Syllabus
Week 1 - 22.2. - methodological introduction, distribution of presentations, introduction to the literature
Setting the problem
Week 2 - 7.3. - Michael Smith, "What Is The Moral Problem" in his: The Moral Problem (1994)
Expressivism
Week 3 - 14.3. - Simon Blackburn, "Errors and Phenomenology of Value" in his: Essays in Quasi-Realism (1993)
Week 4 - 21.3. - Simon Blackburn, "How to Be an Ethical Anti-Realist" in his: Essays in Quasi-Realism (1993) [repr. in Russ Shaffer-Landau & Terence Cuneo, Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (2007)]
Constructivism
Week 5 - 28.3. - Christopher W. Morris, "A Contractarian Account of Moral Justification" in: Sinnott-Armstrong & Timmons (eds.) Moral Knowledge? (1996)
Week 6 - 4.4. - Thomas Scanlon, "Promises and Practices" in: Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 19, No. 3 (Summer, 1990)
Week 7 - 11.4. - Ronald Milo, "Contractarian Constructivism", in: The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 92, No. 4 (Apr., 1995) [repr. in Russ Shaffer-Landau & Terence Cuneo, Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (2007)]
Sensibility Theories (or how to call it ...)
Week 8 - 18.4. - David Wiggins, "A Sensible Subjectivism?", in his: Needs, Values, Truth (1987) [repr. in Russ Shaffer-Landau & Terence Cuneo, Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (2007)]
Week 9 - 25.4. - John McDowell, "Values and Secondary Qualities", in his: Mind, Value & Reality (1998), originally in: T. Honderich (ed.) Morality and Objectivity (1985) [repr. in Russ Shaffer-Landau & Terence Cuneo, Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology (2007)]
How to Approach Realism
Week 10 - 2.5. - Thomas Nagel, The View From Nowhere, ch. VIII (1986)
Week 11 - 9.5. - Christine M. Korsgaard, The Sources of Normativity, 3.2.1-3.3.7 (1996)
Week 12 - 16.5. - Christine M. Korsgaard, The Sources of Normativity, 3.4.1-3.6.1. (1996)
Annotation
The aim of the class is to introduce and discuss the main trends in metaethics. The topic will be the nature of value and moral knowledge.
Each class we will discuss one text (cf. syllabus below); everyone must read the text in advance in order to be prepared for the discussion. Our meetings will begin by a short presentation (max 10 minutes) given by a student.
The presentation should (a) point out the main problems in the text and (b) formulate at least three questions that will be the foundation for our subsequent discussion.