Individual and Collective Agency (U03439)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 10 ? Acronym : PPL-4-ICA-PH

The course will introduce students to current research on the topic of agency and its implications for ethics.
The course will be divided into three parts. The first part will focus on issues in individual agency. The second part will consider what it is to be an agent more generally, how there can be collective agency and the contrast between individual and collective agency. The third part will examine some implications for ethics, particularly the location of moral responsibility.

? Keywords : agency ethics

Entry Requirements

? Pre-requisites : Completion of Junior Honours (single or combined) philosophy programme.

Variants

? This course has variants for part year visiting students, as follows

Individual and Collective Agency (VS1) (Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2))

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Philosophy, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : 4th year

? Delivery Period : Semester 1 (Blocks 1-2)

? Contact Teaching Time : 2 hour(s) per week for 11 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
20/09/2007	14:00	15:50	Room 8.16, David Hume Tower	Central

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Thursday	14:00	15:50	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

On completion of the course, students will be able to:
- analyse the problems that decision theory poses for individual agents and grasp some of the proposed solutions;
- compare and contrast agency at different levels;
- understand the connection between agency and ethics;
- be familiar with a variety of research methodologies from decision theory and ethics;
- synthesise literature in decision theory and ethics;
- bring analytic and critical tools to bear in reading and writing about current topics of research on agency.