Schedule of Readings for Contemporary Ethical Theory

• Utilitarianism 1/16 - 2/1
  • Nielsen, "Against Moral Conservatism" (pp.192-199)
  • Williams, "Against Utilitarianism" (pp.200-209)
  • Railton, "Alienation, Consequentialism, and the Demands of Morality" (pp.209-226)
  • Nozick, "Moral Side Constraints" (pp.227-230)
  • Foot, "Utilitarianism and the Virtues" (pp.231-240)
  • Scheffler, "Agent-Centered Restrictions, Rationality and the Virtues" (pp.240-248)
• Early Twentieth Century Moral Theory 2/6 - 2/20
  • Moore, "Non-Naturalism and the Indefinability of the Good" (pp.406-411)
  • Ross, "What Makes Right Acts Right?" (pp.280-288)
  • Ayer, "Emotivism" (pp.412-417)
  • Stevenson, "The Emotive Meaning of Ethical Terms" (pp.418-427)
  • Hare, "Prescriptivism: The Structure of Ethics and Morals" (pp.428-435)
  • Foot, "Moral Beliefs" (pp.436-446)
• Skepticism and Moral Realism 2/27 - 3/12
  • Mackie, "The Subjectivity of Values" (pp.458-468)
  • Brink, "Moral Realism and the Sceptical Arguments from Disagreement and Queerness" (pp.469-477)
  • Harman, "Moral Nihilism" (pp.479-486)
  • Sturgeon, "Moral Explanations" (pp.487-498)
• Foundations of Obligations 3/14 - 4/16
  • Mavrodes, "Religion and the Queerness of Morality" (pp.532-540)
  • Foot, "Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives" (pp.301-307)
  • Kalin, "In Defense of Egoism" (pp.78-90)
  • Harman, "Moral Relativism Defended" (pp.38-47)
  • Gauthier, "Morality and Advantage" (pp.546-553)
  • Nagel, "Value: The View from Nowhere" (pp.157-166)
  • Gewirth, "Epistemology of Human Rights" (pp.624-635)
• Virtue and Responsibility 4/18 - 5/2
  • Mayo, "Virtue and the Moral Life" (pp.331-333)
  • Frankena, "A Critique of Virtue-Based Ethical Systems" (pp.334-339)
  • Schaller, "Are Virtues No More Than Dispositions to Obey Moral Rules?" (pp.340-347)
  • Louden, "Some Vices of Virtue Ethics" (pp.347-356)
  • MacIntyre, "The Nature of the Virtues" (pp.357-370)
  • Nagel, "Moral Luck" (pp.307-314)