Ethics

choose one of the following questions for the essay.

This will be a formal paper approximately 4-5 pages in length with MLA citations.  The paper will include an analysis of the given readings, your book, and any outside sources you may use.  I have included (on Moodle) two guidelines for completing ethics papers entitled “Writing Papers about Theories” and “Writing a Moral Problems Paper”.  These guidelines are lengthy, but very useful. Use them as a guide as you write.

Citations
Your essays will be greatly enhanced by quoting, citing, and using arguments from the readings in class or scholarly outside sources.  Consult our writing tutors in the Academic Skills Center or the OWL at Purdue (online Writing Lab at Purdue University http://owl.english.purdue.edu/), if you need help with MLA citations, or talk to me. This is a personal essay, meaning you need to develop, argue, and support your own ideas with evidence and reasons.  You must use a works cited page.  Cite any scholarly sources you may use, like magazines, encyclopedias, books, websites, television shows, interviews, speeches, or films (Wikipedia is NOT a scholarly source for information, but it can point you in the right direction).  If you use websites they MUST be scholarly and you MUST document them accurately, in a scholarly manner using MLA source information.

Never use the words or ideas of someone else without proper citation.  Use at least two scholarly outside sources for your information.

(It will be impossible to make an A if you do not quote 2 scholarly outside sources.  Outside sources means sources other than the class textbook.)

I will accept late work up to one week past the original deadline; the grade will be lowered one letter grade for late work.

Format

Your research should support a brief introduction to the topic, a thesis statement, body sections with reasons to support your thesis, and a conclusion.  DEVELOP A STRONG THESIS—place your thesis as the last sentence of the introductory paragraph (first paragraph).  You will have time to type all work using Times New Roman, 12 pt. font, one inch margins, double spaced, and ½ inch indented paragraphs. Use sections with titles if you like. Please revise any grammar and spelling mistakes.

Argument
Every claim you make should be supported with some kind of argument.  It cannot simply be “because that is what I believe.”  You must state why you think the way you do supported by the texts with quotation, summary, or paraphrase.

Topic to write about:
1.Utilitarianism: Sociologists who have studied prison data have found gross inequities in incarceration rates. In particular, Bruce Western and Becky Petit have recently found that incarceration rates among African American men have been growing at an alarming rate since the 1980’s. It has grown to seven times what it is for white males. (“Incarceration and Inequality”) Moreover, the risk of imprisonment increases dramatically with lower levels of education when race is a factor. In 1980, roughly 10% of African American men who dropped out of high school were in prison. In 2008, 37% of African American dropouts were in prison. Moreover, Western and Petit point out that this inequality in incarceration rates intensifies already existing economic inequalities and has a profound intergenerational impact. The authors also note that it is not clear that increases in incarceration rates reduce much crime, and, even if they do, that seems little consolation, since the prison system in this country costs a whopping $70 billion per year. Something is wrong. The racial disparity in incarceration, bad initially, is getting dramatically worse. Surely it is worth looking at an alternatives use for some of that $70 billion.
What would a utilitarian say—in very general terms? First, read the paper by Western and Petit.  The issue is complex, as you’ll see, but one can say quite a lot of interest without getting mired in details. That is what I want you to do: Write a paper in which you give an extended analysis of how a utilitarian would reason about what to do about this issue. In particular, explain a) one or the other form of utilitarianism (act or rule), b) what that utilitarian view would say is the right policy to address the incarceration issue, (would a utilitarian advocate continuing our present course, or would she advocate something else?) and c) why she would advocate it or not. Then d) explain whether you think the utilitarian theory gets the right answer, and how.

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