Phil 3000 - Philosophical Ethics
Course Description:
Moral problems and pronouncements are all around us. We find them in our own lives, as well as in the mouths of our politicians, community activists, religious leaders, and media. How much do we owe to those less fortunate? Is all fair in love and war? How partial can we be to our nearest and dearest? This course will help you develop an ability to approach such questions in a clear and rigorous manner. It will do so by introducing you to the process of philosophical reasoning, and by studying a variety of systematic moral theories, including the work of John Stuart Mill, Kant, and Aristotle.
Course Objectives:
This course aims to help you develop a set of skills that will be helpful to you whatever your chosen field of study. It is designed to help you identify and carefully evaluate an argument; to develop and state your own arguments with clarity and precision; and encourage you to think rigorously about a number of important moral problems. For those who continue the study of philosophy, it will also provide a foundational understanding of several important ethical theories.
Teaching Methodology:
The class will be taught in weekly three-hour classes. There will be several breaks during each class. Classes will consist of some lecturing, some presentations, but is primarily intended as a venue for discussing the assigned topics and readings. Active class participation is therefore a requirement of this course and will form part of your final grade. We will consider a number of difficult and intractable problems that defy easy answers. Class discussions are therefore expected to be hard, but also fun and engaging.
Course Texts:
This course will use:
George Sher, Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory (2012)
Numbered readings in the course schedule refer to this text. The majority of numbered texts are also available through your library, or online.
Many of the articles can also be found directly through JSTOR when connected through the Fordham network. Books are available from most University of London libraries.
If you are looking for a general philosophical reference work I can recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Essays:
This is a helpful guide to writing a good philosophy paper (by Angela Mendelovici), as is this (by Jim Pryor).
Special Accommodations:
It is recognised that some students may need special accommodations. These should be bought to the attention of the Course Instructor and Programme Director at the commencement of the semester.
You are always welcome to contact me if you have any questions or problems.
Moral problems and pronouncements are all around us. We find them in our own lives, as well as in the mouths of our politicians, community activists, religious leaders, and media. How much do we owe to those less fortunate? Is all fair in love and war? How partial can we be to our nearest and dearest? This course will help you develop an ability to approach such questions in a clear and rigorous manner. It will do so by introducing you to the process of philosophical reasoning, and by studying a variety of systematic moral theories, including the work of John Stuart Mill, Kant, and Aristotle.
Course Objectives:
This course aims to help you develop a set of skills that will be helpful to you whatever your chosen field of study. It is designed to help you identify and carefully evaluate an argument; to develop and state your own arguments with clarity and precision; and encourage you to think rigorously about a number of important moral problems. For those who continue the study of philosophy, it will also provide a foundational understanding of several important ethical theories.
Teaching Methodology:
The class will be taught in weekly three-hour classes. There will be several breaks during each class. Classes will consist of some lecturing, some presentations, but is primarily intended as a venue for discussing the assigned topics and readings. Active class participation is therefore a requirement of this course and will form part of your final grade. We will consider a number of difficult and intractable problems that defy easy answers. Class discussions are therefore expected to be hard, but also fun and engaging.
Course Texts:
This course will use:
George Sher, Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory (2012)
Numbered readings in the course schedule refer to this text. The majority of numbered texts are also available through your library, or online.
Many of the articles can also be found directly through JSTOR when connected through the Fordham network. Books are available from most University of London libraries.
If you are looking for a general philosophical reference work I can recommend the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Essays:
This is a helpful guide to writing a good philosophy paper (by Angela Mendelovici), as is this (by Jim Pryor).
Special Accommodations:
It is recognised that some students may need special accommodations. These should be bought to the attention of the Course Instructor and Programme Director at the commencement of the semester.
You are always welcome to contact me if you have any questions or problems.
Week 1 - 16 January 2014
Course Outline, Introduction to Ethics and Philosophical Reasoning
Reading of Plato's Euthyphro
Week 2 - 23 January 2014
Moral Realism and Moral Relativism
What is moral relativism?
Are there any good arguments for moral relativism?
What is moral realism?
If there are moral facts, what kind of facts are they?
Week 3 - 30 January 2014
Utilitarianism 1
What, on Mill's view, makes an action right?
What does Mill believe to be the only thing that is valuable for its own sake?
