Introductory description

PH211-15 Ethics

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.

The module covers core issues in normative ethics and metaethics. It will put the emphasis on
texts by contemporary moral philosophers, but also include some classic texts, e.g. by Aristotle,
Hume, or Kant. Examples of issues include consequentialism/non-consequentialism, virtues,
moral reasoning, expressivism, realism, constructivism, moral psychology, etc.

Learning outcomes

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

• Subject knowledge and understanding: students should be able to understand and differentiate views on central issues in normative ethics and metaethics, and offer relevant support for and critical responses to those views.
• Key skills: students should be able to communicate clearly and substantively in speech and in writing on the questions addressed in the module.
• Cognitive skills: students should be able to isolate the important claims within readings, understand the structure of arguments, test views for strengths and weaknesses, make pertinent use of examples, and compare the substance of views consistently.
• Subject-specific skills: students should be able to pursue and organize philosophical research using a range of sources (print and electronic media), documenting research carefully, and showing the ability to engage independently in philosophical debate.

Indicative reading list

There is no main text for Ethics. Instead, the module will be based on a list of selected readings.

Good introductions:
Copp, David (ed.) 2006. The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. Oxford: OUP.
Darwall, Stephen. 1998. Philosophical Ethics. Boulder: Westview.
Miller, Alexander. 2003. An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics. Cambridge: Polity.
Rawls, John. 2000. Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy. Ed. Barbara Herman. Cambridge
(MA) and London: Harvard University Press.
Singer, Peter (ed.) 1991. A Companion to Ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://plato.stanford.edu/contents.html (various entries)

Anthologies:
Fisher, Andrew and Kirchin, Simon (eds.) Arguing About Metaethics. Routledge. 2006.
Shafer-Landau, Russell and Terence Cuneo (eds.) 2006. Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Shafer-Landau, Russell (ed.) 2007. Ethical Theory: An Anthology. Oxford: Blackwell.

View reading list on Talis Aspire

Subject specific skills

TBC

Transferable skills

TBC