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MORAL PHILOSOPHY
FALL 2020
SESSIONS FOR THE MODULE
Lectures are pre-recorded
and released weekly; links
available here and on Blackboard
Live sessions take place online
fortnightly, starting on Tuesday
October 6th at noon
Seminars take place weekly on
campus (barring a full lockdown)
in the following locations:
Group S/01: 4pm Fridays in 65/2117
Group S/02: Noon on Thursdays in 65/1097
Group S/03: 2pm on Fridays in 65/2117
Group S/04: 1pm on Wednesdays in 65/1173
OVERVIEW
Moral philosophy studies the principles that lie behind common-sense moral judgments
like ‘human trafficking is wrong’ and ‘it is right to help people in need’. In its most ambitious form,
it seeks a more fundamental and unified justification of these common-sense principles and judgments.
This module examines moral philosophy in two stages. In the first stage, we will consider the negative
side of morality—i.e., the part that prohibits or discourages certain acts and ways of relating to others.
We will begin by considering prohibitions on killing and lesser forms of harming. As we will see,
it turns out to be much more difficult to properly state and justify these prohibitions than one might
have expected. We will hence need to think about whether constraints against harming need to be
derived from some more fundamental principle that would simultaneously rule out other
kinds of wrong acts. In this connection, we will be looking at how to best understand some other
serious wrongs—exploitation and slavery. In seeking a more fundamental and systematic
explanation of these wrongs, we will mainly study Kantian ethics—and especially its central
principle that persons are to be valued as ends in themselves, and never
merely as means—but utilitarianism will appear as a foil throughout.
In the second half of the module, we turn to consider the positive side of morality—i.e., the part that
requires or encourages certain acts and ways of relating to others. We will transition into this part
of the module by thinking about whether Kantian ethics generates any significant positive requirements,
such as requirements to feed starving people. Here we will also mull the relationship between Kantian
and rule-utilitarian thinking. Having examined the limits of Kantian positivity, we will look at a prominent
alternative that has emerged in recent years: care ethics. After considering the virtues of this approach,
we will investigate whether it might prove oppressive, as some critics have argued. We will then conclude
by reflecting on whether these concerns and others might be addressed by (a) replacing the Enlightenment
notion of personhood that figures in Kant’s central principle with a wider notion that recognizes
the interdependence of persons, or (b) by holding that bearers of dignity include non-persons.
Here we will engage with themes from communitarian and environmental ethics.
SCHEDULE OF READINGS FOR LECTURES AND SEMINARS
It will be really helpful for you to do the required readings for lectures and seminars.
Below I will give you access to all required readings, and list some recommended readings.
Links to each of the lecture videos for the week will be posted, at latest, by Monday 9am.
(This section of the page is updated on a weekly basis, and sometimes more often.)
Part 1. Negative Morality
Week 2: The Wrongness of Killing and the Badness of Death
Lecture videos, handouts, notes, slides
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Notes
Prezi Slides
Live Session Handout
Required reading for lecture
McMahan, J. ‘Killing and Equality’ LINK
Strongly recommended
Nagel, T. ‘Death.’ LINK
Seminar excerpts
They are from the required readings: LINK
Further reading
Hanser, M. ‘The Wrongness of Killing and the Badness of Death’
Jaworska, A. and Tannenbaum, J. ‘The Grounds of Moral Status’
Kittay, E. F. ‘At the Margins of Moral Personhood’
McMahan, J. ‘Death and the Value of Life’
McMahan, J. The Ethics of Killing, Chapter 3.
