Moral Choice Schedule
Philosophy 152
Sections A03 and A04
Winter/Spring 2008
week one:
January 14 - 18:
Overview of course, texts, and requirements.
Introduction to "what is philosophy"
Introduction to the various branches of philosophy.
Metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics.
Introduction to the nature of philosophical argumentation.
Kinds of arguments: formal, informal, analogy, authority, evidence, experience, etc.
Structure of arguments: premises and conclusions.
Validity and soundness.
week two:
January 21:
No Class - Martin Luther King Jr Holiday
January 23 - 25:
Read Plato's Apology (except for handouts, all readings are from Classics of Moral and Political Theory, ed. by M. Morgan), pages 46-63.
What are the accusations against Socrates?
How does Socrates respond to these accusations?
In what ways is Socrates' defense effective and in what ways is it counter-productive?
How does Socrates' perspective on death evolve during the course of his trial?
week three:
January 28 - February 1:
For this week, read some excerpts from Plato's Republic, Book IV (pages 135-147), the end of Book VI (183-186), the beginning of Book VII (pages 186-189), and Book IX (pages 220-234).
Plato's overarching point in the Republic is that it is worth living justly for its own sake, apart from any kind of external benefit it may or may not produce.
What are the parts into which Plato's distinguishes the human soul and what is the nature of a truly happy and just life with regard to those parts?
What is Plato trying to say about both knowledge and reality in his story about the cave?
week four:
February 4 - 8:
This week we'll be looking at Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.
Begin by reading Book I, Chapters 1-2, 7-9, and 13 (pages 255, 259-263, and 264-265).
What is Aristotle's argument that there is one highest good for human life?
How does Aristotle root his notion of happiness in the nature of the human soul and the human function?
Continue by reading Book II, Chapters 1 and 5-7 (pages 265-266 and 268-271).
How does Aristotle finally arrive at a definition of virtue and what exactly is virtue according to Aristotle?
Pick a virtue from pages 279-307 and explain how it illustrates Aristotle's understanding of virtue.
week five:
February 11 - 15:
Essay One is due this week, Friday, 15 February.
We will be finishing up Aristotle this week, beginning with Book VII, Chapters 1-3 on incontinence (pages 315-318).
What Aristotle means by incontinence is a lack of self-control (akrasia) or weakness of will with regard to tempting pleasures.
Incontinence is the opposite of continence as vice is the opposite of virtue.
Aristotle's main difficulty is how incontinence is possible since why would we do something
knowing that it is wrong and bad for us.
Finally, we'll consider Aristotle's account of happiness in Book X, Chapters 7-8 (pages 355-357).
How does Aristotle's account of happiness in Book X seem to differ from his account in Book I?
In what ways might we resolve this tension in Aristotle's Ethics?
Read the handout by Roger Scruton on the nature of sexual morality.
Scruton sees himself as applying Aristotle's approach to ethics to questions of sexual morality. Do you think he is successful in this?
week six:
February 18 - 22:
We will now turn to a brief consideration of Stoic ethics as exemplified by Epictetus' Encheiridion, pages 427-439.
In what ways is Epictetus similar and dissimilar from Plato and Aristotle?
What do you think of Epictetus' advice?
Read the excerpt from Augustine's City of God, pages 442-454.
What is Augustine's critique of ancient Greek and Roman virtue?
Try to discern what Augustine's Christian alternative is to pagan virtues.
week seven:
February 25 - 29:
This week and next we'll be looking at Thomas Aquinas' approach to ethics in some detail.
For this week read the selections from the Summa Theologica on law, pages 460-472.
In general, how does Aquinas conceive the notion of "law"?
What are the four kinds of law that Aquinas describes and what is the function of each in relation to the others?
What is natural law and how is it both similar and different for various people?
week eight:
March 3 - 7:
No Class - Spring Break
week nine:
March 10 - 14:
Aquinas also addresses some specific moral issues, which you should read about, pages 472-476.
Under what conditions does Aquinas see war as sometimes justifiable?
What is Aquinas' notion of private property and how is it connected with the universal benefit of external goods?
When do you thing Aquinas might say that it is not wrong to take someone else's property?
I will also be handing out or assigning several more sections of Aquinas' views on various ethical decisions, such as killing in self-defense.
week ten:
March 17 - 19:
This week we'll be shifting from pre-modern to modern theories of ethics, beginning with Thomas Hobbes.
Real excerpts from Hobbes' Leviathan, Part I, Chapters 1-2, 6, and 13-14 (pages 533-557, 566-570, and 591-598).
What is Hobbes' theory of human nature, in terms of how the human person comes to function in and know the world?
According to Hobbes' what is the natural condition of humanity in relation to one another?
How do we overcome that natural state?
March 21:
No Class - Good Friday
week eleven:
March 24:
No Class- Easter Monday
March 26 - 28:
For this week read David Hume, selections from The Treatise of Human Nature, particularly Book II, Part III (pages 752-755) and Book III: Part I (pages 755-764).
In what way does Hume distinguish between "facts" and "values"?
How is it that morality, for Hume, is not based on reason but upon senitment or feeling?
For this week, read Immanuel Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, "First Section" (pages 896-903) and parts of "Second Section" (pages 906-912, 915-916).
What does Kant mean by a "good will"?
What are the two kinds of imperative that Kant mentions? And what is meant by a "categorical imperative"?
How does Kant first formulate the categorical imperative?
Use the categorical imperative to evaluate a particular action.
What does Kant mean by treating people as "ends in themselves"?
week twelve:
March 31 - April 4:
Essay Two is due this week, Wednesday, April 2.
Read the handout by Thomas Mappes, "Sexual Ethics and the Concept of Using Another Person."
In what way is Mappes' attempting to apply Kant's theory to the question of sexual ethics?
Do you think Kant would agree with Mappes' conclusions?
Read John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, Chapters I-IV, pages 995-1015.
What is the principle of utility or greatest happiness principle?
How does that principle generate an ethical system?
What is the distinction that Mill makes between different kinds of pleasures and what difficulty is it supposed to resolve?
Is there any evidence that Mill can provide in order to prove utilitarianism?
week thirteen:
April 7 - 11:
Read the handout by Peter Singer on animal rights.
Singer is attempting to apply Mill's ethical theory to the question of animal rights.
What does Singer mean by "equal consideration"?
What are some the assumptions about ethics and the relation between humans and animals that lie behind Singer's ethical theory and his application of ethical principles?
Are there any problem's with Singer's theory?
week fourteen:
April 14 - 18:
This week we will discuss Nietzsche's book On the Genealogy of Morality.
Read "Preface" (page 1142-1146) and "First Treatise" (pages 1146-1160).
What is Nietzsche attempting to accomplish in this book?
What does he mean by constructing a "genealogy" of morality?
What is the difference between "good/bad" vs. "good/evil"?
week fifteen:
April 21 - 25:
Read Nietzsche, On the Genealogy of Morality, "Third Treatise" (pages 1179-1209).
Last days of class.
Conclusion, evaluations, and any loose ends to be tied up.
