceptions then answer the following prompt:

• Choose several of the items on the above list and discuss where you have seen the principles in play in society. Think about yourself and your own views.  Do you find yourself falling victim to any of these causes of partisan perception?  Or think about the climate of information we are living in.  What are examples of people seeing the same events/ideas in different ways.  Why does this happen?​

1. Discuss starter

• What is confirmation bias?  How does our media environment feed our confirmation bias in today’s politically divided society and keep us from having our ideas shaken and disturbed?​

2. Transition to "Implicit BIAS"......  
We'll be diving more into ideology and rhetoric tomorrow-- both of which can play into causing bias...so let's dig into bias a bit more as it relates to the racism we've seen highlighted in the Charlottesville protests.

Key Terms for today
Bias:

• (noun) prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.
• (verb) cause to feel or show inclination or prejudice for or against someone or something.

Implicit:  (adj) implied though not plainly expressed

3. Implicit Bias Test and Reflection (Follow the bullet points steps to complete this activity)

• Click on the link to the implicit bias test
• Read the "Preliminary Information" and click "I wish to proceed" on the bottom.
• Take the test labeled "Race and IAT"
• Follow the instructions carefully to complete this test and find out what your implicit bias is with regards to white v. black races.
• After you're done, jot down your reaction to your results. Were you surprised? Why or why not? How do you feel about these results?

4. Discuss the Implicit Bias Assessment and then let's hear more implicit bias in the following podcast...

5. Listen to Hidden Brain podcast entitled, "The 'Thumbprint Of The Culture': Implicit Bias And Police Shootings" (38 minutes)

Follow along with the transcript and try to annotate to help you answer the following discussion questions about the podcast:

• Summarize the findings from implicit bias tests
• What does it mean when they say, "What we're discovering here is that the individual mind sits in society. And the connection between mind and society is an extremely important one that should not be forgotten."? How does this podcast develop/support this claim?
• What are the implications of these implicit bias tests for our society?
• What solutions does this podcast present for dealing with implicit bias?
• What other questions/ideas/issues did this podcast raise for you?

6. Time to begin the homework DUE THURSDAY, beginning of class:

• Read Herrick article, an "An Overview of Rhetoric" through p 17, you may STOP at the header RHETORIC AS AN ART.
• Complete the Reverse Outline on this reading  

​HONORS- we'll discuss the Zinn reading at the end of class today-- if we run out of time, we'll discuss it during work time tomorrow.