Appelbaum, Irene

English

University of Montana

University of MontanaScholarWorks at University of MontanaSyllabi Course SyllabiSpring 2-1-2003PHIL 422E.01: Contemporary Moral and PoliticalTheoryIrene AppelbaumUniversity of Montana - Missoula, irene.appelbaum@umontana.eduLet us know how access to this document benefits you.Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabiThis Syllabus is brought to you for free and open access by the Course Syllabi at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted forinclusion in Syllabi by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contactscholarworks@mso.umt.edu.Recommended CitationAppelbaum, Irene, "PHIL 422E.01: Contemporary Moral and Political Theory" (2003). Syllabi. 9631.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/syllabi/9631PHILOSOPHY 422 CONTEMPORARY MORAL AND POLITICAL THEORY SPRING 2003 Administrative Information Professor: Irene Appelbaum Office: LA 145; Phone: x-4837 E-mail: appel@selway.umt.edu Class: M, W 3:10-4:30, LA 201 Office Hrs: T 1 :30- 3:00 & by appt. Course Description and Objectives There are three central ways philosophers study ethics: as a project in meta-ethics, as general normative ethics, and as applied ethics. Meta-ethics is concerned primarily with the meaning, justification and status of ethical concepts and theories. General normative ethics develops theories that purport to be action guiding, that is, theories which make claims about what one ought to do or how one ought to live. Such theories are concerned with the fundamental principles of ethics and their relation to one another. Applied ethics deals with the application of these principles to concrete problems in real-life. This course is a contemporary overview of major texts and issues in each of these projects. In the first part of the course, "Meta-Ethics" students are expected to achieve a clear understanding of attempts to grapple with the meaning of ethical concepts such as 'good' and 'right' and the implications for ethical theory; attempts to defend moral relativism, and of the debate between internalism and externalism about moral reasons. In the second part of the course, "General Normative Ethics" students will be expected to understand characteristic features and problems of the three major types of ethical theory -- consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics -- as presented by a major contemporary representative of each tradition. Finally, in the third part of the course, "Applied Ethics", students are expected to understand how the above general theories get applied to the particular issues of abortion, euthanasia, and hunger. Requirements Readings: Students are expected read each assignment at least twice before the class in which it is discussed, and at least once afterward. Papers: Students are expected to write two 5-page papers and a final 10-page paper. Paper topics will be assigned for the 5-page papers. For the final paper, topics will be suggested, but with the instructor's approval, students may write on a topic of their own choosing. The final paper is due Friday, May 9 by 4 pm. Final papers should be turned in to the instructor's mailbox in LA 101. Late papers wm not be accepted. Grades will be calculated as follows: 5-Page Papers: 50% (25% each), Final Paper: 50%. Texts • Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice, Revised Edition, 1971, 1999. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. • Williams, Bernard. Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1985. •All other readings will be on 2-Hour Reserve in the Philosophy Department Library in LA101. Introduction Reading Assignments Mon 1/27 No reading I. Meta-Ethics Wed 1/29 Moore, from Principia Ethica Mon 2/3 Stevenson, The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms Wed 2/5 Mackie, from Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong Mon 2/10 Harman, Moral Relativism Defended Wed 2/12 Nagel, from The Possibility ofAltruism Mon 2117 Presidents' Day - No class Wed 2/19 Williams, Internal and External Reasons II. General Normative Ethics Mon 2124 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. I, sec. 1-4. Wed 2126 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. 2, sec. 11-14. Mon 3/3 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. 2. sec 15-17 Wed 3/5 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. 3, sec. 23-26, 29 Mon 3/10 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. 7, sec, 60-65, 68 Wed 3/12 Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Ch. 9, sec. 86, 87. Mon 3/17 Kagan, from The Limits of Morality Wed 3/19 Kagan, from The Limits of Morality Mon 3/24 Spring Break - no class Wed 3/26 Spring Break - no class Mon 3/31 Kagan, from The Limits of Morality Wed 4/2 Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Ch. 1 Mon 417 Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Ch. 8 Wed 4/9 Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Ch. 9 Mon 4/14 Williams Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy, Ch. 10 Ill. Applied Ethics Wed 4/16 Warren, On the Moral and Legal Status of Abortion. Mon 4/21 Marquis, An Argument that Abortioi:i is Wrong. Wed 4/23 Hursthouse, Virtue Theory and Abortion. Mon 4/28 Rachels, Active and Passive Euthanasia. Wed 4/30 Sullivan, The Immorality of Euthanasia. Mon 5/5 Singer, Famine, Affluence, and Morality. Wed 517 O'Neill, Kantianism and World Hunger. 

PHIL 422E.01: Contemporary Moral and Political Theory

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PHIL 422E.01: Contemporary Moral and Political Theory

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