Introduction to Ethics: Schedule of Readings

Introduction to Ethics	Richard Lee
Philosophy 2103 sec. 012	Summer 2009

Schedule of Readings

Tentative

M Nature of Morality 5/18 - 5/20

Plato, Euthyphro's indictment from Euthyphro (web)
Lee, "The Realm of the Moral" (web)

Utilitarianism

5/21 - 5/22

Bentham, "Classical Utilitarianism (PV3 239-244)
Mill, "Utilitarianism Refined" (PV3 245-249)
Nielsen, "A Defense of Utilitarianism" (PV3 250-265)
Williams, "Against Utilitarianism" (PV3 265-277)

Environmental Ethics

5/26

Baxtor, "People or Penguins: The Case for Optimal Pollution" (PV3 933-940)

Relativism

5/27

Pojman, "The Case Against Moral Relativism" (PV3 166-191)

Kantianism

5/28 - 5/29

Kant, "The Moral Law" (PV3 309-328)
Frankena, "Kant's Theory" (PV3 329-332)
Lee, "Kantian Ethical Theory" (web)

Euthanasia

6/1

Brock, "Voluntary Euthanasia (PV3 831-853)
Gay-Williams, "The Wrongfulness of Euthanasia" (PV3 853-859)
Rachels, "Active and Passive Euthanasia" (PV3 859-866)

First Examination

6/2

M The Place of God in Morality 6/3

Tim Holt, "The Divine Command Theory" (web)
Plato, "Does Morality Depend on Religion?" (PV3 372-375)
Tim Holt, "The Euthyphro Dilemma" (web)

Intuitionism

6/4

Ross, "Intuitionism" (PV3 333-347)

Abortion

6/5 - 6/8

Thomson, "A Defense of Abortion" (PV3 788-807)
Warren, "Abortion is Morally Permissible" (PV3 807-816)
English, "The Moderate Position" (PV3 816-827)
Marquis, "Why Abortion is Immoral" (PV3 766-787)

Moral Luck

6/9

Nagel, "Moral Luck" (PV3 376-388)

Social Contract

6/10 - 6/11

Hobbes, "On the State of Nature" (PV3 41-52)
Scanlon, "Contractarianism and Utilitarianism" (on reserve)

War and Terrorism

6/12 - 6/15

Orend, "War (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)" (web)
Nussbaum, "Compassion and Terror" (PV3 955-979)
Pojman, "The Cosmopolitan Response to Terrorism" (PV3 980-1002)
Nagel, "What is Wrong with Terrorism?" (PV3 1003-1005)

Second Examination

6/16

M Existentialism 6/17

Nietzsche, "Beyond Good and Evil" (PV3 127-140)
Camus, "Life is Absurd" (PV3 616-623)
Sartre, "Existentialism is a Humanism" (PV3 681-690)

Virtue Theory

6/18 - 6/19

Aristotle, "Virtue Ethics" (PV3 409-425)
Frankena, "A Critique of Virtue-Based Ethical Systems" (PV3 463-474)

Treatment of Animals

6/22

Kant, "We Have Only Indirect Duties to Animals" (PV3 877-879)
Singer, "Animal Liberation" (PV3 879-895)
Cohen, "The Case Against Animal Rights" (PV3 896-901)

Emotivism

6/23

Ayer, "Critique of Ethics and Theology" (on reserve)

Stoicism

6/24

Epictetus et al., "The Stoic Catechism" (PV3 517-529)

The Meaning of Life

6/25

Epicurus, "Hedonism" (PV3 609-615)
Nozick, "The Experience Machine" (PV3 644-647)
Walker, "Religion Gives Meaning to Life" (PV3 623-630)
Frankl, "The Human Search for Meaning" (PV3 630-638)

Third Examination

6/26

M	: Metaethics
N	: Normative Ethics
A	: Applied Ethics
E	: Examination

This schedule is subject to change.

Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 17 May 2009