Postgraduate Course: The Nature of Moral Understanding MSc (PHIL11068)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | There is a distinctive experience that humans have when they think about situations that seem to involve moral considerations. While these experiences may be amenable to theoretical formalisation, there is important philosophical reflection to be done without theory. What do people understand when they understand a situation as demanding moral consideration, reflection or decision? This course aims to make progress with this and related questions and in the process complement our other, more formal, courses in moral philosophy.
Shared with UG course The Nature of Moral Understanding PHIL10099.
For courses co-taught with undergraduate students and with no remaining undergraduate spaces left, a maximum of 8 MSc students can join the course. Priority will be given to MSc students who wish to take the course for credit on a first come first served basis after matriculation. |
| Course description |
The central question with which this course is concerned is: what is the nature of the understanding someone has when they engage with their moral concerns? These moral concerns are considered to arise in relatively ordinary situations of the kinds presented in life, literature and film. These situations include decisions about what to do; wondering how to live; questions of whether one is under a moral obligation; contemplation of shame or guilt.
In this sense, this course is a philosophical examination of various phenomena - moral phenomena - about which philosophical theories are constructed. The main goals will be to focus on the nature of the understanding we have of these phenomena with a view to clarifying which are their essential features and which do not distinguish them. Central to this examination, the course will consider how other philosophers have tried to delimit the phenomena or characterise our moral understanding.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 8 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 21,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
173 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2,500 word essay
Assignment deadline: Thursday 21st April 2016 by 12 noon.
Upper word limit: 2750 maximum excluding references (2500 words plus 10% leeway)
Return deadline: Friday 13th May 2016 |
| Feedback |
Students have the opportunity to submit a formative essay by week 6 deadline on Turnitin via Learn. The essay cannot be draft of summative essay but it can be on the same topic.
Formative essay deadline: Thursday 25th February 2016 by 12 noon
Return deadline: Friday 18th March 2016 |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- show an understanding of the nature of moral thinking and reasoning
- explain the commonality and difference of moral thinking with other kinds of thought
- describe the varieties of moral engagement beyond action and reasoning
- discuss inter-relation between ethical phenomena, normative moral claims, and meta-ethical claims
- contrast different ways of making moral arguments and discuss the limits to formalising such arguments
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Reading List
1: Introduction
No required reading
2. Facts and Choice
I. Murdoch. Vision and choice in morality. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume, XXX:32-58, 1956.
3. Perceptiveness
Martha Nussbaum, 'Finely Aware and Richly Responsible': Moral Attention and the Moral Task of Literature.' Journal of Philosophy (October 1985), 82(10):516-529. Reprinted in Love's Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature, Oxford UP, 1990.
Cora Diamond. 'Missing the Adventure: Reply to Martha Nussbaum,' chapter 12 in The Realistic Spirit. MIT Press 1991.
4. Remorse
R. Gaita. Remorse and its Lessons. Chapter 4 in Good & Evil: An Absolute Conception. Macmillan, London, 1991/2004, 1st or 2nd Edition.
5. Forgiveness
Aurel Kolnai. Forgiveness. Ch. 10 in Ethics, Value and Reality. Athlone Press, London 1977. Originally in Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 1973-4.
6. Individuality
P. Winch. The universalizability of moral judgements. In Ethics and Action, pages 151-170. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1972. Originally in Monist, vol. 49, 1965.
7. Moral Argument
Sarah McGrath, "Normative Ethics, Conversion, and Pictures as Tools of Moral Persuasion", in Timmons, ed., Oxford Studies in Normative Ethics 1, 2011, pp. 268-296.
8. The Banal and Absurd
R. Gaita. Fearless Thinkers and Evil Thoughts. Chapter 17 in Good & Evil: An Absolute Conception. Macmillan, London, 1991/2004. 1st or 2nd Edition.
9. Moral Limits
B. Williams. Ethics and the limits of philosophy. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass, 1985. Chapter 10.
10. Moral Problems and Moral Expertise
Sarah McGrath, 'Skepticism about Moral Expertise as a Puzzle for Moral Realism' Journal of Philosophy 108 (3), 2011, pp. 110-137.
11. Moral Philosophy and Moral Understanding
C. Diamond. Having a rough story about what moral philosophy is. In The Realistic Spirit: Wittgenstein, Philosophy, and the Mind, pages 367-381. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass, 1991. Originally in New Literary History, Vol. 15, 1983-4. |
Additional Information
| Course URL |
Please see Learn page |
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
The transferable skills students will develop in this course include a capacity to read with an analytical goal, written communication skills, oral communication skills, the ability to present an argument or considerations in favour of a preferred conclusion and crucially the capacity for taking notes on a discussion while participating in it. |
| Additional Class Delivery Information |
The course is taught by Dr David Levy |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Theodore Scaltsas
Tel: (0131 6)50 3649
Email: Scaltsas@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk |
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