This course offers an introductory survey to various ethical theories within the history of western philosophy, including virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism, social contract theory, feminist ethics, and existentialist ethics. Bringing these ethical frameworks to bear on contemporary ethical issues, this course seeks to combine theoretical and applied approaches to ethics. Beginning with the question of “the good life,” we shall ask: Why live ethically? And how to live ethically? Tracing how each philosopher with whom we engage responds to these questions, the students are expected to develop an understanding of different kinds of ethical reasoning, which in turn would enable them to analyze issues and propose an informed, intelligent response. As their final project, the students will write a paper in which they take up a specific ethical problem (e.g. capital punishment, suicide, prostitution, torture, hunger strike, pornography, etc.) and argue for a position by utilizing and building on the kinds of ethical reasoning we traced and scrutinized throughout the semester.