Syllabus
PHIL 230A (921) Introduction to Moral Theory
Summer 2013 MW 7pm-10pm BUCH D222
Instructor: Doran Smolkin, Ph. D.
Email: through the UBC Connect Website or doran.smolkin@ubc.ca or doran.smolkin@kwantlen.ca
Office Location: Buchanan E275 Office Hours: MW 12:10-1:00, 6:30-7:00 and by appt.
Required Text: Ethical Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed. Shafer-Landau, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Course Description: The purpose of Philosophy 230 is to introduce you to the study of philosophical ethics. More specifically, our primary focus will involve a critical examination of some leading normative ethical theories – theories which attempt to determine what makes an action morally right or wrong; policies and laws just or unjust; states of affairs good or bad; and lives go well or badly. To that end, we will begin our course with the basic question of who should count in a moral theory; we will then critically examine leading accounts of intrinsic value; lastly, and for most of the course, we will focus on the question of what makes right acts right and wrong acts wrong. Here we will critically examine important works in Utilitarian, Kantian, Intuitionist, Social Contract, Contractualist, and Virtue Ethics traditions.
Course Objectives: Aims of this course include:
➢ Facilitating an understanding of leading normative ethical theories;
➢ Developing students’ abilities to understand and analyze complex philosophical texts;
➢ Improving students’ abilities to write clearly and to present arguments in a fair and precise manner;
➢ Improving students’ abilities to develop thoughtful, clear, targeted, and thorough objections to others’ and to their own ideas and arguments;
➢ Encouraging students to think independently about leading ethical theories.
In sum, by the end of the term, successful students will have a good grasp of some leading ethical theories; a good understanding of the strengths and weakness of these
Summer 2013 MW 7pm-10pm BUCH D222
Instructor: Doran Smolkin, Ph. D.
Email: through the UBC Connect Website or doran.smolkin@ubc.ca or doran.smolkin@kwantlen.ca
Office Location: Buchanan E275 Office Hours: MW 12:10-1:00, 6:30-7:00 and by appt.
Required Text: Ethical Theory: An Anthology, 2nd ed. Shafer-Landau, Wiley-Blackwell, 2013.
Course Description: The purpose of Philosophy 230 is to introduce you to the study of philosophical ethics. More specifically, our primary focus will involve a critical examination of some leading normative ethical theories – theories which attempt to determine what makes an action morally right or wrong; policies and laws just or unjust; states of affairs good or bad; and lives go well or badly. To that end, we will begin our course with the basic question of who should count in a moral theory; we will then critically examine leading accounts of intrinsic value; lastly, and for most of the course, we will focus on the question of what makes right acts right and wrong acts wrong. Here we will critically examine important works in Utilitarian, Kantian, Intuitionist, Social Contract, Contractualist, and Virtue Ethics traditions.
Course Objectives: Aims of this course include:
➢ Facilitating an understanding of leading normative ethical theories;
➢ Developing students’ abilities to understand and analyze complex philosophical texts;
➢ Improving students’ abilities to write clearly and to present arguments in a fair and precise manner;
➢ Improving students’ abilities to develop thoughtful, clear, targeted, and thorough objections to others’ and to their own ideas and arguments;
➢ Encouraging students to think independently about leading ethical theories.
In sum, by the end of the term, successful students will have a good grasp of some leading ethical theories; a good understanding of the strengths and weakness of these