Postgraduate Course: Meta-ethics (Online) (PHIL11248)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
| Course type | Online Distance Learning |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course examines to what extent we can find a place for ethics in a naturalistic, scientific picture of the world. |
| Course description |
In this course we investigate questions concerning the nature of ethics, or morality. Example questions include 'Are there moral facts?', 'Do we have moral knowledge?', and 'What is the relation between everyday descriptive facts and ethical facts?'
Example Topics:
Introduction to metaethics
Non-naturalist realism
Error theory
Expressivism
Naturalist realism(s)
Hybrid Theories
Inferentialism
Supervenience
Explanation
Evolutionary debunking arguments
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
| Course Start Date |
16/09/2024 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
174 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Essay plan - 15%«br /»
Essay - 85% |
| 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. They will also receive feedback on their essay plans. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- grasp fundamental issues and views in metaethics, e.g. moral realism, error theory, expressivism
- critically analyse and engage with literature by key philosophers in this field
- present arguments clearly and concisely both within a classroom context and in a summative essay
- gain transferable skills in research, analysis and argumentation
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Reading List
Chrisman, M. (2016) 'What is this thing called Metaethics?' Routledge
Moore, G. E. (1903) 'The Subject Matter of Ethics' in his Principia Ethica, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cuneo, T. (2007) 'Moral Realism of a Paradigmatic Sort' in his The Normative Web, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Mackie, J.L. (1977) 'The Subjectivity of Values' in his Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong London: Penguin.
Joyce, R. 'Moral Anti-Realism', The Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (Summer 2009 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)
Blackburn, S. (1988) 'How to be an ethical anti-realist' Midwest Studies in Philosophy 12(1):361-75
Street, S. (2006) 'A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories of Value,'
Philosophical Studies 127: 109-66.
Harman, G. (1977) The Nature of Morality, New York: Oxford University Press, Chapter 1.
Sturgeon, N. (1985) 'Moral Explanations', in Morality, Reason, and Truth, D. Copp and D. Zimmerman, (eds.), Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Allanheld. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Research, critical analysis, argumentation skills (both written and oral). Critical reading skills. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Patrick Todd
Tel: (0131 6)51 5179
Email: ptodd2@exseed.ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Olivia Coltman
Tel:
Email: ocoltman@ed.ac.uk |
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