- 20 Mar, 2021
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Religion and Theology
Guidelines for Students:
Choose an ethical issue in consultation with your instructor in order to write an essay. Your essay should model the steps found in chapter 4 of Moral Choices. Your paper should be between 1000–1200 words1 and should address all of the relevant steps described in chapter 4 “Making Ethical Decisions.” The Bible and any sources used should be cited appropriately in a works cited page that does not count towards the word-length requirement.
Your essay will be graded based on the following characteristics. As indicated below, use criterion from steps 1–7 of Moral Choices, 4th ed., p. 110–113 (and subsequent examples, p. 113–125), to guide your writing.
Ethical Self-Awareness (10% of final grade)
Moral Choices, step 1: Gather the Facts and step 3: Determine What Virtues/Principles Having a Bearing on the Case.
Does the essay discuss the student’s core beliefs related to the issue under investigation? In other words, does the student identify her or his central ideas about life, human relationships, morality, etc., that connect with the given topic?
Ethical Issue Recognition (10% of final grade)
Moral Choices, step 2: Determine the Ethical Issues.
Does the essay demonstrate awareness of the ethical issue being discussed and what other concepts or consequences connect with that issue? Does a student recognize other issues that may complicate an easy answer to the problem?
Understanding Different Ethical Perspectives/Concepts (20% of final grade)
Moral Choices, step 4: List the Alternatives.
Does the essay describe the ethical perspectives being used to make a decision? What ethical theories does the student use to make a decision?
Evaluation of Different Ethical Perspectives/Concepts (30% of final grade)
Moral Choices, step 5: Compare the Alternatives with the Virtues/Principles.
Does the essay evidence the interaction with other alternative answers to a particular position including objections, assumptions, and implications to one’s own or another’s ethical perspective? Does the student identify how others might answer the issue and address these alternatives?
Application of Ethical Perspectives/ Concepts (30% of final grade)
Moral Choices, step 6: Consider the Consequences and step 7: Decide. Does the essay apply ethical and biblical principles appropriately?
1 1,000–1200 words averages between 4–5 pages of double-spaced text.
Topic: Abortion