Introductory description

PH149 - Key Debates in Moral and Political Philosophy

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

1. Moral Philosophy (weeks 1 – 5)
   This part of the module will be based on Mill’s Utilitarianism and explore questions such as the following, for example:
   What is the highest good?
   What is the right thing to do?
   The demandingness of morality
   Moral integrity
   Disagreeing about moral value
2. Political Philosophy (weeks 7 – 10)
   This part of the module will be based on Hobbes’ Leviathan and explore questions such as the following, for example:
   What would the world be like without states?
   When is political authority legitimate?
   Should we always obey political authorities?
   Are states inherently unjust?

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• At the end of the module, you should have a good understanding of key debates in moral and political philosophy.
• At the end of the module, you should be able to use some of the main concepts that moral and political philosophers have used to analyse how we should live and how we should live together.

Indicative reading list

Classic texts:

• Mill, John Stuart. Utilitarianism. Ed. Roger Crisp
• Hobbes, Thomas. 2008. Leviathan. Oxford University Press. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by J. C. A. Gaskin.
  Contemporary literature for part 1:
• Chappell, Timothy / Sophie Grace (2009). The Problem of Moral Demandingness: New Philosophical Essays. Palgrave
• Crisp, Roger (1997). Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Mill on Utilitarianism. Routledge.
• Donner, Wendy (2005). Mill’s Theory of Value. In: H.R. West (ed.) Blackwell Guide to Mill’s Utilitarianism, pp. 117 – 138. Blackwell.
• Foot, Philippa (1985). Utilitarianism and the Virtues. Mind 94, pp. 196-209.
• Koltonski, Daniel (2016). “A Good Friend Will Help You Move a Body: Friendship and the Problem of Moral Disagreement.” The Philosophical Review 125 (4): 473-507.
• Mackie, J.L. (1977). Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. Penguin.
• Rawls, John (1999). “Classical Utilitarianism.” In: A Theory of Justice, section 5. Harvard University Press.
• Williams, Bernard (1993). Utilitarianism. In: Morality, ch. 9
  Contemporary literature for part 2:
• Brownlee, Kimberley (2013). Civil Disobedience. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Hampton, Jean (1986). Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition. Cambridge University Press.
• Mills, Charles (1997). The Racial Contract. Cornell University Press.
• Nozick, Robert (1974). Moral Constraints and the State. In: Anarchy, State, and Utopia. Blackwell, ch. 3
• Pateman, Carol (1988). The Sexual Contract. Polity Press.
• Peter, Fabienne (2017). “Political Legitimacy.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• Ryan, Alan (1996). Hobbes’s Political Philosophy. In: T. Sorrell (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes. Cambridge University Press.
• Wolff, Jonathan. (2006). The State of Nature. In: An Introduction to Political Philosophy. Oxford University Press.

Subject specific skills

TBC

Transferable skills

TBC