Seminar in Ethical Theory: Kantian Ethics
Autumn 1996

Brief Description:

This seminar will explore the ethical theory of Immanuel Kant. We will begin with Kant's own important writings on ethics and ethical theory, starting with his Grundlegung (translated as "Grounding of the Metaphysics of Morals") and moving on to Part II of his Metaphysics of Morals, known as the Tugendlehre or Metaphysical Principles of Virtue. From there we will explore the work of recent commentators on Kant's ethics and at some contemporary ethical theory being done in the spirit of Kant. The commentators we will focus on are Barbara Herman and Thomas Hill Jr.

• Immanuel Kant, Ethical Philosophy, 2nd ed., Hackett, 1995. [This contains the Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals and the Metaphysical Principles of Virtue.]
• Herman, Barbara, The Practice of Moral Judgment, Harvard, 1993
• Hill, Thomas, Jr., Dignity and Practical Reason in Kant's Moral Theory, Cornell, 1992

Other information:

• Requirements
• Presentations & Term Papers
• Topics for Brief Papers
• Rough Order of Readings
• Recommended Readings (a growing list)
• Policies
• Other Kant Links