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PHIL212

An Introduction to Ethical Theory
PHIL212 SP

SectionClass Size*AvailableTimesPOIPrereq
1 35 23 Times: .T.T... 2:40PM-4:00PM;NoNo
2 15 9 Times: .T.T... 2:40PM-4:00PM;NoNo

*The number of spaces listed as available is based on class seats open for the Blue Add phase of registration. Some seats may be taken in previous phases while others may be held out for subsequent phases of registration. (Last Updated on Tue Aug 10 05:00:21 EDT 1999 )

This course will engage in several approaches to thinking philosophically about ethical issues. Firstly, we will be studying two of the major systematic traditions in modern ethical theorizing as embodied in the thoughts of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. These theories of right and wrong action have their conceptual basis in premises about what is ethically significant in human life. Such premises, and the theories that draw on them, have far-ranging implications for ethical thinking about current social issues. A second aspect of this course will be to assess the views of Mill and Kant in light of contemporary discussions of issues such as international aid, animal rights, and racial and sexual discrimination. Finally, we will turn to consider aspects of ethical thinking that tend to be occluded by a preoccupation with theories of right action, namely, questions of what constitutes the richer ethical texture of various sorts of personal relations, the diversity of goods, and what kinds of shape good human lives might take.

MAJOR READINGS

Henrik Ibsen, A DOLL'S HOUSE AND OTHER PLAYS
(Penguin)
John Stuart Mill, UTILITARIANISM (Hackett)
Immanuel Kant, GROUNDWORK OF THE METAPHYSICS OF MORALS,
trans. H.J. Paton (Harper)
Lawrence Blum, MORAL PERCEPTION AND PARTICULARITY
(Cambridge)

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

To be announced.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

Unless preregistered students attend the first class meeting or communicate directly with the instructor prior to the first class, they will be dropped from the class list. NOTE: Students must still submit a completed DROP/ADD form to the Registrar's Office.

COURSE FORMAT: Discussion Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: HA PHIL

Prerequisites: None

Section 01
Brender, N
Times: .T.T... 2:40PM- 4:00PM;
Grading Mode: A/F
Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 0, Jr: 0, So: 1, Fr: 1
No Major Preference Given
Section 02
Brender, N
Times: .T.T... 2:40PM- 4:00PM;
Grading Mode: A/F
Registration Preference (1 high to 6 low, 0=Excluded) Sr: 1, Jr: 1, So: 0, Fr: 0
Major Preference Given

Last Updated on MAR-22-1999




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