Weeks 3 and 4: Killing, the Trolley Problem, and Pandemics
Lectures, notes, slides for week 3
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Prezi Slides
Notes
Lectures, notes, and slides for week 4
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Prezi Slides
Notes
Live Session Handout
Required reading for lecture for Week 3
Thomson, J. ‘The Trolley Problem’ LINK
Thomson, J. ‘Turning the Trolley’ LINK
Required reading for lecture for Week 4
Malm, H. (et al.) 'Ethics, Pandemics, and the Duty to Treat.' LINK
Seminar excerpts
For week 3, the extract is from the required reading: LINK for Week 3
For week 4, the extract is from Kagan's The Limits of Morality: LINK for Week 4
Strongly recommended for Week 4
Selgelid, M. J. 'Pandethics.' LINK
McMahan, J. 'Killing, Letting Die, and Withdrawing Aid.' LINK
Kagan, S. The Limits of Morality, pp.101-106. LINK
Further reading
Foot, P. ‘The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect’
McMahan, J. ‘Intention, Permissibility, Terrorism, and Just War’
Kagan, S. The Limits of Morality
Kamm, F. ‘The Doctrine of Triple Effect and Why a Rational
Agent Need Not Intend the Means to His End’
Quinn, W. ‘Actions, Intentions, and Consequences: The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing’
Woollard, F. ‘If This Is My Body… A Defense of the Doctrine of Doing and Allowing’
Woollard, F. ‘The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing, Part 2’
Week 5: Further Case Studies in Negative Morality - Exploitation
Lectures, notes, and slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2.1
Lecture Video 2.2
Lecture Video 3
Notes
Slides
Seminar extract
Required reading for lecture
Sample, R. Exploitation, Chapter 3 LINK
Required reading for seminar
Excerpt taken from:
Johnson King, Z. 'Reluctant Heroes' LINK
Seminar extract: LINK
Strongly recommended reading
Sample, R. Exploitation, Chapters 1-2 LINK-1, LINK-2
Zwolinski, M. and Wertheimer, A. ‘Exploitation’ LINK
Further reading
Arneson, R. ‘What’s Wrong with Exploitation?’
Goodin, R. 'Exploiting a Situation and Exploiting a Person'
Snyder, J. ‘Exploitation and Sweatshop Labor’
Valdman, M. ‘A Theory of Wrongful Exploitation’
Wood, A. ‘Exploitation’
Wertheimer, A. Exploitation.
University of Massachusetts Center
for Employment Equity survey article on conditions for
key workers in Massachusetts: LINK
Week 6: Further Case Studies in Negative Morality - Slavery and Human Trafficking
Lectures, notes, slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Lecture Video 4
Notes
Slides
Seminar Extract
Live Session Handout
Required reading
Lawson, B. ‘Oppression and Slavery’ LINK
Khan, A. ‘Modern Slavery in the UK’ in the Guardian LINK
Recommended Reading
McGary, H. and Lawson, B. Introduction to Between Slavery and Freedom LINK
Further reading
Cudd, A. Analyzing Oppression
Davis, A. ‘Unfinished Lecture on Liberation’
Douglass, F. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. ARCHIVE.ORG
Jacobs, H. A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. ARCHIVE.ORG
McGary, H. and Lawson, B. Between Slavery and Freedom
Rosen, F. ‘Jeremy Bentham on Slavery and the Slave Trade’
Sundstrom, R. ‘Frederick Douglass’ SEP
Week 7: Consultation Week, No Sessions
Week 8: The Kantian Unification of Negative Morality, Part 1
Lectures, notes, slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3.1
Lecture Video 3.2
Notes
Slides
Required reading
Kant, I. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, first selection. LINK
Further reading
Herman, B. 'Leaving Deontology Behind' LINK
Wood, A. 'The Supreme Principle of Morality' LINK
Week 9: The Kantian Unification of Negative Morality, Part 2
Required reading
Kant, I. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, p.47 in Section Section to p.78 in Third Section. LINK
(Access via UoS Library Online Collection)
Strongly recommended reading
Kant, I. Perpetual Peace. LINK
Further reading
Kamm, F. ‘Non-Consequentialism'
Parfit, D. ‘Possible Consent’
Wood, A. ‘Marx and Kant on Exploitation.’
