These lecture handouts were used to supplement class discussion.
SES # | TOPICS | HANDOUTS |
---|---|---|
1 | Introduction | |
Part I: Meta-ethics | ||
Non-naturalism | ||
2 | Plato's dialogue and the "Euthyphro Problem" | (PDF) |
3 | Moore on goodness as simple and indefinable | (PDF) |
Non-cognitivism | ||
4 | Ayer on the emotive theory of ethics | (PDF) |
5 | Brink on the form and content of moral judgments | (PDF) |
The epistemic problem for cognitivism | ||
6 | Harman on ethics and observation | (PDF) |
7 | Sturgeon on moral explanations | (PDF) |
Moral relativism | ||
8 | Harman on moral relativism | (PDF) |
9 | Foot on moral relativism | (PDF) |
10 | Lyons on ethical relativism and the problem of incoherence | (PDF) |
Part II: Normative ethics | ||
Goodness | ||
11 | Mill on utilitarianism | (PDF) |
12 | Nozick and Parfit on theories of well-being | (PDF) |
13 | Norcross on comparing harms | (PDF) |
Rightness | ||
14 | Williams critiquing utilitarianism | (PDF) |
15 | Lenman on consequentialism and cluelessness | (PDF) |
16 | Singer on act-utilitarianism | (PDF) |
17 | Rawls on rules | (PDF) |
18 | Nagel on agent-relative reasons | (PDF) |
Distributive justice | ||
19 | Rawls and Nagel on equality | (PDF) |
20 | Williams on the idea of equality | (PDF) |
21 | Singer on famine, affluence, and morality | (PDF) |
Part III: Moral character | ||
Virtue | ||
22 | Arpaly on moral worth | (PDF) |
23 | Wolf on moral saints | (PDF) |
Free will and moral responsibility | ||
24 | van Inwagen on the incompatibility of free will and determinism | (PDF) |
25 | Frankfurt on moral responsibility | (PDF) |
26 | Nagel on moral luck | (PDF) |