Niko Kolodny
Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy
University of California, Berkeley
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Phil 104: Ethical Theories
TTh 9:30–11am in 60 Evans
Office hours: W 2–4 in 144 Moses Hall, or by appointment
This course is concerned less with specific moral questions than with the nature of morality itself. We will ask three fundamental questions: What does morality command? On what is it based? Why should we obey it? We will read, among others, Hume, Kant, and Sidgwick.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*** NO LECTURE APRIL 26, MAY 1***
*** OFFICE HOURS CHANGES:
---TUES, APRIL 24 AT 12-2, INSTEAD OF WED, APRIL 25 AT 2-4
---THURS, MAY 3 AT 12-2, INSTEAD OF WED, MAY 2 AT 2-4
Please print out this REVISED SYLLABUS for the rest of the semester. It leaves out a few readings, to put us back on track. (This isn't a bad thing at all. Due in large part to your excellent questions and discussion, we have been probing the readings more deeply. It's much better to do this, I think, than to cover a few more things.)
*** ROOM CHANGE: 60 EVANS ***
BIG MISTAKE ON SYLLABUS: Papers will be due at 9:40, NOT 9:10. (Sorry: I pasted that part from a class that met at 9, rather than 9:30.)
SYLLABUS:
HANDOUTS:
22. April 24, 2007
21. April 19, 2007
20. April 17, 2007
19. April 12, 2007
18. April 10, 2007
NO LECTURE APRIL 5
17. April 3, 2007
16. March 22, 2007
15. March 20, 2007
14. March 15, 2007
13. March 13, 2007
No new handout for March 6. Please bring the handout for March 1. Also please print out this REVISED SYLLABUS for the rest of the semester. It leaves out a few readings, to put us back on track. (This isn't a bad thing at all. Due in large part to your excellent questions and discussion, we have been probing the readings more deeply. It's much better to do this, I think, than to cover a few more things.)
12. March 1, 2007
No new handout for February 15, but please bring the handout for Feb. 13. We are now one lecture behind. You don't need to write a new outline for Feb. 15, but please bring your outlines for Feb. 13, in case we collect them. For Feb. 20, please write the outline for the reading originally assigned for Feb. 15; for Feb. 22, write the outline for the reading originally assigned for Feb. 20; and so on until we catch up.
8. February 13, 2007 -- But please also bring the handout for Feb. 8.
7. February 8, 2007 -- But please also bring the handout for Feb. 6.
4. January 30, 2007 *** ROOM CHANGE: 60 EVANS ***
What I wrote in the handout might be better restated as follows:
(1) Our judgments that people are vicious or virtuous
mustmotivate us by themselves. [i.e., they necessarily motivate us, no matter what our other attitudes might be](2) As we saw earlier, conclusions of reason do not
cannotmotivate us by themselves. [and perhaps, strictly speaking, they do not motivate us at all](3) Therefore, our judgment that people are vicious or virtuous cannot be conclusions of reason.