Part 2. Positive Morality
Week 10: The Positive Requirements of Dignity
Required reading
Kant, I. Selections from The Metaphysics of Morals LINK-1, LINK-2
Strongly recommended reading
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Articles 22-28
FDR’s ‘Four Freedoms’ speech
Interview with S. Matthew Liao about whether there is a right to be loved LINK
Further reading
Fabre, C. Chapters 1 and 2 of Social Rights under the Constitution.
Guyer, P. Selection from commentary on Groundwork.
Herman, B. ‘Mutual Aid and Respect for Persons’
Kahn, S. ‘Can Positive Duties be Derived from Kant’s Formula of Universal Law?’
Korsgaard, C. ‘Kant’s Analysis of Obligation’
Liao, S. Matthew. The Right to be Loved.
Wood, A. Selection from Kant’s Ethical Thought.
Week 11: Care Ethics
Required reading
Noddings, N. ‘Caring’ LINK
Benhabib, S. ‘The Generalized and the Concrete Other’ LINK
Strongly recommended
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on care ethics. LINK
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on feminist ethics. LINK
Further reading
Baier, A. ‘The Need for More than Justice.’
Darwall, S. Selections from Welfare and Rational Care.
Gilligan, C. ‘Moral Orientation and Moral Development’
Held, V. Selections from The Ethics of Care.
Held, V. ‘Justice and Utility: Who Cares?’
Week 12: Persons, Animals, and Environments: Beyond Anthropocentric Notions of Dignity?
Required reading
Routley, R. ‘Is There Need for a New, an Environmental, Ethic?’ LINK
Further reading/viewing
Brennan, A. ‘The Moral Standing of Natural Objects’
O’Neill, J. ‘The Varieties of Intrinsic Value’
Sylvan, R. ‘Moral Matters Matter—Environmentally?’
Sylvan, R. ‘Against Deep Ecology’
Section 3.1 of Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Environmental Ethics LINK
YouTube documentary about founder of deep ecology, Arne Næss LINK
FALL 2020
SESSIONS FOR THE MODULE
Lectures are pre-recorded
and released weekly; links
available here and on Blackboard
Live sessions take place online
fortnightly, starting on Tuesday
October 6th at noon
Seminars take place weekly on
campus (barring a full lockdown)
in the following locations:
Group S/01: 4pm Fridays in 65/2117
Group S/02: Noon on Thursdays in 65/1097
Group S/03: 2pm on Fridays in 65/2117
Group S/04: 1pm on Wednesdays in 65/1173
OVERVIEW
Moral philosophy studies the principles that lie behind common-sense moral judgments
like ‘human trafficking is wrong’ and ‘it is right to help people in need’. In its most ambitious form,
it seeks a more fundamental and unified justification of these common-sense principles and judgments.
This module examines moral philosophy in two stages. In the first stage, we will consider the negative
side of morality—i.e., the part that prohibits or discourages certain acts and ways of relating to others.
We will begin by considering prohibitions on killing and lesser forms of harming. As we will see,
it turns out to be much more difficult to properly state and justify these prohibitions than one might
have expected. We will hence need to think about whether constraints against harming need to be
derived from some more fundamental principle that would simultaneously rule out other
kinds of wrong acts. In this connection, we will be looking at how to best understand some other
serious wrongs—exploitation and slavery. In seeking a more fundamental and systematic
explanation of these wrongs, we will mainly study Kantian ethics—and especially its central
principle that persons are to be valued as ends in themselves, and never
merely as means—but utilitarianism will appear as a foil throughout.
In the second half of the module, we turn to consider the positive side of morality—i.e., the part that
requires or encourages certain acts and ways of relating to others. We will transition into this part
of the module by thinking about whether Kantian ethics generates any significant positive requirements,
such as requirements to feed starving people. Here we will also mull the relationship between Kantian
and rule-utilitarian thinking. Having examined the limits of Kantian positivity, we will look at a prominent
alternative that has emerged in recent years: care ethics. After considering the virtues of this approach,
we will investigate whether it might prove oppressive, as some critics have argued. We will then conclude
by reflecting on whether these concerns and others might be addressed by (a) replacing the Enlightenment
notion of personhood that figures in Kant’s central principle with a wider notion that recognizes
the interdependence of persons, or (b) by holding that bearers of dignity include non-persons.
