PHL 205
CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES
SPRING 2013
  EXAM 3 STUDY GUIDE

FEMINISM

Are there any innate biological differences between men and women which affects their behavior or abilities to perform certain jobs? Why is it that patriarchy lasted so long? What pivotal social changes or historical events laid the groundwork for women's rights, apart from political activism on the part of suffragettes and feminists? What are some positive impacts and criticisms of the feminist movement in the U.S.? How are women's rights different in the West than elsewhere?

It is often claimed that the fact that women on the average make 59 to 70 cents on the dollar compared to men is evidence of overt sexism and institutional discrimination against women. What are some other explanations for the "wage gap" and "glass ceiling" other than overt sexism discussed in class and in the Warren Farrel reading?

How many people the U.S. consider themselves feminists?  Who is more likely to use the label to describe themselves? Are more men or women currently enrolled in college? Who possesses more college degrees, men or women? What's the trend? According to a study published in Gender and Society, why do more men drop out of school than women? According to a new book The Rise of Women, why do boys like school less and get worse grades than girls? According to Warren Farrell, why do  men earn more than women? How does the Swift economics blog argue that blaming wage differences in sexual discrimination makes no economic sense?What reasons does the Switft Economics blog give for gender-based pay disparity?

How are women's rights outside North America and Western Europe? How do women fare in fundamentalist Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates? Do men and women have the right to equal treatment under the law, at least as it is written (apart from how it's practiced)?

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Which groups are targeted for special treatment by affirmative action? Which groups are not?  In general, what do affirmative action laws say must be done in college admissions, employment and the awarding of government contracts? How are they different from mere anti-discrimination laws? Who is subject to these laws? (all government agencies? all private businesses? both? only certain government agencies or particular kinds of companies?) What are some examples of actions required by government agencies, businesses and schools to meet affirmative action requirements? What is a meritocracy?

What new "diversity" policy did the instructor and economist Walter E. Williams suggest for grading? How does it relate to race and gender-based preferences? What is the difference between strong and weak forms of affirmative action? What is problematic about compensitory justifications of racial preferences and concepts of racial privilege and racial guilt? What is "economic" affirmative action? What does the American Anthropological Association have to say about the concept of race?

What was Frank Ricci's lawsuit against the City of New Haven, Connecticut about?

Why does Thomas Sowell call Affirmative Action for blacks a "grand fraud"? What are his arguments against it? When official race-based preferences were ended in the University of California system, what was the results for African-American students? What does he say about the claim that a certain "critical mass" of minorities is necessary for minority students to do well? What does he say about the argument that we need racial preferences becasue young minorities need role models?

What unintended consequences did LBJ's "Great Society" programs have?

How do black immigrants from Nigeria, Jamaica and the Caribbean fare compared with the native black population in academic and economic performance?  What are some other explanations for differences in academic and economic achievement among African-Americans besides overt discrimination or genetic differences discussed in class and cited by John McWhorter in his book Losing the Race? How might the academic and economic achievement levels of Asian immigrants support the type of explanations for racial disparity offered by McWhorter? How do blacks, Hispanics, whites and Asians rank in rates of incarceration, academic performance and out of wedlock births? What explanations were suggested by the instructor for these differences?

If you account for the higher single parenthood rate and the fact that more blacks live in the South, where wages (but also cost of living) are lower, what happens to the disparities between the wages of blacks and whites? What are some harmful effects of Affirmative Action policies?

DIVERSITY AND ACADEMIC BIAS

What arguments in favor of "rethinking diversity" does the instructor give in his article? What personal anecdotes from his experience at LCC did he cite? What does he mean when he discusses diversity's "Balkanizing influence"? How does he argue that an inordinate focus on racial or ethnic identity and past discrimination divide people rather than bring them together? What notion of diversity does he support? What does the American Anthropological Association say about race?

What is the general political makeup of academia? What are some examples of academic bias cited by David Horowitz? What reasons does Horowitz give for believing that the present practices in academia are an offense to the spirit of free inquiry and violate the Constitution? What does the National Association of Scholars have to say about issues of race class and gender and the inclusion of non-Western work and work by minorities and women in campus curriculum? How does Peter Schwartz argue that the concept of diversity is itself a racist notion?

What does "Diversity" mean when used by LCC or other educational institutions or by government or industry? Does it mean skin color or national origin, or does it mean diversity of opinion and point of view? What are problems associated with a racially, ethnically and culturally mixed society? Besides making people race-conscious and aware of past and present discrimination against various groups, what other approach did the instructor suggest may in the long run prove more successful?

SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

What percentage of the population are homosexuals, according recent and careful studies? What are the three functions which marriage serves? What were the original motivations for states requiring a "marriage license?" In about how many states is same sex marriage legal in the U.S.? What has been the recent trend? Are there any alternatives to having marriage rules handled by the government and making peoples' individual romatnic and life partner choices subject to "the tyranny of the majority"? What did the U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas (2003) establish? What is the difference between "Gay Marriage" and "Civil Unions" or "Domestic Partnerships"? What legal benefits do heterosexual married couples enjoy which gay couples desire? What are Thomas Sowell's arguments against gay marraige and what are some responses? What do polls and recent elections indicate about what most Americans think about the concept of same-sex marriage? Is there a generational difference? Why is teen Kaitlyn Hunt facing years in prison? Why is capitalism good for gays?