Moral Philosophy and Value Theory - JPB158

Institute of Political Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague

ETCS: 6 credits

Prerequisites: None

Taught in WINTER Semester

Lecturer: Dr Janusz Salamon

Time: TUESDAY, 8.00-9.30-11.00-12:20 (including lectures and seminars - see details below)

PLACE: Jinonice, classroom C122 (Seminar at 8:00 and Lecture at 9:30) & classroom C520 (Seminar at 11:00) - see details below

CONTACTS:

Email: janusz.salamon at fsv.cuni.cz

Office hours: Monday, 12.30-14.00 & Tuesday, 14:00-15:30 (3 Tuesdays per month) at office 514 (Floor 5) in Jinonice

also at other times ONLINE after appointment at https://cuni-cz.zoom.us/j/4572739330

COURSE OBJECTIVES

This course will introduce students to methods and problems of contemporary moral philosophy. Its primary focus is on the development of moral reasoning skills and the application of those skills to contemporary moral issues. We will read and discuss major classical and contemporary works of philosophical ethics and will debate controversial moral dilemmas, taking into account the contemporary pluralistic and global context of moral thinking.

Upon completion of this course, students should be able to:

· Comprehend and have a clear understanding of the main philosophical attempts to conceptualize our fundamental ethical intuitions

· Outline, analyze and criticize the arguments put forward by the greatest moral thinkers of humanity

. Apply critical thinking to social problems with moral component

COURSE OUTLINE

Week 1: Does ethical thinking influence moral behaviour? Some lessons from empirical sciences (P. Zimbardo, J. Greene, S. Pinkert, L. Kohlberg, Frans de Waal, E.O. Wilson, R. Dawkins) [A double LECTURE from 9:00 till 12.20 for everyone]

Week 2: Sources of Moral Sense: Introducing Metaethics [SEMINAR 1 for Group 1 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 2 at 11:00]

Week 3: Utilitarianism as an example of Consequentialist Ethics [SEMINAR 1 for Group 3 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 1 for Group 4 at 11:00]

Week 4: Deontology or an Ethics of Duty (to respect persons) [SEMINAR 2 for Group 1 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 2 at 11:00]

Week 5: Virtue Ethics of Aristotle and Confucius (grounded in 'Nature' or "Ethical Traditions'?) [SEMINAR 2 for Group 3 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 2 for Group 4 at 11:00]

Week 6: Contractarian Ethics [SEMINAR 3 for Group 1 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 2 at 11:00]

Week 7: Relational Ethics: Care Ethics & Levinas on inviolability of the Other [SEMINAR 3 for Group 3 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 4 at 11:00]

Week 8: MID-TERM In-Class Written TEST (9:30-12:30) [The test will cover the material of Class readings 2-6 and Seminar readings 1-3]

Week 9: Challenges to the possibility of universal ethics (Nietzschean perspectivalism, subjectivism, emotivism, cultural relativism, religious pluralism) [SEMINAR 4 for Group 1 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 4 for Group 2 at 11:00]

Week 10: Intro to Value Theory (I) [SEMINAR 4 for Group 3 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 3 for Group 4 at 11:00]

Week 11: Intro to Value Theory (II) [SEMINAR 5 for Group 1 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 2 at 11:00]

Week 12: The possibility of global ethics [SEMINAR 5 for Group 3 at 8:00, followed by LECTURE at 9.30 for everyone, followed by SEMINAR 5 for Group 4 at 11:00]

FINAL WRITTEN EXAM (3 exam dates will be published in the SIS in due course)

COURSE READINGS.

All readings will be available in electronic format available for download from THIS course website (in the SIS).

Principal readings will be drawn from the following books:

G. Marino (ed.), Ethics: The Essential Writings, Modern Library, 2010.

J. Baggini, Peter S. Fosl, The Ethics Toolkit: A Compendium of Ethical Concepts and Methods, Blackwell Publishing, 2007.

S. M. Cahn, P. Markie, Ethics: History, Theory, and Contemporary Issues, Oxford University Press, 1998.

G. Jones, D. Cardinal, J. Hayward, Moral Philosophy: A Guide to Ethical Theory, Hodder, 2010.

L. Pojman, J. Fieser, Ethics: Discovering Right and Wrong, Wadsworth, 2012.

COURSE GRADING:

Quality participation in the SEMINAR + Final SEMINAR Essay = 30%

Mid-term In-Class Written Test 35%

Final Written Exam 35%

Total 100%

SEMINAR INSTRUCTION

The seminar is mandatory. As indicated in the Syllabus (above), the seminar will be taught in 4 groups. Each student will be informed during Week 1 to which group they belong. Each student must do the relevant seminar reading in advance (the familiarity with the seminar reading will be tested through quizzes at the beginning of each seminar, therefore students who will arrive late and will not take the quiz, will loose the points awarded for the quizzes (2, 1 or 0 points for a single quiz).

The "seminar readings" are uploaded below (in the SIS, not Moodle). The seminars will consists of the discussion of the philosophical arguments introduced in the "seminar readings"

Seminar Essay will be due 48 hours before the final exam (and it will be up to the student to choose from among three final exam DATES published in the SIS in due course).

The Final Seminar Essay instruction will be discussed during seminar 4 (i.e., after the mid-term exam), since the students need to accumulate enough knowledge to be able to work efficiently on the essay.

SEMINAR ESSAY INSTRUCTION

DEADLINE: 48 hours before YOUR written exam

LENGTH: 1500-1600 words (NOT counting footnotes and bibliography)

STYLE (I grade only the quality/plausibility of your IDEAS and the work you put into thinking about issues, so ignore the style but you must be able to explain yourself sufficiently clearly to convince me that you took this assignment seriously.)

TOPIC: PPE is primarily about understanding how human beings function in societies, especially in the political and economic spheres. The goal of our Seminar Essay is to give you a chance to ask yourself how your study of moral philosophy might contribute to your thinking critically and creatively about the moral dilemmas faced by citizens as participants in the political and economic life. With this aim in mind, choose any 3 MORAL DILEMMAS which might call for STATE REGULATIONS to prent evil/harm and protect/promote good/wellbeing of citizens and outline the arguments you would present in each case to the legislators who will vote on the matters should you be in charge of preparing the relevant legislation. (Needless to say, you will wish to use EXHAUSTIVELY your excellent grasp of all our ethical theories as tools of ethical decision making.) <