Phil 257: Moral Psychology

Instructor: Prof James (Jim) Sias

Spring 2021

Moral psychology is a field of theoretical and empirical inquiry focusing on issues at the intersection
of ethics and psychology. For example, is there any empirical basis to beliefs about free will and moral
responsibility? What are emotions, and what role do they have to play in our moral lives? How can so
many intelligent and open-minded people reach such radically different moral conclusions? Are there
really such things as traits of virtue and vice? These are among the issues we’ll explore in this course.

Contact Information

Email: siasj@dickinson.edu Note:

Email is the best way to contact me, as
Office location: East College 206 I check it frequently most days. If I do
not reply to your email within 48 hours,
Office hours: Via email or by appointment on Zoom you should assume that it was never
received in my inbox. Try sending
another.
Course Texts

1. T. Nadelhoffer et al (eds), Moral Psychology: Historical and Contemporary Readings (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)
2. J. Haidt, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion (Vintage, 2013)
3. Additional readings will be posted online.

Assignments

The research paper

Grade Distribution
Students will be given a choice of topics, and will write an essay of
15% Course participation
no fewer than 5 full pages on the topic of their choosing. It is called
15% Experiment summary #1
a “research” paper because students are expected to conduct some
15% Experiment summary #2
independent research while completing the assignment. (The experi-
25% Final exam
ment summaries are meant to prepare students for this research – see
30% Research paper
below.)

Experiment summaries
Students will write two (2) summaries of experiments published in articles in academic journals. Each
summary should accomplish all three of the following tasks: (i) clearly and accurately describe the exper-
iment’s setting, method, participants, etc.; (ii) clearly and accurately report the experiment’s results; and
(iii) discuss the implications of the experiment’s results, paying particular attention to how the results bear
upon one (or more) of the issues that we discuss in class. Students will be provided with material for the
first summary; but the second summary will require students to track down an article on their own.
Course Policies & Procedures

Zoom Meetings
The “synchronous” component of the course will consist in weekly Our weekly class meetings on Zoom
meetings on Zoom, every Thursday afternoon from 1:30–2:45pm. will be recorded, and a link to the
Attendance at these meetings is a requirement of the course, and recording and transcript will be posted
to Moodle and the course website for
participating during these discussions is the best way for you to impact you to access after class. You’ll have
your “Course Participation” grade (see the section below this one for access to these recordings until after all
more). Þnal papers and exams are submitted at
the end of the semester.
This class may also be audio recorded by those students who have an
accommodation to do so as granted by Access and Disability Services
(ADS). Recording of any session in this course other than for the above
purposes is strictly prohibited, and would be a breach of Dickinson’s
Community Standards. It may also be a violation of Wiretapping and
Electronic Surveillance laws.
Students may not share, send, post, publish, make public, or duplicate
any recordings without the written authorization of those recorded.
(This applies to video lectures as well.) Failure to abide by these rules
is a breach of privacy and a violation of copyright laws. It is further-
more considered a serious violation of Dickinson College Community
Standards and subject to disciplinary action. Unless informed other-
wise, students are to destroy any recordings shared by their professors
at the end of the semester. Thank you for your compliance.

Active participation is an important and valued expectation for this class. To promote a positive class community
as well as meaningful and engaging exchanges of ideas, I’d like us all to have our cameras on during Zoom
meetings, whenever possible, but I understand that this may not always be possible. If you believe having your
camera on will be a problem for you, please contact me about this during the first week of classes.

Course Participation
Obviously, “course participation” will look a bit different than it ordinarily does when we meet regularly in the
classroom. As far as I’m concerned, there are a few different ways for you to ensure that you earn a good grade
for participation:

• The best way is to make frequent contributions to our group discussion during Zoom meetings. Do not be
self-conscious about your comments or questions. Even if you only speak up to say something like, “I really
didn’t understand the author’s point on page 53 when she was talking about such-and-such. Could you
explain that?” that would be a useful contribution, since, probably, other students were confused about the
same thing.
• During the week, prior to our group meeting on Zoom, you can also participate by posting questions or other
reactions to the readings to the discussion forum on Moodle.
• Whenever students email me with questions or comments about course material, this, too, counts as “partici-
pation” in the course.
• Ordinarily, I’d also count any visit during office hours to talk about course material toward a student’s “par-
ticipation” grade. During the Spring 2021 semester, my “office hours” will take the form of either (a) email
correspondence (see the note above this one), or (b) one-on-one Zoom meetings, which I’ll schedule by re-
quest, and which will be subject to availability.

2 of 3
Academic Conduct & Integrity
Academic misconduct of any form will not be tolerated. All cases of Plagiarism is a form of cheating that
suspected academic misconduct will be reported to the College. This involves any kind of presentation of
includes plagiarism and other forms of cheating, as well as the re-use someone else’s ideas as your own. Students
should note that this includes more
of work submitted for credit in another course. And according to the than just direct quotation without
“Community Standards” page on Dickinson’s website, “The typical proper citation. See the “Community
sanction for academic misconduct is an F in the course and stayed Standards” page on Dickinson’s website
suspension.” If students have any questions about the standards for for descriptions of different forms of
academic conduct and integrity at Dickinson College, they are encour- plagiarism, as well as a list of examples
of other forms of academic misconduct.
aged either to consult with the professor or to review the college’s full
policies, which are available online.

Late work
Late work will be accepted without penalty only if the student can pro- For the record: New days are counted
vide compelling evidence that the tardiness is due to illness, hardship, from the end of class on the day the
or required attendance at a school-sponsored event. Students must assignment was due. So, for instance,
if an assignment is due in class on a
notify the professor (via email) as soon as they become aware of one Thursday, and that class period ends
of these possible causes of tardiness. In all other cases – i.e., cases in at 2:45pm, the assignment will be
which a student’s work is late for reasons that are not recognized as considered one day late as of 2:46pm on
valid excuses – the student will be penalized one-third of a letter grade the same day.
for each day (including weekends) that the assignment is late – e.g.,
from a B+ to a B, then from a B to a B-, etc.

Accommodating students with disabilities

Dickinson values diverse types of learners and is committed to ensuring that each student is afforded equitable
access to participate in all learning experiences. If you have (or think you may have) a learning difference or
a disability—including a mental health, medical, or physical impairment—that would hinder your access to
learning or demonstrating knowledge in this class, please contact Access and Disability Services (ADS). They
will confidentially explain the accommodation request process and the type of documentation that Dean and
Director Marni Jones will need to determine your eligibility for reasonable accommodations. To learn more
about available supports, go to www.dickinson.edu/ADS or email access@dickinson.edu
If you’ve already been granted accommodations at Dickinson, please follow the guidance at www.dickinson.edu/
AccessPlan for disclosing the accommodations for which you are eligible and scheduling a meeting with me as
soon as possible so that we can discuss your accommodations and finalize your Access Plan. If test proctoring
will be needed from ADS, remember that we will need to complete your Access Plan in time to give them at least
one week’s advance notice.

3 of 3