GISDepartment of Global and Interdisciplinary Studies

Metaethics

This course offers an introduction to metaethics, a branch of ethics distinct from normative ethics. While normative ethics focuses on determining what we ought to do morally, metaethics examines the nature of those very questions. It explores issues such as: Do moral questions have right or wrong answers? If they do, how can we know them? What, if anything, makes moral claims true or false? When we make moral judgments—like deeming something unfair or recognizing obligations to others—what kind of mental state are we in? Do these judgments imply the existence of objective moral facts? Is it possible for moral truth to be relative, and if so, what would that entail? In this class, we will explore these fundamental questions and examine key perspectives and theories from contemporary metaethical scholarship.

This course has four primary learning goals. First, students will learn about various and diverging views in metaethics. Second, students will improve critical thinking skills when engaging with abstract reasoning, especially in the context of philosophical debate. Third, students will improve their reading skills when confronting nuanced and challenging text. Finally, students will improve their writing skills to communicate complex ideas clearly and confidently.

Will be able to gain “DP 1”, “DP 2”, “DP 3”, and “DP 4”.

英語 / English

Each meeting will include an interactive lecture and an active learning period. The lectures will occupy roughly half of each meeting. Students will then participate in a class discussion. The instructor will assess students primarily on their final paper. Students will produce a paper proposal before writing a paper draft. After the proposal has been approved, students will write a draft of their paper. They will then exchange papers with each other, and they will write a peer-reviewed report of another student’s paper. Students should consider this report when revising their final drafts. The instructor will provide feedback on the paper proposal, final paper, and peer-review report via Hoppii.

あり / Yes

なし / No

授業形態/methods of teaching：対面/face to face

※各回の授業形態は予定です。教員の指示に従ってください。

1[オンライン/online]：Introduction

Background on Metaethics

2[対面/face to face]：Moral Realism 1

Intro to moral realism

3[対面/face to face]：Moral Realism 2

Naturalist realism

4[対面/face to face]：Moral Realism 3

Minimal realism

5[対面/face to face]：Moral Realism 4

Robust realism

6[対面/face to face]：Challenging Moral Realism 1

Morality and evolution

7[対面/face to face]：Challenging Moral Realism 2

Morality and disagreement

8[対面/face to face]：Challenging Moral Realism 3

Morality and metaphysics

9[対面/face to face]：Challenging Moral Realism 4

The authority of morality

10[対面/face to face]：Alternatives to Moral Realism 1

Error theory

11[対面/face to face]：Alternatives to Moral Realism 2

Emotivism

12[対面/face to face]：Alternatives to Moral Realism 3

Expressivism

13[対面/face to face]：Alternatives to Moral Realism 4

Constructivism

14[対面/face to face]：Alternatives to Moral Realism 5

Relativism

Students should complete weekly readings before coming to class. Students should also review their own notes after every class. Preparatory study time for this class is 3-4 hours, and review time for this class is 2 hours.

There are no required textbooks for this course. All readings will be provided by the instructor either in print or online.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a great resource for delving further into any topics discussed in class: https://plato.stanford.edu

The philosopher Jim Pryor has created helpful guides for writing and reading philosophy papers. Writing: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/writing.html Reading: http://www.jimpryor.net/teaching/guidelines/reading.html

Class Participation (15%), Discussion Questions (20%), Peer-review report (15%), Final Paper (50%)

Students evaluated this class positively in the previous year. No substantial changes will be made.

None