PHL 205 - CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES
FIRST MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
SPRING 2013

MAKING MORAL ARGUMENTS: What problems are there with moral relativism? What premise about the nature of morality is being assumed for the purposes of class discussion? Why is making this assumption helpful in discussing moral issues? Be able to define and identify the following fallcies: ad hominem, tu quoque, ad populum, straw man, red herring, lack of proportion. What is the difference between a fundamental moral premise, empirical premise and legal premise in an argument? (you may be asked to identify particular examples). Often people will say that they don't care about "ideology" but just want politicians to "work together" to "get things done" and "put aside partisan bickering." What did the instructor suggest about this point of view and the possibility of doing politics pragmatically or making particular value-neutral political judgements?

IMMIGRATION

Where are most illegal immigrants into the United States from? About how many are there? How do they compare in education and wealth with the general population? What has been the general trend in immigration since the 1960s? What happened after the 1986 Amnesty? Which President signed it into law? How well is the U.S. southern border defended and how often are common are deportations? What Executive Order did President Obama recently issue about immigration? What Constitutional problems does it pose?

Which two interests combine to look the other way with regard to illegal immigration? What law was recently passed in Oregon regarding illegal immigrants? What are the pro and con arguments for the law which just passed and the bill in the works? Who were the Minutemen? Who are the "Gang of 8?" How is the political climate different than when immigrant rights advocates attempted to push through an amnesty bill in 2007?

What effect does immigration have on the economy in the following issues: unemployment (especially young, low skill and minority workers), wages, costs in education, public health, criminal justice and welfare and consumer spending? What economic benefit do they produce? How do the benefits compare to the costs? Are illegal aliens only doing jobs Americans just won't do? According to the instructor, what would happen economically without a large population of unskilled foreign workers? Explain the concept of self-deportation or "attrition through enforcement." What might motivate illegal aliens voluntarily leave? What is the "safety valve" argument? What journalistic codes are there with regard to coverage of illegal aliens by news services and major media outlets?

What's the "fairness" argument in favor of ignoring illegal immigration? How does affirmative action affect the "fairness" argument for open borders? Historically, what are the results from rapid, mass influxes of ethnically and culturally distinct people into a country? What has been the effect of massive immigration from the Middle East into Europe, particularly France?

GUN CONTROL: Explain the concept of the Constitution as a "living" document. Where did this notion come from? What are some objections to this view? Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution deals with gun ownership? According to evidence produced in class, does that amendment support an individual right to own a firearm? What did the Heller vs. DC Supreme Court find about this? What were the Founding Fathers' reasons for putting the Second Amendment in place? What were their attitudes towards firearms? What does the Oregon Constitution say about ownership of firearms?

What role to guns have in deterring crime and protecting citizens? Who needs guns the most, according to the instructor? How might the notion of equality and fairness be used to argue that the average citizen should be able to own a gun? What's wrong with the idea that guns ought only to be left in the hands of professional trained police, military and security personnel? What is an "assault weapon"? What occurred with a recent Federal attempt to restrict gun rights? Why, according to an NPR analysis, did this occur and why wasn't it surprising?

How effective are background checks at keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill? What can be learned from the U.K.'s near complete ban on private ownership of firearms?

What are some arguments discussed in class in favor of banning handguns or keeping firearms in general out of the hands of the public? What proposals are there currently in the Oregon legislature to regulate firearm ownership? Who is supporting them?

 What is their vaccination analogy with regard to guns? What reasons  are there for and against gun control? What do John Lott's studies on firearm use and crime deterrance show?  Why does John Lott say "More Guns, Less Crime"? What is his swimming pool analogy in the gun debate? What is the "Castle" Doctrine? What is a concel and carry permit? How are the prevalence of such permits correlated with murder and violent crime rates? What is the difference between a "shall issue" and "may issue" state?