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Course
Description
We will study the development of modern
ethical philosophy
with an emphasis on the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among the questions we will consider
are: What is the source of value? What is the role of self-interest in ethics
and how do we define it? What role does
knowledge play in ethical action? Are
humans naturally social or not? We will
start with selections from Montaigne and consider the influence of
skepticism
and the new sciences on ethics. Then we
will examine texts from four distinct schools of thought:
1) natural law theorists; 2) the
rationalists; 3) epicureans and egoists; and 4) those who advocate
autonomy as
the basis of value, culminating in the work of Kant.
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Assignments
and Grading Policy
Participation:
All students are expected to attend class and
participate regularly in class conversation.
In addition to reading texts and writing papers,
philosophy involves
listening, reflection, and dialogue.
Students who are regularly absent from class cannot
regularly
participate and therefore cannot cultivate these essential skills.
Papers: For each of the major sections of the course,
there will be one set of essay topics for a total of four.
Each student will be required to write short
papers (3-5 pages in length) on three
of the four topics. Papers on the first
set of topics are due on Monday, 4/19 at the beginning of class. Papers on the second set of topics are
due on Monday, 5/3 at the beginning of class.
Papers on the third set of topics are due on
Monday, 5/17 at the
beginning of class. Papers on the fourth set of topics will be due on
Monday, June 7th, at 11am
in the Philosophy department office in Savery Hall 345.
Late papers will be automatically penalized
one-half of a grade (0.5 point) for every 24-hours it is late after the
due
date. Please note:
I will not accept papers sent by fax or
e-mail. Each paper will be graded and is
worth 25% of your final grade. Please
note that you must complete all three papers for this
requirement to be
met. If your total is any less than
three papers then you will fail the course.
E-Posts:
There are two parts to this assignment.
First, for each and every class session I
expect that you post a comment or question connected to the day’s
assigned
reading. If you choose to offer a
question, please explain the question fully (i.e., how it arose out of
your
reading of the text and its significance).
I would expect each post to be between 100-250 words. You must post the question or comment to the
following site: http://catalyst.washington.edu/webtools/epost/register.cgi?owner=rosentha&id=7646
Second,
I want you to print a copy of your post on a
piece of paper (with your name on it) and turn it in to me at the
beginning of
each class. Please note:
you will not
receive credit for the assignment without turning it in at the
beginning of
class. You must complete both parts of
each assignment to receive credit. Late
assignments will not count. I will often
start discussion with your posts and sometimes might ask you to read
them in
class. This assignment will start on
Friday,
April 2nd. You will have 27
opportunities to contribute a post. I
will grade you based on the percentage of satisfactorily completed
assignments. However, because it may be
difficult to complete all these posts, due to illness or some other
problem, I
will grade on the basis of 24 assignments.
That is, you can miss three of them and still be deemed to
have
completed the maximum. So if you
complete all twenty four of the required posts successfully you will
receive a
grade of 4. If you complete twenty-one
of them, for example, you will receive a grade of about 3.5 and so on. The total value of this assignment is 25% of
your final grade.
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Books
There is one required text and it is
available for purchase
at the University Bookstore:
Schneewind, J.B., editor, Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant (Cambridge
University
Press, 2003, paperback, ISBN:
0521003040)
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Class
Schedule and Required Readings
Please note that this is a guide and subject
to change. Page numbers refer to the text.
Week 1 – Introduction and
Skepticism
3/31 Course
Introduction and Background
4/2 Montaigne
(37-56)
Week 2 – Natural Law, Part 1
4/5
Grotius
(88-110)
4/7 Hobbes
(111-137)
4/9 Hobbes
Week 3 – Natural Law, Part 2
4/12 Pufendorf
(156-182)
4/14 Locke
(183-200)
4/16 Locke
Week 4 – Intellect and Morality, Part 1
4/19 Du
Vair
(201-215) First Paper Topics Due
4/21 Spinoza
(237-255)
4/23 Spinoza
Week 5 – Intellect and Morality,
Part 2
4/26 Leibniz
(313-330)
4/28 Leibniz
4/30 Wolff
(331-351)
Week 6 – Epicureans and Egotists,
Part 1
5/3
Gassendi
(353-368) Second
Paper Topics Due
5/5 Gassendi
5/7 Mandeville
(388-398)
Week 7 – Epicureans and Egotists,
Part 2
5/10 Paley
(446-459)
5/12 Bentham
(460-480)
5/14 Bentham
Week 8 – Autonomy and Responsibility, Part 1
5/17 Butler (525-544)
Third Paper Topics Due
5/19 Butler
5/21 Hume (545-567)
Week 9 – Autonomy and
Responsibility, Part 2
5/24 Hume
5/26 Hume
5/28 Kant (651-664)
Week 10 – Autonomy and
Responsibility, Part 3
5/31 NO
CLASS –
Memorial Day
6/2 Kant
6/4 Kant
6/7
Fourth Paper Topics Due at 11am in Savery
345.
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