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Foundations of Ethics

Week-by-week

1. Kant 1

• Presentation on Kant's theory of ethics: text
• Presentation on Kant's theory of ethics: talk (mp3 file 4.5mb). Or try this.
• Notesheet
• Reading: Immanuel Kant 'Duty and Categorical Rules', excerpt in Sterba, chapter 19.
• E-text of Reading
• Further Reading:
  • Piers Benn, Ethics, Chapter 4, UCL Press, London, 1997, 170 BEN.
  • Thomas Hill, 'Kantianism', in Hugh La Follette (ed), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, Chapter 12, 2000, 170 BLA.

2. Kant 2

• Presentation on Kant's theory of ethics: text - second half of above
• Presentation on Kant's theory of ethics: talk (mp3 file)
• Notesheet: same as above
• Reading: Fred Feldman, 'Kantian Ethics', excerpt in Sterba, chapter 20.
• Further Reading:
  • H.B. Acton, Kant's Moral Philosophy, Macmillan, London, 1970, 171 ACT.
  • Allen Wood, Kant’s Ethical Thought, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, 170 KAN
  • Immanuel Kant in Mary J. Gregor (ed) Practical Philosophy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996, 170/KAN.

3. Aristotle 1

• Presentation on Aristotelian ethics
• Presentation on Aristotle's theory of ethics: talk (mp3 file)
• Notesheet
• Reading: Aristotle, ‘The Virtuous Life’, excerpt in Sterba, chapter 25.
• E-text of Reading
• Further Reading:
  • Aristotle, The Ethics of Aristotle : the Nicomachean ethics, Penguin, Harmondswoth, 1955, 170 ARI

4. Aristotle 2

• Presentation on Aristotelian ethics: as above
• Presentation on Aristotle's theory of ethics: Second talk (mp3 file)
• Notesheet : as above
• Reading: Aristotle, ‘The Virtuous Life’, excerpt in Sterba, chapter 25 (Have another read.)
• Further Reading:
  • Piers Benn, Ethics, Chapter 7, UCL Press, London, 1997, 170 BEN.
  • Martha Nussbaum, ‘Non-Relative Virtues’, excerpt in Sterba, chapter 26.

5. Plato

• Presentation
• Presentation on Plato's theory of ethics: talk (mp3 file)
• Notesheet
• Reading:Plato, The Republic, excerpt in Sterba, Section 1.
• E-text of Reading

6. Hume 1

• Presentation
• Notesheet
• Reading:David Hume, 'On Reason and the Emotions', excerpt in Sterba, chapter 8.
• E-text of Reading
• Further Reading:
  • Remainder of Sterba's Part 2

7. Hume 2

• Presentation Text
• Presentation Talk
• Notesheet
• Reading:Reprise extract for Hume 1.

8. Utilitarianism 1

• Presentation on utilitarianism
• Notesheet
• Overheads
• Reading: John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, excerpt in Sterba, chapter 14; or in Mary Warnock (ed.): Mill: Utilitarianism, On Liberty, Essay on Bentham, Fontana, London, 1962, 171.5 UTI).
• Further Reading:
  • Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation , Chapters I and IV, on web (see web resources) or in Bentham, Jeremy, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, Athlone, London, 1970, 340.1 BEN.
  • R. G. Frey 'Act Utilitarianism', in Hugh La Follette (ed), The Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory, Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, chapter 9, 2000, 170 BLA.

9. Utilitarianism 2

• Presentation as for session 8
• Notesheet as for session8
• Reading: Bernard Williams, 'Against Utilitarianism', excerpt in Sterba, chapter 15.
• Further Reading:
  • Kai Nielsen, 'Traditional Morality and Utilitarianism', excerpt in Sterba, chapter 16.
  • John Rawls, A Theory of Justice, Subsection 5, Classical Utilitarianism, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1972, 340.11 RAW.

10. Hobbes (Contractarianism)

• Presentation
• Notesheet
• Reading:John Rawls, Excerpt in Sterba, Section 23.

11. Contractarianism

• Presentation as for session 10
• Notesheet as for session 11
• Reading: Reprise Rawls excerpt

12. Reading Week

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