PHIL 352 Ethics

A study of the basic problems and chief types of ethical theory and of the rational principles sustaining moral discourse.

Students will be equipped with conceptual tools useful for clarifying ethical subjects. These tools will include: a) a basic understanding of deontology and its concerns (e.g. Kant) b) a basic understanding of consequentialism and its concerns (e.g. Mozi) c) a basic understanding of virtue ethics and its concerns (e.g. Aristotle) d) understanding the problematic nature of typical moral pluralism (relativism) e) train to use the normative/descriptive distinction f) understand the problematic nature of egoism (normative and descriptive) and identify alternatives g) train to use the disjunction sex or gender productively h) understanding the appeal and the consequences of moral nihilism j) understand the implication of the Euthypho dilemma for God’s, and hence religion’s, potential relationship to objective, pluralist, and nihilist ethics.
Graduates will complete no less than three 20+ question substantially objective exams assessing their ability to wield these tools.
Graduates will pass (60%+) one Key Assessment on: Nicomachean Ethics (Aristotle), Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals (Kant), or the Mozi: Ten Doctrines (various authors). A Key Assessment is a 20+ question substantially objective examination.