Tu–Th, 9:30–11am in 4 LeConte
Website: http://sophos.berkeley.edu/kolodny/S07Phil104.htm
Instructor:
Niko Kolodny, kolodny@berkeley.edu
Office hours: Wednesday, 2–4pm, 144 Moses Hall, or by
appointment
Graduate Student Instructors:
Ryan Doerfler, doerfler@fas.harvard.edu
Andy Engen, adengen@berkeley.edu
Description:
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.
Prerequisites:
Two philosophy courses, or Phil 2, or one Berkeley philosophy course with an A- or higher.
Readings:
Requirements:
Note: GSIs will not give extensive comments on the last paper and final exam. However, GSIs will be available to meet to discuss them in person.
Syllabus:
Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Bk. II, Pt. iii, ¤3
Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Bk. III, Pt. i, ¤¤1–2,
Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Bk. III, Pt. iii, ¤1
Hume, Treatise of Human Nature, Bk. II, Pt. iii, ¤¤1–2; Bk. III, Pt. iii, ¤6
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Pt. I
First paper assigned
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Pt. I
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Pt. II
First paper due
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Pt. II
Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Pt. III
Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics, Bk. III, Ch. vi, ¤¤5–9; Ch. vii, xi
Sidgwick, Methods of Ethics, Bk. IV, Ch. i–iii
Parfit, Reason and Persons, Ch. 1, ¤¤10–20
Scanlon, ÒContractualism and UtilitarianismÓ*
Scanlon, What We Owe to Each Other, Introduction, Ch. 4 ¤¤1–6
Second paper assigned
No class Thursday, March 8
Scanlon, What We Owe to Each Other, Ch. 5 ¤¤1, 2, 5, 9
Parfit, Reasons and Persons, Ch. 3
Parfit, Reasons and Persons, Ch. 16
Second paper due
Moore, Principia Ethica, Ch. 1*
Ayer, Language, Truth and Logic, Ch. 6*
Geach, ÒAssertionÓ*
No class Thursday, April 5
Gibbard, Thinking How to Live, pp. 41–79*
Harman, ÒEthics and ObservationÓ*
Dworkin, ÒObjectivity and Truth: YouÕd Better Believe It,Ó pp. 103–105: ÒCorrespondence with Reality?Ó*
Scanlon, What We Owe to Each Other, Ch. 1, ¤11: ÒMetaphysical Doubts about ReasonsÓ
Scanlon, ÒMetaphysics and Morals,Ó pp. 7–12*
Stroud, ÒThe Study of Human Nature and the Subjectivity of ValueÓ*
Third paper assigned
Dworkin, ÒObjectivity and Truth: YouÕd Better Believe ItÓ*
No class, Thursday, April 26
No class, Tuesday, May 1
Review
Third paper due
Review
Course Policies:
Extensions:
Plan ahead. You
may request extensions from your GSI up until 72 hours before papers are due. After then, extensions will be granted only for
medical and family emergencies.
Submitting Work:
Papers must be submitted, on paper, by you, to your GSI,
in class, by 9:10am 9:40am, before the lecture starts. Papers
submitted later will lose one step (e.g.,
B+ to B) immediately and then an additional
step every 24 hours. If you cannot come to lecture on the
due date, you may request to make other arrangements with your GSI, so long as
you do so well before the deadline.
Whatever the circumstances, you are responsible for ensuring that your
GSI gets your paper. Forgotten or
unopenable attachments, bounced or lost emails, and so on, are your
responsibility.
ÒRe-gradingÓ:
You are strongly encouraged to discuss grades and comments
on papers with your GSI or me.
However, grades on particular papers and exams will not be changed
under any circumstances. While there is no perfect system,
selective Òre-gradingÓ at studentsÕ request only makes things worse. ÒSecondÓ grades are likely to be less
accurate and less fair than ÒfirstÓ grades. This is because, among other things, the GSI does not have
access to other papers for purposes of comparison, the student will inevitably
supply additional input (clarifications, explanations, etc.) that the original
paper did not, and there are certain biases of self-selection.
The only exception, to which none of these concerns apply,
is a suspected arithmetical or recording error in your final course grade. Please do not hesitate to bring this to
your GSIÕs or my attention.
Academic Dishonesty:
Plagiarism and cheating will result in an ÒFÓ in the course
as a whole and a report to Student Judicial Affairs.
ÒAny test, paper or report submitted by you and that bears
your name is presumed to be your own original work that has not previously been
submitted for credit in another course unless you obtain prior written approval
to do so from your instructor.
ÒIn
all of your assignments, including your homework or drafts of papers, you may
use words or ideas written by other individuals in publications, web sites, or
other sources, but only with proper attribution. ÔProper attributionÕ means
that you have fully identified the original source and extent of your use of
the words or ideas of others that you reproduce in your work for this course,
usually in the form of a footnote or parenthesis.Ó
—Report of the Academic Dishonesty and Plagiarism
Subcommittee, June 18, 2004.
Accommodations for Students with Disabilities:
If you have an official accommodation letter that is relevant to this course, please notify both me and your GSI at a reasonable time. We will do whatever we can to help.