How does Mill understand happiness, and is this view plausible?
How does Nozick's example challenge Mill's views on what happiness is?
Week 4 - 13 February 2014
Utilitarianism 2
How do you construct an argument against a systematic moral theory, like utilitarianism?
What does Rawls think is wrong with Utilitarianism?
What does Williams mean by a "project"?
What does Williams mean by "integrity"?
What does Williams think is wrong with Utilitarianism?
How might Mill respond to the challenges of Rawls and Williams?
Week 5 - 20 February 2014
Deontology and non-consequentialist ethics
What is the doctrine of double effect?
Are there any other similar distinctions?
How does they help explain our intuitions in certain thought experiments?
Can they explain our intuitions in all such cases?
What role should our intuitions play in shaping a moral theory?
The Podcast we listened to in class is available for free on the RadioLab website.
Week 6 - 27 February 2014
Kantian Ethics 1
What is a maxim?
How does Kant determine whether an action is right or wrong? What are the steps in the process?
Why are actions done in accordance with the categorical imperative permissible?
How do the different formulations of the Categorical Imperative relate to each other?
FIRST ESSAY DUE
6 March 2014 - No class
Week 8 - 13 March 2014
Kantian Ethics 2
What is the difference between acting from duty, and acting in accordance with duty?
Which actions have full moral worth on Kant's view?
What is lacking in an agent that acts from compassion or self-interest, rather than from duty?
Week 9 - 20 March 2014
Applied Ethics - The Ethics of Global Poverty and the Ethics of War
There are many more interesting resources on the website justwartheory.com
You might also want to consider Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est"
Week 10 - 27 March 2014
In-class Presentations
Aristotle and Virtue Ethics
Try to understand, in detail, what is meant by a virtue? What does it mean to have a virtue, and what virtues are there?
How do the virtues relate to moral theory? Can they help us with questions of right and wrong?
What does moral deliberation look like for a virtue ethicist?
How is virtue ethics similar and different to the moral theories offered by Kant and Mill?
Week 11 - 3 April
Field Trip to the British Museum (London)
Week 12 - 10 April
Aristotle and Virtue Ethics
Try to understand, in detail, what is meant by a virtue? What does it mean to have a virtue, and what virtues are there?
How do the virtues relate to moral theory? Can they help us with questions of right and wrong?
What does moral deliberation look like for a virtue ethicist?
How is virtue ethics similar and different to the moral theories offered by Kant and Mill?
17 April 2014 - No Class (Easter)
Week 13 - 24 April
Review
Second Essay Due by e-mail on 25 April 2014
Course Outline, Introduction to Ethics and Philosophical Reasoning
Reading of Plato's Euthyphro
Week 2 - 23 January 2014
Moral Realism and Moral Relativism
- J. Rachels, “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism” (15) (or in her “The Elements of Moral Philosophy”)
- Plato, “The Republic,” Book 1 and Book II to 367e (1)
- Mackie “The Subjectivity of Values” (18) (or chapter 1 of his “Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong”)
What is moral relativism?
Are there any good arguments for moral relativism?
What is moral realism?
If there are moral facts, what kind of facts are they?
Week 3 - 30 January 2014
Utilitarianism 1
- J.S. Mill “Utilitarianism”, Chapters 1 and 2 (or 22)
- J. Bentham, “Pleasure as the Good” (45)
- R. Nozick, “The Experience Machine” (46) (or in “Anarchy State and Utopia” pp. 42-45)
What, on Mill's view, makes an action right?
What does Mill believe to be the only thing that is valuable for its own sake?
How does Mill understand happiness, and is this view plausible?
How does Nozick's example challenge Mill's views on what happiness is?
Week 4 - 13 February 2014
Utilitarianism 2
- J. Rawls, “Classical Utilitarianism” (23)
- J.S. Mill “Utilitarianism”, Chapter 5
- B. Williams, “A Critique of Utilitarianism” (24)
How do you construct an argument against a systematic moral theory, like utilitarianism?
What does Rawls think is wrong with Utilitarianism?
What does Williams mean by a "project"?
What does Williams mean by "integrity"?
What does Williams think is wrong with Utilitarianism?
How might Mill respond to the challenges of Rawls and Williams?