Here we will engage with themes from communitarian and environmental ethics.
SCHEDULE OF READINGS FOR LECTURES AND SEMINARS
It will be really helpful for you to do the required readings for lectures and seminars.
Below I will give you access to all required readings, and list some recommended readings.
Links to each of the lecture videos for the week will be posted, at latest, by Monday 9am.
(This section of the page is updated on a weekly basis, and sometimes more often.)
Part 1. Negative Morality
Week 2: The Wrongness of Killing and the Badness of Death
Lecture videos, handouts, notes, slides
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Notes
Prezi Slides
Live Session Handout
Required reading for lecture
McMahan, J. ‘Killing and Equality’ LINK
Strongly recommended
Nagel, T. ‘Death.’ LINK
Seminar excerpts
They are from the required readings: LINK
Further reading
Hanser, M. ‘The Wrongness of Killing and the Badness of Death’
Jaworska, A. and Tannenbaum, J. ‘The Grounds of Moral Status’
Kittay, E. F. ‘At the Margins of Moral Personhood’
McMahan, J. ‘Death and the Value of Life’
McMahan, J. The Ethics of Killing, Chapter 3.
Weeks 3 and 4: Killing, the Trolley Problem, and Pandemics
Lectures, notes, slides for week 3
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Prezi Slides
Notes
Lectures, notes, and slides for week 4
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Prezi Slides
Notes
Live Session Handout
Required reading for lecture for Week 3
Thomson, J. ‘The Trolley Problem’ LINK
Thomson, J. ‘Turning the Trolley’ LINK
Required reading for lecture for Week 4
Malm, H. (et al.) 'Ethics, Pandemics, and the Duty to Treat.' LINK
Seminar excerpts
For week 3, the extract is from the required reading: LINK for Week 3
For week 4, the extract is from Kagan's The Limits of Morality: LINK for Week 4
Strongly recommended for Week 4
Selgelid, M. J. 'Pandethics.' LINK
McMahan, J. 'Killing, Letting Die, and Withdrawing Aid.' LINK
Kagan, S. The Limits of Morality, pp.101-106. LINK
Further reading
Foot, P. ‘The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect’
McMahan, J. ‘Intention, Permissibility, Terrorism, and Just War’
Kagan, S. The Limits of Morality
Kamm, F. ‘The Doctrine of Triple Effect and Why a Rational
Agent Need Not Intend the Means to His End’
Quinn, W. ‘Actions, Intentions, and Consequences: The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing’
Woollard, F. ‘If This Is My Body… A Defense of the Doctrine of Doing and Allowing’
Woollard, F. ‘The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing, Part 2’
Week 5: Further Case Studies in Negative Morality - Exploitation
Lectures, notes, and slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2.1
Lecture Video 2.2
Lecture Video 3
Notes
Slides
Seminar extract
Required reading for lecture
Sample, R. Exploitation, Chapter 3 LINK
Required reading for seminar
Excerpt taken from:
Johnson King, Z. 'Reluctant Heroes' LINK
Seminar extract: LINK
Strongly recommended reading
Sample, R. Exploitation, Chapters 1-2 LINK-1, LINK-2
Zwolinski, M. and Wertheimer, A. ‘Exploitation’ LINK
Further reading
Arneson, R. ‘What’s Wrong with Exploitation?’
Goodin, R. 'Exploiting a Situation and Exploiting a Person'
Snyder, J. ‘Exploitation and Sweatshop Labor’
Valdman, M. ‘A Theory of Wrongful Exploitation’
Wood, A. ‘Exploitation’
Wertheimer, A. Exploitation.
