Contemporary Ethical TheorySyllabus.06
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Philosophy 274z Contemporary Ethical Theory Fall 2006 Instructors: Course Assistant: Chris Korsga ard Simon Rippon 205 Emerson Hall [email protected] 617-495-3916 [email protected] Office Hours: Thursdays 2:00-4:00 Tamar Schapiro [email protected] Description: A study of some important work in contemporary ethical theory by Thomas Nagel, Stephen Darwall, Allan Gibb ard, Pete r Railton, and Michael Thompson, all of whom will visit the sem inar. Course Admissions Policies: Parti cipati on in this course is by permission of the instructo rs. The course is not open to undergraduates, either as enrolled students or auditors. Permission to enroll will be extended to philosophy graduate students; in other cases our decision will depend on the size of the course and the student’s bac kgro und in philosophy. Graduate students who wish t o audit the co urse must commit to attending regularly, participating in discussions, and asking questions of the visitors. Readings from: Stephen Darwall, The Se cond-Person Sta ndpoint . Harvard, 2 006. Thomas Nagel, The View From Now here . Oxford, 1986. ___, Equality and Partiality . Oxford, 1995. ___, The Last Word . Oxford, 1997. Allan Gibbard, Wise Choices, Apt Feelings . Harvard, 1990. ___, Thinking How to Live . Harvard, 2003. ___, “Moral Fee lings and Moral Con cepts,” Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Volume 1 . Oxford, 2006. T.M. Scanlon, “Reasons and Decisions” Peter Railton, “Norm ative Force and Normative Freedo m: Hume an d Kant but no t Hume versus Kant,” Facts, Values, and Norms : Essays Towards a Morality of Consequence . Cambridge, 2003. ___, “Naturalism and Prescriptivity ” Social Philosophy and Policy 7 (1989). ___, New work on normativity and naturalism (new ms.) Michael Thompson, “Apprehending Human Form,” Modern Moral Philosophy . Cambridge, 2004 ___, “What is it to Wr ong S omeone? A Puzzl e about Justic e,” Reason and Value . Oxford, 2004. ___, “P rac tic al Knowledge” (n ew ms.)
Transcript of Contemporary Ethical TheorySyllabus.06
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Philosophy 274z Contem porary Ethica l TheoryFal l 2006
Instruct ors: Course Assistant:Chris Korsgaard Simon Rippon
205 Emerson Hall [email protected]
617-495-3916
Office Hours: Thursdays 2:00-4:00
Tamar Schapiro
Descr ip t ion :
A study of some important work in contemporary ethical theory by Thomas Nagel, Stephen Darwall,Allan Gibbard, Peter Railton, and Michael Thompson, all of whom will visit the seminar.
Course Admiss ions Pol ic i es :Participation in this course is by permission of the instructors. The course is not open to
undergraduates, either as enrolled students or auditors. Permission to enroll will be extended to
philosophy graduate students; in other cases our decision will depend on the size of the course and
the student’s background in philosophy. Graduate students who wish to audit the course must
commit to attending regularly, participating in discussions, and asking questions of the visitors.
Readings f rom:Stephen Darwall, The Second-Person Standpoint . Harvard, 2006.
Thomas Nagel, The View From Nowhere . Oxford, 1986.
___, Equality and Partiality . Oxford, 1995.
___, The Last Word . Oxford, 1997.
Allan Gibbard, Wise Choices, Apt Feelings . Harvard, 1990.
___, Thinking How to Live . Harvard, 2003.
___, “Moral Feelings and Moral Concepts,” Oxford Studies in Metaethics, Volume 1 . Oxford, 2006.
T.M. Scanlon, “Reasons and Decisions”
Peter Railton, “Normative Force and Normative Freedom: Hume and Kant but not Hume versus
Kant,” Facts, Values, and Norms : Essays Towards a Morality of Consequence . Cambridge, 2003.
___, “Naturalism and Prescriptivity” Social Philosophy and Policy 7 (1989).
___, New work on normativity and naturalism (new ms.)
Michael Thompson, “Apprehending Human Form,” Modern Moral Philosophy . Cambridge, 2004
___, “What is it to Wrong Someone? A Puzzle about Justice,” Reason and Value . Oxford, 2004.
___, “Practical Knowledge” (new ms.)
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We have not ordered the books at the bookstore. Readings will be posted on or available through the
course website and are on reserve in Robbins Library. If you are auditing the course and wish to access
the readings through the web site, you must supply us with your Harvard e-mail address or ID so that we can add you to the class list. If you are auditing and are not a Harvard student, you can get an “XID”
for this purpose. Please contact Simon Rippon to be added to the class list.
Written Ass ignments :
i) Questions for the speakers . All students, both auditors and enrolled students, are required to post
questions for the speakers to the speaker’s blog on the course website, no later than noon on Thursday
before the speaker’s visit.
ii) Weekly 2-3 page papers . Every enrolled student is required to hand in 2-3 double-spaced pages of
writing (absolutely no more ) each week. These short papers will be due by 5:00 each Wednesday, andmust deal with the readings for the forthcoming Friday. Apart from that requirement, the topic is
entirely up to you: you may summarize the material, give a reading of a difficult passage, criticize one of
the arguments, or defend the author against a possible criticism - anything as long as it concerns the
reading for the week in question. These papers will not be graded, but you must turn all of them in
order to pass the course.
iii) Seminar Paper . A seminar paper of 15-20 pages is due on Wednesday, January 17, by 5:00 p.m.
ScheduleSeptember 22: Introductory Meeting
September 29: Stephen Darwall
The Second-Person Standpoint
Chapter 4, “Accountability and the Second Person”
Chapter 5, “Moral Obligation and Accountability”
October 6: Steve Darwall Visit
The Second-Person Standpoint
Chapter 6, “Respect and the Second Person”Chapter 10, “Dignity and the Second Person: Variations on Fichtean Themes”
October 13: Thomas Nagel
The View from Nowhere , Chapter 8, “Value”
The Last Word , Chapter 6, “Ethics”
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October 20: Thomas Nagel Visit
The View from Nowhere , Chapter 9, “Ethics”
Equality and Partiality , Chapter 4, “Legitimacy and Unanimity”
Equality and Partiality , Chapter 5, “Kant’s Test”
October 27: Allan Gibbard
Wise Choices, Apt Feelings , Chapter 3 “Analyses Broached”
Wise Choices, Apt Feelings , Chapter 4, “Normative Psychology”
Thinking How to Live , Chapter 3, “Planning and Ruling Out: The Frege-Geach Problem”
Thinking How to Live , Chapter 5, “Supervenience and Constitution”
November 3: Allan Gibbard Visit
“Moral Feelings and Moral Concepts”
T.M. Scanlon, “Reasons and Decisions”
Allan Gibbard: Reply
November 10: Veteran’s Day Holiday
November 17: Peter Railton
“Naturalism and Prescriptivity”
“Normative Force and Normative Freedom: Hume and Kant but not Hume versus Kant”
November 24: Thanksgiving Holiday
December 1: Peter Railton Visit
Some new work on normativity and naturalism
December 8: Michael Thompson
“Apprehending Human Form”
“What is it to Wrong Someone?”
December 15: Michael Thompson Visit
“Practical Knowledge” (new ms.)
Final Paper due Wednesday January 17
