Dr Jonathan Parry

The course is taught by Dr. Jonathan Parry, Dr. Campbell Brown, Dr. Lewis Ross, and Prof. Michael Otsuka.

This course is available on the BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

None.

The course will cover key topics in moral and political philosophy.

In weeks 1-5 of Michaelmas Terms, Jonathan Parry will discuss a range of topics in normative ethics, which is a branch of ethics that aims to identify the factors that determine the moral status of actions. Questions covered will include some of the following: (i) What sacrifices are we required to make for the sake of others? (ii) Does it make a moral difference that a person is less well off than she could have been? ('the non-identity problem') (iii) Is it permissible to cause harm to others in order to prevent greater harm? If so, are some ways of bringing about harm harder to justify than others? (iv) What are the moral limits on harming others in self-defence? (v) To what extent is the morality of self-defence different from the morality of defending other people?

In weeks 7-11 of Michaelmas Terms, Lewis Ross will bridge the moral and political components of the course, considering a number of classic questions at the intersection between moral theory and political philosophy (which may include questions such as: when and why is it legitimate for a state to inflict harm upon its subjects? when can we disobey the state? can the moral status of our actions and the punishment we deserve be determined by factors outwith our control? is evolutionary theory a threat to our views about morality? can the cultural circumstances in which we grow up absolve us of blame for bad beliefs?).

In weeks 1-5 of Lent Term, Michael Otsuka will discuss the following topics in political philosophy: What is the nature and justification of rights? Is redistributive taxation of earnings from labour on a par with forced labour? Is private property in land justified? Should laws lapse every twenty years, in order to prevent the dead from ruling the living? Are people entitled to compensation for injustices committed against their ancestors?

In weeks 7-11 of Lent Term, Campbell Brown will discuss topics in metaethics. This branch of philosophy explores the fundamental nature of morality. When we contemplate 'first-order' moral questions -- e.g., 'Is torture always morally wrong?' -- we are often led to 'second-order', or metaethical, questions. Do first-order questions have objectively correct answers? If one person believes torture is always wrong, while another person denies this, must one of these people be mistaken? Can such disagreements be resolved by rational argument and scientific investigation? Or are these merely 'matters of opinion', where one person's belief is no more or less 'true' than any other's? Can the members of one culture legitimately criticise the moral norms of another culture? If morality is not objective, does it follow that public policy should not be based on morality?

Some topics in other areas of moral and political philosophy may also be covered.

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

Students will be expected to produce 3 essays in the MT and LT.

Thomson, J.J. ‘Self-Defense’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 20 (1991)

Otsuka, M. ‘Killing the Innocent in Self-Defense’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 23 (1994)

Quinn, W. ‘Actions, Intentions and Consequences: The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing’, The Philosophical Review 98 (1989)

Øverland, G. ‘Moral Obstacles: An Alternative to the Doctrine of Double Effect’, Ethics 124 (2014)

Parry, J. ‘Defensive Harm, Consent, and Intervention’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 43 (2017)

Geoff Sayre-McCord, 'Metaethics', The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2014/entries/metaethics/>

Matthew Chrisman, What is this thing called Metaethics?

Michael Smith, The Moral Problem;

J.L. Mackie, Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong

Nozick, R. Anarchy, State and Utopia

Locke, J. Second Treatise of Government

Cohen, G. A., 'Nozick on Appropriation', New Left Review, no. 150 (1985)

Jefferson, T., Letter to James Madison (1789)

Boxill, B., 'Black Reparations', Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2015)

Essay (30%, 2000 words) and take-home assessment (60%) in the ST.
Class participation (10%).

The exam component of the course will be a take-home assessment. Students will have one week to complete the assessment, but the expectation is that the assessment will require the equivalent amount of work as a two-hour sat exam.