Welcome to PHIL 381, Ethical Theory

Fall 2008, with Gary Varner

MWF 12:40-1:30 in Bolton Hall room 018

Note: You will need an ID and a password to retrieve most of the materials linked below. That's because some of these are copyrighted materials. As a registered student in the class, the fair use doctrine entitles you to download a copy for your own use in the course, but it may be illegal for you to distribute the files or in any other way reproduce them. If you're a student in the class, I will give you an ID and a password to use.

Readings, handouts, and web sites used

  1. Welcome, overview of the course
    1. Syllabus.
    2. Constructing an ethical theory: three cases for discussion.
    3. Some Basic Terminology.
    4. Types of utilitarianism.
    5. Can rule utilitarianism remain distinct from act utilitarianism?

  2. Mill's Utilitarianism
    1. Mill's Utilitarianism.
    2. Questions to answer on chapters 1&2.
    3. Questions to answer on chapters 3&4.
    4. Questions to answer on chapter 5.
    5. Handout on Mill's Competent Judge Test.
    6. Quiz #1 (multiple choice).
    7. Quiz #2 (provide a "logical outline" of the second half of chapter two).
    8. A "logical outline" of the second half of chapter two.
    9. Bentham on poetry and push-pin.
    10. Mill's two "howlers" in ¶4.3.
    11. Bentham on psychological hedonism.
    12. Handout on chapter five.
    13. Quiz #3 (multiple choice).

    14. Topics for first essay assignment.

  3. Rights theories
    1. Hohfeld's "Rights and Jural Relations".
    2. Questions to answer on Hohfeld's essay.
    3. Feinberg's "The Nature and Value of Rights."
    4. Questions to answer on Feinberg's essay.
    5. Handout on Feinberg.

  4. Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
    1. Questions to answer on chapter 1.
    2. Questions to answer on chapter 2.
    3. Questions to answer on chapter 3.

    4. Kant's taxonomy of science/philosophy.
    5. Kant's notion of a maxim.
    6. Reconstructing Kant's transcendental argument in chapter 1.
    7. Reconstructing the analysis of imperatives in chapter two.
    8. Some Kantian maxims for discussion.
    9. one journal page per PDF page, two journal pages per PDF page
    10. Handout on Herman's essay

  5. Virtue theory
    1. Hursthouse's "Virtue Theory and Abortion".
    2. Questions to answer on Hursthouse's essay.
    3. Handout on first half of Hursthouse essay.
    4. Handout on second half of Hursthouse essay.

    5. Topics for second essay assignment.

  6. Hare's two-level or "Kantian" utilitarianism — Readings from Gary Varner, Persons, Near-Persons and the Merely Sentient: An Empirically Grounded Approach to Animal Welfare and Animal Rights (©2008):

    1. Chapter one: "Introduction [to Hare's Two-level Utilitarianism]."
    2. Overhead/handout on chapter one.
    3. Chapter two: "Hare on the Logic of Moral Discourse."
    4. Chapter three: "The Nature of Intuitive Level Rules."
    5. Chapter four: "Assessing Hare's Theory."

Other resources

  1. You should be familiar with the provisions of the TAMU Student Rules, especially those dealing with the following: If you need guidance on what counts as plagiarism, first work through this on-line exercise: http://philosophy.tamu.edu/~gary/intro/plagiarism.index.html, then ask if you have any questions.

  2. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a top-notch reference work on philosophy.

  3. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy is also pretty good.

  4. You might be interested in attending some of the Philosophy Department's public talks or colloquia.