Spring 2019 Ethics Reading Schedule

Return to Ethics

Ethics

1: JAN 16

• Introduction to the Course

• Welcome
• About the Course
• Succeeding in the Course
• Course Management
• Transparency in Pedagogy

2: JAN 23

Philosophical Method

Please find time to review the wiki page Philosophical Methods. Today we'll be working with the following methods:

• Theorizing from new or established knowledge
• Identifying presuppositions
• Defining terms
• Fitting principles to cases
• Counter-examples

Ariely, Why We Lie

• Assumptions: we think honesty is an all or nothing trait.
• Research on honesty with the "matrix task"

• Shredder condition
• Payment condition
• Probability of getting caught condition
• Distance of payment condition
• Presence of a cheater condition

• Priming with 10 commandments or signature on top of form
• Implications: for current and possible new approaches to limit cheating.
• Philosophical Implications: What, if anything, does this tell us about the nature of ethics?

Method: Tips on How to report study findings

• Philosophy makes use of a wide range of evidence and knowledge. In this course you will encounter alot of psychological, anthropological and cultural studies. You have to practice the way you represent studies (as opposed to theories) and how you make inferences from their conclusions.

• observational, survey, experimental
• study setup: for observational: who were the test subjects, what were they asked to do; for survey: what instrument was used, to whom was it given?
• what conditions were tested?
• what was the immeditate result?
• what was the significance or inference to be made from the results?

Singer, Chapter 1, "About Ethics," from Practical Ethics

• Some initial points:

• Ethics not just about sexual morality
• Ethics not an "ideal" that can't be put into practice
• Ethics is not based on religion. Mentions Plato's dialogue Euthyphro- review core argument. Can you think of other positions on religion and ethics that might be compatible or incompatible with Singer's?

• Singer's arguments against Ethics and relativism -- different versions of relativism:

• Version 1: Ethics varies by culture: true and false, same act under different conditions may have different value, but this is superficial relativism. The different condition, for example, existence of birth control, are objective differences. The principle might remain the same and be objective (don't have kids you're not ready to care for)

• Version 2: Marxist relativism (and similar critiques) and non-relativism: Morality is what the powerful say it is. But then, why side with the proletariat? Marxists must ultimately be objectivists about value or there is no argument for caring about oppression and making revolution.

• Problems for real relativists ("wrong" means "I disapprove"): consistency across time, polls could determine ethics

• Problems for subjectivist: making sense of disagreement

• 2 versions of subjectivism that might work: ethical disagreements express attitudes that we are trying to persuade others of (close to Haidt's "social agendas"). Or, ethical judgements are prescriptions that reflect a concern that others comply.

• Singer: Ok to say the values aren't objective like physics (aren't facts about the world), but not sensible to deny the meaningfulness of moral disagreement. Ethical reasoning.

• Singer's view (one of several major positions): p. 10 - ethical standards are supported by reason. Can't just be self-interested. Focus for Singer and many philosophers is that Ethics is the attempt and practice to justify our behaviors and expectations of others The focus falls on reason-giving and argumentation.

• The sorts of reasons that count as ethical: universalizable ones. Note: most standard ethical theories satisfy this requirement, yet yield different analysis and advice.

• Consequences of "equality of interests" in utilitarian thought: Principle of Utility: Greatest good (happiness) for the greatest number. 13: first utilitarians understood happiness in terms of pleasures and pains. Modern utilitarians are often "preference utilitarians".

• Zimbardo (lecture)

3: JAN 28

• H C1-2

4: JAN 30

• Lecture on Consequentialisms
• Sap A

5: FEB 4

• H C3-4

6: FEB 6

• Lecture on Non-Consequentialisms
• Sap B and C

7: FEB 11

• H C5-6

8: FEB 13

• Hibbing C1
• Add notes on Phil Theories
• Sap D

9: FEB 18

• Haidt C 7-8

10: FEB 20

• Hibbing C2
• Writing workshop with old writing

11: FEB 25

• Haidt C9

12: FEB 27

• Hibbing C4
• SAP 14A

13: MAR 4

• Sap E
• SW1

14: MAR 6

• SAP 14B

15: MAR 18

• Singer R&P

16: MAR 20

• Sachs 1, 2

17: MAR 25

• 1W C1

18: MAR 27

• 1W C2

19: APR 1

• Benhabib Imm

20: APR 3

• 1W C4 Pt 1

21: APR 8

• Macdeo, Imm

22: APR 10

• 1W C4 Pt 2

23: APR 15

• 1W C3

24: APR 17

• H 10

25: APR 22

• Peer Assessed Paper due

26: APR 24

• H 11

27: APR 29

• H 12

28: MAY 1

• Course Conclusion