THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

University Homepage
DRPS Homepage
DRPS Search
DRPS Contact
DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy

Postgraduate Course: Meta-Ethics (MSc) (PHIL11043)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis course will introduce students to central questions in meta-ethics. Topics covered vary from year to year and will be described in the Learn page.
Course description The philosophical study of ethics can be divided into three main areas: normative ethics, practical ethics, and metaethics. Normative ethics seeks general accounts of right / wrong and good / bad; practical ethics seeks to answer specific practical questions from an ethical point of view. By contrast, metaethics prescinds from these first-order questions to ask second-order questions about the 'status of morality'. Core issues in metaethics arise in each of the following areas as applied to morality: (a) metaphysics, (b) epistemology, (c) the philosophy of language, and (d) the philosophy of mind. In this course, we consider several traditional metaethical theories, including nonnaturalism, the error-theory, fictionalism, expressivism, and naturalism. We will also consider more contemporary theories that don't fit well into the more traditional categories. These include so-called 'hybrid theories,' constructivist theories, and pragmatist theories.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Ethics (PHIL11182)
Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. understand the most important positions in contemporary meta-ethics
  2. enhance their philosophical skills, through pursuing contemporary questions at an advanced level
  3. formulate questions and positions of relevance in meta-ethics and write a critical paper on a question in meta-ethics
Reading List
Reading list will depend on the topics focused on each year. The full details will be in the course guide on LEARN.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Research, critical analysis, argumentation skills (written and oral), critical reading skills
KeywordsMetaethics,Moral Realism,Moral Anti-realism,non naturalism,naturalism,error theory
Contacts
Course organiserProf Michael Ridge
Tel: (0131 6)50 3657
Email: M.Ridge@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Sabina Ali
Tel: (0131 6) 50 4400
Email: Sabina.Ali@ed.ac.uk
Navigation
Help & Information
Home
Introduction
Glossary
Search DPTs and Courses
Regulations
Regulations
Degree Programmes
Introduction
Browse DPTs
Courses
Introduction
Humanities and Social Science
Science and Engineering
Medicine and Veterinary Medicine
Other Information
Combined Course Timetable
Prospectuses
Important Information