The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate the ethical reasoning skills you have developed this semester in PHI 1600. Such skills include your ability to recognize ethical issues, to understand and evaluate different ethical perspectives, to apply those points of view to contemporary issues, and to show recognition of your own moral beliefs.

Step 1: Watch: Sinking Cities Miami (take good notes) – https://www.pbs.org/show/sinking-cities/

Step 2: Watch: Closing the Resilience Gap Panel Discussion (take good notes) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1IbvbIKYyw

Step 3: Review all relevant course materials and sections in the textbook

Step 4: In a Microsoft Word document, respond to each of the following five questions.

The questions below are designed to show your ethical reasoning skills. Using your notes and other course materials, please answer the questions below to the best of your ability. A thorough answer is at least one well-written paragraph (at least 4-5 complete sentences organized around the question). Some questions may require more than the minimum to address fully.

1. Identify and explain the central ethical issue addressed by the panelists. What is the main ethical problem they approached? Also identify as many other connected or related ethical issues that came up in the discussion as you can.
2. Compare and contrast two of the ethical theories you studied in PHI 1600 (e.g., Act Utilitarianism or Kant’s Deontology, etc.). State and explain their central principles, then discuss how the two points of view are similar or different.
3. After comparing these theories, apply them both to the issue you identified from the Sunken Cities discussion. Be sure to list several options for resolving the issue and then use the theories you chose to show which of the options they would choose as the appropriate course of action. Be as detailed as you can in assessing the options.
4. Briefly evaluate the conclusions you drew in question #3 using the two ethical theories. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the two theories. Are there problems with either of the two ways of resolving the issue? Are there any problematic assumptions involved with the theories? Explain your reasoning.
5. Lastly, discuss your own personal beliefs about the central ethical issue from the discussion. If it were up to you to solve, how would you do it? Justify your choice and describe how your proposed solution fits with your own moral beliefs and values.

Number each question, and provide a thorough college-level response to each. Be detailed in your replies. In evaluating your work, I will focus on: (1) ethical self-awareness; (2) understanding of different ethical perspectives/concepts; (3) ability to recognize ethical issues; (4) ability to apply ethical perspectives/concepts; and (5) ability to evaluate/assess different ethical perspectives/concepts.