August 25: Brief Introduction to Moral Philosophy

September 8: The ÔIsÕ-ÔOughtÕ Problem

David Hume, Treatise of Human Understanding, Book III, Section 1 (E) (PR)

G.E. Moore, Principia Ethica, pp. 61-69 (PR)

John Searle, How to derive ÔoughtÕ from ÔisÕ and replies (PR)

September 15: The Challenge to Virtue Ethics

Aristotle: Nichomachean Ethics, Book I, 7-8, and Book II

Phillipa Foot, Virtues and Vices (PR)

John McDowell, Virtue and Reason, (PR)

John Doris, Chps. 1-2

September 22: The Challenge to Virtue Ethics (cont.)

Doris: Chps. 3-8

Movie Screening: Scenes from Obedience and the Zimbardo prison experiments

September 29: Moral Eliminativism

Marria Merritt, Virtue Ethics and Situationist Personality Psychology (PR)

Gopal Sreenivasan, Errors about Errors: Virtue Theory and Trait Attribution (PR) (E)

October 6: Moral Anti-Realism: Is Moral Talk Objectively False?

J.L. Mackie, Selection from Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong

Josh Greene, The Terrible, Horrible Truth About Morality Chps. 1-2, pp. i-142 (PR)

October 13: The Horrible Truth ContinuesÉ.

Josh Greene, The Terrible, Horrible Truth About Morality Chps. 3-4, pp. 143-269 (PR)

October 20: The Conclusion of the Horrible Truth

Josh Greene, The Terrible, Horrible Truth About Morality Chps. 5, pp. 270-330

(And catch-up)

October 27: Are Animals Moral Agents?

David DeGrazia, Self-awareness, language, moral agency, and autonomy, from Taking Animals Seriously: Mental Life and Moral Status (PR)(Library and Electronic Reserve)

S.F. Sapontzis, Being Rational and Acting Morallyfrom Morals, Reasons, and Animals (PR)(Library and Electronic Reserve)

Lori Gruen, The Morals of Animal Minds from The Cognitive Animal: Emprical and Theoretical Perspectives on Animal Cognition(PR)(Library and Electronic Reserve)

November 3: The Moral Conventional Distinction, Psychopaths, and

Moral Motivation

R.J.R. Blair, 1995  A Cognitive Developmental Approach to Morality: Investigating the Psychopath (Library Reserve - Paper and Electronic)

Shaun Nichols, How Psychopaths Threaten Moral Rationalism, or Is it Irrational to Be Amoral?(PR) (E)

Jesse Prinz, Imitation and Moral Development (PR) (E in .pdf here)

November 10: Prinz and Emotional Construction of Morals

Jesse Prinz, The Emotional Construction of Morals, Preamble, and Chps. 1-2

November 17: Prinz and Emotional Construction of Morals (cont.)

Jesse Prinz, The Emotional Construction of Morals, Chps. 3-4

November 24: Moral Responsibility and Self Knowledge

Susan Wolf, "Moral Responsibility and the Metaphysics of Sanity" (PR)
Wilson and Nisbett, "Telling More Than We Can Know" (PR)
Eddy Nahmias, "Free will, Knowledge, and the Threat of Social Psychology" (PR)

December 1: Catch up and Course Summary

Course Home