E. Moral Philosophy: Topics

To facilitate study, each Unit is divided into two parts, (a) and (b).

Unit 1

(a) our knowledge of right and wrong

(b) the challenge of amoralism and the problem of relativity

Unit 2

(a) prudential reasoning and weakness of will

(b) weakness of will and moral reasoning

Unit 3

(a) prudential and moral dilemmas

(b) moral dilemmas and the limits of reason

Unit 4

(a) moral judgements as universal: Kant's categorical imperative

(b) principle of sufficient reason and the disinterested standpoint

Unit 5

(a) objectivity of morals: a three-part argument

(b) solipsist theory that 'the world is my world'

Unit 6

(a) refutation of solipsism

(b) anti-solipsism and the principle of utility

Unit 7

(a) between solipsism and anti-solipsism

(b) two-world theory and the primacy of action

Unit 8

(a) agency and the theory of values

(b) the 'objectivity' of my values

Unit 9

(a) why must others count in my deliberations?

(b) moral conduct and the world of the other

Unit 10

(a) the ethics of dialogue

(b) moral dialogue in the real world

Unit 11

(a) what is truth?

(b) how can moral judgements be true?

Unit 12

(a) self-assertion and self-sacrifice

(b) a defence of partiality

Unit 13

(a) the moral status of animals

(b) animal rights and the ethics of dialogue

Unit 14

(a) the paradox of liberalism

(b) dialogue and the limits of tolerance

Unit 15

(a) the limits of ethics

(b) supererogation, politics, the idea of a 'theory'