24.230 | Fall 2015 | Undergraduate

Meta-ethics

Readings

SES # TOPICS READINGS
Moral Realism
1–2 Introduction

Smith, Michael. “What is The Moral Problem?” Chapter 1.1–1.3 in The Moral Problem. Wiley-Blackwell, 1994. ISBN: 9780631192466.

Plato. Euthyphro. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012. ISBN: 9781479283071.

3–7 Naturalism vs. Non-naturalism

Moore, G. E. “The Subject-Matter of Ethics.” Chapter 1 in Principia Ethica. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013. ISBN: 9781456569907.

Frankena, W. K. “The Naturalistic Fallacy.” Mind 48, no. 192 (1939): 464–77. (Oxford University Press)

Thomson, Judith Jarvis. “The Right and the Good.” The Journal of Philosophy 94, no. 6 (1997): 273–98.

Boyd, Richard. “How to be a Moral Realist.” Chapter 1.1–4.5 in Essays on Moral Realism. Cornell University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780801495410.

Horgan, Terence, and Mark Timmons. “Troubles for New Wave Moral Semantics: The ‘Open Question Argument’ Revived.” 

8–9 Moral Explanations

Harman, Gilbert. “Ethics and Observation.” In Essays on Moral Realism. Cornell University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780801495410. [Preview with Google Books]

Sturgeon, Nicholas. “Moral Explanations.” In Ethics: Essential Readings in Moral Theory. Routledge, 2012. ISBN: 9780415782319. [Preview with Google Books]

10–14 Disagreement and Oddness

Mackie, J. L. “The Subjectivity of Values.” In Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. Penguin, 1977.

Foot, Philippa. “Morality as a System of Hypothetical Imperatives.” In Ethical Theory: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN: 9780470671603. [Preview with Google Books]

Enoch, David. “Metaphysics.” In Taking Morality Seriously: A Defense of Robust Realism. Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780199683178.

McGrath, Sarah. “Moral Disagreement and Moral Expertise.” Oxford Studies in Metaethics 4 (2007): 87–108.

Moral Anti-Realism
15 Relativism

Williams, Bernard. “The Amoralist.” In Morality. Cambridge University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780521457293. [Preview with Google Books]

Joyce, Richard. “Moral Fictionalism.” Philosophy Now, February / March 2016.

16–18 Relativism (Cont.)

Harman, Gilbert. “Moral Relativism Defended.” The Philosophical Review 84, no. 1 (1975): 3–22. (Duke University Press.)

Boghossian, Paul. “Three kinds of Relativism.” In Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air. Baker Books, 1998. ISBN: 9780801058066. [Preview with Google Books]

———. “The Maze of Moral Relativism,” The New York Times, July 24, 2011.

Sarkissian, Hagop, et al. “Folk Moral Relativism.” In Experimental Philosophy: Volume 2. Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN: 9780199927401. [Preview with Google Books]

19–24 Non-cognitivism

Ayer, A. J. “Critique of Ethics and Theology.” In Essays on Moral Realism. Cornell University Press, 1988. ISBN: 9780801495410. [Preview with Google Books]

Gibbard, Allan. Wise Choices, Apt Feelings: A Theory of Normative Judgment. Harvard University Press, 1992. ISBN: 9780674953789. [Preview with Google Books]

Geach, P. T. “Assertion.” The Philosophical Review 74, no. 4 (1965): 449–65. (Duke University Press on behalf of Philosophical Review.)

Gibbard, Allan. “Planning and Ruling Out: The Frege-Geach Problem.” In Thinking How to Live. Harvard University Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780674027305. [Preview with Google Books]

Zangwell, Nick. “Moral Mind-Independence.” Australasian Journal of Philosophy 72, no. 2 (1994): 205–19.

Woods, Jack. “Expressivism and Moore’s Paradox.” Philosophers’ Imprint 14, no. 5 (2014).

Why Be Moral?
25–28 Reason and Morality

Brink, David O. “A Puzzle About the Rational Authority of Morality.” Philosophical Perspectives 6 (1992): 1–26.

Shafer-Landau, Russ. “Moral Rationalism.” In Ethical Theory: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN: 9780470671603. [Preview with Google Books]

Wolf, Susan. “Moral Saints.” In Ethical Theory: An Anthology. Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN: 9780470671603. [Preview with Google Books]

Course Info

Instructor
As Taught In
Fall 2015
Learning Resource Types
Written Assignments with Examples