Week 5 - 20 February 2014
Deontology and non-consequentialist ethics
- P. Foot “Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect” in her “Virtues and Vices”, Oxford: OUP, 1977.
- J.J. Thomson, “The Trolley Problem”, Yale Law Journal 94 (1985)
What is the doctrine of double effect?
Are there any other similar distinctions?
How does they help explain our intuitions in certain thought experiments?
Can they explain our intuitions in all such cases?
What role should our intuitions play in shaping a moral theory?
The Podcast we listened to in class is available for free on the RadioLab website.
Week 6 - 27 February 2014
Kantian Ethics 1
- Kant “Morality and Rationality” (29) or his “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals” (Sections 1 and 2)
- T. Hill, "Kantian Normative Ethics", in Copp (ed.), "The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory"
- OR OʼNeill, "Kantian Ethics", in P. Singer (ed.), "A Companion to Ethics"
What is a maxim?
How does Kant determine whether an action is right or wrong? What are the steps in the process?
Why are actions done in accordance with the categorical imperative permissible?
How do the different formulations of the Categorical Imperative relate to each other?
FIRST ESSAY DUE
6 March 2014 - No class
Week 8 - 13 March 2014
Kantian Ethics 2
- Kant “Morality and Rationality” (29) or his “Groundwork on the Metaphysics of Morals” (Sections 1 and 2)
- C.M. Korsgaard “The Right to Lie” (31)
- M. Baron, "On the Alleged Repugnance of Acting from Duty" in the Journal of Philosophy, 1984
What is the difference between acting from duty, and acting in accordance with duty?
Which actions have full moral worth on Kant's view?
What is lacking in an agent that acts from compassion or self-interest, rather than from duty?
Week 9 - 20 March 2014
Applied Ethics - The Ethics of Global Poverty and the Ethics of War
- P. Singer, “Famine, Affluence, and Morality” (62 in Sher), in the journal Philosophy and Public Affairs, No. 1 (1972), and widely reprinted elsewhere
- P. Singer, "The Life You Can Save", (book) Picador Press (2009)
- How much (exactly) does Singer think you owe to those less fortunate?
- What is Singer's argument for his position?
- Are there any good moral arguments against Singer's position? Why shouldn't morality be very very hard and demanding, given the inequalities in the world?
- The Melian Dialogue from Thucydides' "History of the Pelopennesian War", many editions, and online here.
- Michael Walzer, "Just and Unjust Wars" (book), Chapter 1 "Against Realism", many editions including Basic Books (2006).
- Do the rules of morality constrain the conduct of war?
- What are the major positions on this question?
- How does morality constrain war?
- What would Mill and Kant think about absolute moral rules limiting permissible conduct during war?
There are many more interesting resources on the website justwartheory.com
You might also want to consider Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est"
Week 10 - 27 March 2014
In-class Presentations
Aristotle and Virtue Ethics
- G. Sher "Introduction to Section VI" in his "Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory" (pp. 429-431)
- Aristotle "The Nature of Moral Virtue" (Reading 37 in Sher) or Aristotle "Nicomachean Ethics" Book II
Try to understand, in detail, what is meant by a virtue? What does it mean to have a virtue, and what virtues are there?
How do the virtues relate to moral theory? Can they help us with questions of right and wrong?
What does moral deliberation look like for a virtue ethicist?
How is virtue ethics similar and different to the moral theories offered by Kant and Mill?
Week 11 - 3 April
Field Trip to the British Museum (London)
Week 12 - 10 April
Aristotle and Virtue Ethics
- G. Sher "Introduction to Section VI" in his "Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory" (pp. 429-431)
- Aristotle "The Nature of Moral Virtue" (Reading 37 in Sher) or Aristotle "Nicomachean Ethics" Book II
- R. Hursthouse "Virtue Ethics" (43) or as "Normative Virtue Ethics", in R. Crisp (ed.) How Should One Live? (Clarendon Press, 1996)
Try to understand, in detail, what is meant by a virtue? What does it mean to have a virtue, and what virtues are there?
How do the virtues relate to moral theory? Can they help us with questions of right and wrong?
What does moral deliberation look like for a virtue ethicist?
How is virtue ethics similar and different to the moral theories offered by Kant and Mill?
17 April 2014 - No Class (Easter)
Week 13 - 24 April
Review
Second Essay Due by e-mail on 25 April 2014