PHIL 765.001 & 002 – Advanced Studies in Value Theory

Instructors: Sarah Stroud and Susan Wolf. This course meets T 4:00 – 6:30 p.m. in CW 213.

Topic: Morality and Partiality

The seminar will explore the nature and phenomenology of partiality and its relation to morality.  It will focus on such questions as the following: Is there a tension between partiality and morality? If so, why? What is the locus of the (potential) conflict, and what kind of conflict is it? What kinds of assumptions about morality create or heighten tension between the two? What kind(s) of moral justification can be offered for partiality, if any, and what forms or manifestations of partiality would it cover?

Readings will include classic texts by Bernard Williams, Michael Stocker, Samuel Scheffler, and Peter Railton; work by Stroud and Wolf; and recent articles and book chapters by such authors as Simon Keller, Troy Jollimore, and Niko Kolodny.