PHIL 726

Ethics 1

Please note: this is archived course information from 2021 for PHIL 726.

Description

This module will cover some central topics in recent moral theory, especially within the utilitarian tradition. The first part of the course will focus on Derek Parfit’s Reasons and Persons Oxford, 1986), while the second part will address debates between consequentialism and contractualism.

Topics will include: individual and collective responsibility, the rationality of self-interest and temporal partiality, the moral significance of personal identity, the aggregation of moral reasons and the imposition of risk.

We will be asking questions such as the following: Are individuals responsible for the actions of groups they belong to? Is it rational to care more about your own near future than your distant future? What matters in personal survival? How should I balance my obligations to my future self against my obligations to others? How should we aggregate the competing moral complaints of different people? When it is morally acceptable to impose risks on others?

Assessment

Coursework only

Availability 2021

Not taught in 2021

Lecturer(s)

Coordinator(s) Professor Timothy Mulgan

Points

PHIL 726: 15 points