Brief Description:

This course will consist of a careful look at theories of ethics advanced by philosophers in the last hundred years. We'll look at the foundations of ethical or moral judgments. We will explore utilitarianism, moral skepticism, emotivism, contractualism, relativism, and various versions of deontology. Philosophers we'll study will include Ross, Ayer, Hare, Foot, Mackie, Smart, Williams, Harman, Singer, Gewirth, Nagel, Gauthier, Smith, Dancy and others. A background of at least one previous course in philosophy is required. Apart from that this course is open to all students interested in the foundations of moral right and wrong.

A background of at least one previous course in philosophy is required. Apart from that this course is open to all students interested in the foundations of moral right and wrong.

Text:

Russ Shafer-Landau, editor, Ethical Theory: An Anthology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2007) ISBN: 978-1405133203

=Other information:

• Course Requirements
• Important Dates
• Reading Schedule
• Policies
• How To Do Well in Philosophy Class
• Term Paper
• "The Realm of the Moral" [username: "intro" password "socrates"]
• First Examination
• First paper assignment
• Second Examination
• Third Examination
• Anonymous Questions / Feedback
• Advice on writing a philosophy paper (external link)
• Total recall (new trailer) (external link)
• "Identifying and Formulating Arguments"
• Arkansas Epistemology Workshop, 2011
• Prisoners dilemma
• Scanlon's sentence