Wasted class

[AThornquist]

I took an Ethics class here at the local community college and I think it was a waste of time. I'm quite bothered by this.

Though it will transfer to any university, do you think I should choose not to transfer the credits in order to take an Ethics class at a better institution, such as Master's College? Or will this even matter in the long run, so I should just transfer the credits?

My ultimate desire is to enter the ministry, going from the local JC (A.A. Spanish) to Master's College (B.A. in Theology, Biblical Counseling, or other) to perhaps SBTS (M.Div.) and only the Lord knows if I will pursue a doctoral degree. With this in mind, will this single ethics class be worth the time of taking another ethics class for what is realistically no credit?

 

[au5t1n]

Keep the credit. It costs money to take another ethics class. Every class costs a lot of money, so unless you have a full ride and no loan debt, I wouldn't do it. If you want to learn more about ethics, I would just read books on it. You learn more reading good books than in a lot of college classes anyway. Just my

 

[reformedminister]

 

[he beholds]

just take the credit and borrow a good book from the library wherever you choose to go.

 

[Reformed Thomist]

I'm guessing this was an introductory Ethics class. I would carry the credit over and perhaps try to use it as a prerequisite for a more interesting (specific) Ethics course at the university. (Even if it can't be used as an official prereq, many professors will approve students without the official prereq for a course if you contact them privately and let them know that you've done some work in the subject).

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Keep the credit. Then buy Scott Rae's Moral Choices. See also here.

AMR

 

[Skyler]

Community college ethics courses are like that. I wouldn't worry about it.

When I began that course I already knew more about ethics than was covered the whole next quarter.

If you really want to learn more about ethics, find a good book (or mp3 lecture series) on it.

 

[puritanpilgrim]

Keep your credit and just listen this class by Dr. Nash:


Ethics | BiblicalTraining.org

this too by Dr. Jones:

Christian Ethics: Worldwide Classroom

I think RTS has one too:


RTS on iTunes U


Listen to these and you will be set.

 

[kvanlaan]

I took an Ethics class here at the local community college and I think it was a waste of time. I'm quite bothered by this.

'Ethics' from pagans will always seem that way. It's no real surprise but as a necessary component of a degree, I would hang on to it.

 

[T.A.G.]

You have not learned anything?
I am taking an ethics class now over the winter and have learned certain moral theories like the Social Contract theory or the Natural Law theory, I have learned more about Utilitarianism. I have also learned more categories of fallacies and it has also helped me prepare myself more to give a defense.
I would def keep the credit and read more books on ethics like suggested.

 

[AThornquist]

Tyler, it's not that I haven't learned anything. It's that I could have read Wikipedia pages for a few hours and learned the equivalent of my semester in class.

 

[Skyler]

Tyler, it's not that I haven't learned anything. It's that I could have read Wikipedia pages for a few hours and learned the equivalent of my semester in class.

That's better than mine. For the little she talked about actual ethical theories, about half of it was wrong.

 

[au5t1n]

Well, it would be unethical for a professor to teach that there are absolute ethical standards.

 

[Skyler]

Well, it would be unethical for a professor to teach that there are absolute ethical standards.

Yes, but here's the catch--the guy who taught the introductory philosophy class did teach absolute ethical standards.

 

[au5t1n]

Well, it would be unethical for a professor to teach that there are absolute ethical standards.

Yes, but here's the catch--the guy who taught the introductory philosophy class did teach absolute ethical standards.

Ahh, but just the wrong absolutes. Gotcha.

 

[Skyler]

I honestly think I could easily do a better job with the intro to ethics course than she did, at least as far as teaching about ethical theories goes.

-----Added 12/26/2009 at 06:29:11 EST-----

Well, it would be unethical for a professor to teach that there are absolute ethical standards.

Yes, but here's the catch--the guy who taught the introductory philosophy class did teach absolute ethical standards.

Ahh, but just the wrong absolutes. Gotcha.

He was a Catholic Platonic moral absolutist. He believed that there were moral "facts" of right and wrong. He seemed unfamiliar with Anselm's response to Euthyphro's Dilemma (I think it was Anselm... either him or Aquinas, I forget)

 

[au5t1n]

I honestly think I could easily do a better job with the intro to ethics course than she did, at least as far as teaching about ethical theories goes.

-----Added 12/26/2009 at 06:29:11 EST-----

Yes, but here's the catch--the guy who taught the introductory philosophy class did teach absolute ethical standards.

Ahh, but just the wrong absolutes. Gotcha.

He was a Catholic Platonic moral absolutist. He believed that there were moral "facts" of right and wrong. He seemed unfamiliar with Anselm's response to Euthyphro's Dilemma (I think it was Anselm... either him or Aquinas, I forget)

Interesting. More importantly, though, don't you just love saying "Euthyphro"? I do.

 

[cih1355]

I took an Ethics class here at the local community college and I think it was a waste of time. I'm quite bothered by this.

Though it will transfer to any university, do you think I should choose not to transfer the credits in order to take an Ethics class at a better institution, such as Master's College? Or will this even matter in the long run, so I should just transfer the credits?

My ultimate desire is to enter the ministry, going from the local JC (A.A. Spanish) to Master's College (B.A. in Theology, Biblical Counseling, or other) to perhaps SBTS (M.Div.) and only the Lord knows if I will pursue a doctoral degree. With this in mind, will this single ethics class be worth the time of taking another ethics class for what is realistically no credit?

You could transfer the credit. You would get credit for an elective.

 

[Montanablue]

I'm guessing this was an introductory Ethics class. I would carry the credit over and perhaps try to use it as a prerequisite for a more interesting (specific) Ethics course at the university. (Even if it can't be used as an official prereq, many professors will approve students without the official prereq for a course if you contact them privately and let them know that you've done some work in the subject).

Ditto. I took a business ethics course in college that was actually pretty interesting and useful. (Some of it is obvious, of course ("Don't steal"), but there are a lot of rather odd ethical conundrums that you can get yourself into in the business world that don't necessarily have a straightforward answer.) Taking a course like that might actually be worth your while. Or maybe something like biomedical ethics? At any rate, don't throw away your money by just not transferring it. You took the class and passed it, you may as well get credit for it.