倫理學

PHI 2000 Ethics

Course Outline :

This course provides an introduction to Western moral philosophy. We will study four important contributions: Aristotle’s virtue ethics, Kant’s deontology, J.S. Mill’s utilitarianism, and Michael Slote’s care ethics. The theme of the course is impartiality. Ethical theories typically contain a strong element of impartiality, which instructs us to give equal importance to all persons—at least within the context of our moral thinking. Impartiality is surely valuable, but does it capture the entire realm of moral value? Is there moral importance to the relationships we have with family and friends? Is there moral worth in the special concern we show to them? Can an ethical theory include partiality as a value without undermining the enterprise of moral philosophy? These questions and others will be discussed.

Texts:

– Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics , 2 nd edition, edited by Terence Irwin (Hackett, 1999).

– Kant. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals , edited by Mary Gregor ( Cambridge , 1998).

– Mill, J. S. Utilitarianism , 2 nd edition, edited by George Sher (Hackett, 2001).

– Slote, Michael. The Ethics of Care and Empathy (Routledge, 2008).