PHL 205 - CONTEMPORARY MORAL ISSUES
SECOND MIDTERM STUDY GUIDE
SPRING 2015

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 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 Europe? How do women fare in fundamentalist Muslim countries in the Middle East by comparison?

POLICE MISCONDUCT AND RACE RIOTS: What are the basic facts of the cases which sparked riots in Ferguson, Missouri (the Michael Brown case) and Baltimore, Maryland (the Freddie Gray case)? What underlying tensions sparked the rioting in those cities? What happened in the Eric Garner case in New York that sparked nation-wide protests against police?

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? (I intended to cover these questions on the day I was out sick - we will cover them on Tuesday). 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 compensatory 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? (Also to be covered in class on Tuesday). 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 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?

VEGETARIANISM AND ANIMAL RIGHTS: What's the difference between a vegetarian and a vegan? What is a "lacto-ovo" vegetarian? What sort of diet did human beings evolve to eat? In other words, what sort of diet does it appear we were "designed" to eat: herbivore, carnivore or omnivore? Are there any health risks associated with eating meat, particularly the amount of meat in the typical American diet? How does the health of the typical vegetarian or vegan compare to the health of the typical meat eater? According to evidence presented in class, can a person get all the nutrition they need to be healthy without eating meat? What nutritional deficits if any, are there in a vegan diet?

How are the animals used to produce the meat you buy in a supermarket or eat in a restaurant typically treated? Are there any arguments against eating "free range" animals which are treated humanely? How does meat-eating affect the environment and consumption of natural resources? What is the alien analogy? What is the pet analogy? What is speciesism? What is the moral principle of "equal consideration of interests"? What are some arguments are there in favor of eating meat discussed in class or in handouts? How might one respond to the argument that animals eat each other, therefore it’s OK for us to eat them? What response could one make to the argument that it’s natural for human beings to eat meat, therefore it is morally permissible?