Philosophy 7500 Readings

Required textbooks:

  1. Aug. 23. Introduction. Recommended: Christine Korsgaard, Creating the Kingdom of Ends, pp. 3-12.
  2. Aug. 30. Universalizability and the CI-Procedure. Groundwork, sec. 2, through Academy page 426 (para. ending "...who has once beheld her in her true form"); pp. 19-34 in the Ellington edition. Onora O'Neill, "Consistency in Action", in Constructions of Reason. Christine Korsgaard, "Kant's Formula of Universal Law", in Creating the Kingdom of Ends.

    Optional: Nell (O'Neill), Acting on Principle, excerpts. (On reserve.)

  3. Sept. 6.

    A) The Kantian Account of Value (I). Groundwork, sec. 2, Academy pages 426-430 (up to: "have its full effect in me"; Ellington ed. pp. 34-37). Gr., sec. 1, 393-405. Gr. 434-435 (Ellington p. 40), two very short paragraphs, starting "In the kingdom of ends..." and ending "intrinsic worth, i.e., dignity". Gr. 437-438 (Ellington p. 42f), two paragraphs, starting "We can now end...", and ending "always at the same time as an end". Onora O'Neill, "Between Consenting Adults". Christine Korsgaard, "Kant's Formula of Humanity."

    Optional: Korsgaard, "Kant's Analysis of Obligation: The Argument of Groundwork I."

    B) Kant on Suicide.

  4. Sept. 13.

    A) Autonomy, Heteronomy and the Kingdom of Ends. Gr. 431-445 (rest of sec. 2); Sarah Buss, "Valuing, Autonomy and Respecting Persons" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

    Optional: P. G. Wodehouse, "Jeeves Takes Charge" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

    B) Working the CI. Herman, "Murder and Mayhem" (in The Practice of Moral Judgement).

  5. Sept. 20:

    A) A Dissenting View in the Rawlsian Camp. Herman, "Moral Deliberation and the Derivation of Duties".

    B) Kant on Lying Redux. Kant, "On a Supposed Right to Lie Because of Philanthropic Concerns" (at the back of the Ellington reader). Korsgaard, "The Right to Lie: Kant on Dealing with Evil." Optional: Korsgaard, "Two Arguments Against Lying".

  6. Sept. 27:

    A) The Missing Transcendental Deduction and the FAQ of Reason. Gr., sec. 3, Critique of Practical Reason (C2), Analytic, ch. 1 (Ak. 19-57). Optional: C2, Preface, Introduction (Ak. 3-16); Dieter Henrich, "The Deduction of the Moral Law: The Reasons for the Obscurity of the Final Section of Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals (Henrich paper on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

    B) Kant's Constructivism. John Rawls, "Themes in Kant's Moral Philosophy" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

  7. Oct. 4:

    A) Korsgaard's Two-Front Argument. Korsgaard, "Skepticism about Practical Reason".

    B) Resonant Autonomy, Kantian Autonomy, and Mental Health. John Christman, "Introduction" (to The Inner Citadel); Joel Feinberg, "Autonomy" (both on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

  8. Oct. 11:

    A) I Can't Get No Respect. Critique of Practical Reason (C2), Analytic, ch. 2 (up to the "Critical Elucidation"; Ak. 57-87, Gregor ed. pp. 50-75); Doctrine of the Method of Pure Practical Reason (Ak. 151-163; Gregor ed. pp. 125-135).

    B) The Practical Transcendental Ego. Korsgaard, "Personal Identity and the Unity of Agency: A Kantian Response to Parfit".

  9. Oct. 18:

    A) Free Will! (with 4 proofs-of-purchase and $5.98 shipping and handling) Critique of Practical Reason (C2), Ak. 94-103 (Gregor ed. p. 79, first full para., to 86, end of section). Hilary Bok, Freedom and Responsibility, pp. 62-65 (up to section break), 72 (top of page)-91 (end of ch.), 104-122 (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office). Critique of Pure Reason, selections (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office; folder labelled "First Critique -- Causality and Freedom") [A445/B473-A451/B479; A532/B560-A558/B586]. Optional: Bok, rest of chs. 2-3.

    The Primacy of the Practical? Critique of Practical Reason (C2), Dialectic, ch. 2, sec. 3 (Ak. 119-121); sec. 7 (Ak. 134-141).

  10. Oct. 25: Happiness and the Highest Good. C2, Dialectic (Ak. 107-148; Gregor pp. 90-122); Gr. 395-396 (Ellington pp. 8-9, from "In the natural constitution..." to "...the purposes of inclination"); 399 (Ellington 12, para. starting "To secure one's own happiness..."); 415-416 (Ellington 26, top; para. starting "There is, however, one end..."); 417-419 (Ellington pp. 27f, para. starting "If it were only as easy..."). Critique of Pure Reason, selections (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office; folder labelled "First Critique -- Canon of Pure Reason"). [A795/B823-A819/B847, i.e., through the end of the second section; A828/B856-A831/B859, starting at the bottom of the page, with "It is entirely otherwise...".] Optional: Stephen Engstrom, "Happiness and the Highest Good in Aristotle and Kant" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

  11. Nov. 1: Imperfect Duties and Virtues. Kant, Gr., 421 (starting with "We shall now enumerate some duties..") to 424 ("...upon the one principle"); Metaphysical Principles of Virtue (Tugendlehre), Preface and Introduction (to the Tugendlehre, not the Metaphysics of Morals; Ellington pp. 31-73); Religion within the Bounds of Reason Alone, Part I (Ak. 19-53). Optional: O'Neill, "The Great Maxims of Justice and Charity".

  12. Nov. 8: Off Hiking in the Deliberative Field. Tugendlehre, 1st part. Herman, "Mutual Aid and Respect for Persons". Herman, "The Practice of Moral Judgment". Optional: Religion within the Bounds of Reason Alone, Part II (Ak. 58-89), Herman, "Making Room for Character" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).
  13. Nov. 15: Do Kantians Have Friends? Tugendlehre, Part 2, secs. 46-47 ("Concerning the Most Intimate Union of Love with Respect in Friendship", Ak. 469-473). Bernard Williams, "Persons, Character, and Morality". Herman, "Integrity and Impartiality." Optional: Herman, "Agency, Attachment, and Difference."
  14. Nov. 22: NO CLASS -- THANKSGIVING BREAK.
  15. Nov. 29: Korsgaard, "Self-Constitution in the Ethics of Plato and Kant" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office). Korsgaard, The Sources of Normativity, chs. 1-2.
  16. Dec. 6: Korsgaard, Sources, chs. 3-4. Tamar Schapiro, "Three Conceptions of Action in Moral Theory" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office). Optional: Barbara Herman, "Bootstrapping" (on reserve in the Philosophy Department Office).

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