University of Massachusetts Center
for Employment Equity survey article on conditions for
key workers in Massachusetts: LINK
Week 6: Further Case Studies in Negative Morality - Slavery and Human Trafficking
Lectures, notes, slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3
Lecture Video 4
Notes
Slides
Seminar Extract
Live Session Handout
Required reading
Lawson, B. ‘Oppression and Slavery’ LINK
Khan, A. ‘Modern Slavery in the UK’ in the Guardian LINK
Recommended Reading
McGary, H. and Lawson, B. Introduction to Between Slavery and Freedom LINK
Further reading
Cudd, A. Analyzing Oppression
Davis, A. ‘Unfinished Lecture on Liberation’
Douglass, F. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass. ARCHIVE.ORG
Jacobs, H. A. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. ARCHIVE.ORG
McGary, H. and Lawson, B. Between Slavery and Freedom
Rosen, F. ‘Jeremy Bentham on Slavery and the Slave Trade’
Sundstrom, R. ‘Frederick Douglass’ SEP
Week 7: Consultation Week, No Sessions
Week 8: The Kantian Unification of Negative Morality, Part 1
Lectures, notes, slides
Lecture Video 1
Lecture Video 2
Lecture Video 3.1
Lecture Video 3.2
Notes
Slides
Required reading
Kant, I. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, first selection. LINK
Further reading
Herman, B. 'Leaving Deontology Behind' LINK
Wood, A. 'The Supreme Principle of Morality' LINK
Week 9: The Kantian Unification of Negative Morality, Part 2
Required reading
Kant, I. Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, p.47 in Section Section to p.78 in Third Section. LINK
(Access via UoS Library Online Collection)
Strongly recommended reading
Kant, I. Perpetual Peace. LINK
Further reading
Kamm, F. ‘Non-Consequentialism'
Parfit, D. ‘Possible Consent’
Wood, A. ‘Marx and Kant on Exploitation.’
Part 2. Positive Morality
Week 10: The Positive Requirements of Dignity
Required reading
Kant, I. Selections from The Metaphysics of Morals LINK-1, LINK-2
Strongly recommended reading
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Articles 22-28
FDR’s ‘Four Freedoms’ speech
Interview with S. Matthew Liao about whether there is a right to be loved LINK
Further reading
Fabre, C. Chapters 1 and 2 of Social Rights under the Constitution.
Guyer, P. Selection from commentary on Groundwork.
Herman, B. ‘Mutual Aid and Respect for Persons’
Kahn, S. ‘Can Positive Duties be Derived from Kant’s Formula of Universal Law?’
Korsgaard, C. ‘Kant’s Analysis of Obligation’
Liao, S. Matthew. The Right to be Loved.
Wood, A. Selection from Kant’s Ethical Thought.
Week 11: Care Ethics
Required reading
Noddings, N. ‘Caring’ LINK
Benhabib, S. ‘The Generalized and the Concrete Other’ LINK
Strongly recommended
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on care ethics. LINK
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on feminist ethics. LINK
Further reading
Baier, A. ‘The Need for More than Justice.’
Darwall, S. Selections from Welfare and Rational Care.
Gilligan, C. ‘Moral Orientation and Moral Development’
Held, V. Selections from The Ethics of Care.
Held, V. ‘Justice and Utility: Who Cares?’
Week 12: Persons, Animals, and Environments: Beyond Anthropocentric Notions of Dignity?
Required reading
Routley, R. ‘Is There Need for a New, an Environmental, Ethic?’ LINK
Further reading/viewing
Brennan, A. ‘The Moral Standing of Natural Objects’
O’Neill, J. ‘The Varieties of Intrinsic Value’
Sylvan, R. ‘Moral Matters Matter—Environmentally?’
Sylvan, R. ‘Against Deep Ecology’
Section 3.1 of Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on Environmental Ethics LINK
YouTube documentary about founder of deep ecology, Arne Næss LINK
