Philosophy 322  History of Ethics

Spring Semester 2012 | Day | Burnaby

INSTRUCTOR  Evan Tiffany, WMC 5652

TEXT

• Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant, ed., J.B. Schneewind, Cambridge University Press

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course shall focus on the period from the late sixteenth through the eighteenth century. It is this age that saw the development of modern science; and the philosophies that arose from efforts to aid or resist this new scientific understanding of the world continue to influence thought both inside and outside the academy. Of particular relevance to this course is the way in which the science and philosophy of the time influenced how people came to think of themselves as agents - what it is to be a person, to be free, to have rights and responsibilities. A central theme of the course will be the way in which established conceptions of morality as obedience came to be challenged by emerging conceptions of morality as self-governance, conceptions that continue to define our basic understanding of morality and government. Specific topics will include: the rise and fall of modern natural law, perfectionism and rationalism, sentimentalism and the naturalization of the virtues, and the invention (or discovery) of autonomy. Authors will include: Montaigne, Grotius, Hobbes, Pufendorf, Locke, Descartes, Leibniz, Butler, Hume, Wolff, Rousseau, and Kant.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS

• Low-stakes assignments - 15%
• Four papers - 15% each
• Final exam - 25%

Note: Prerequisite: one of PHIL 120, 150, 151, 220.