PHIL 362H.001 – Honors: Contemporary Ethical Theory

Instructor: Sarah Stroud. This course meets TR 2:00 – 3:15 p.m. in GM 035.

This course will examine the leading styles of systematic ethical theory as they have been developed in the contemporary philosophical literature. We will begin with contemporary consequentialism, which holds that the right action in any given situation is the one with the best consequences. Deontological moral views, by contrast, maintain that actions are right or wrong simply because of their intrinsic features–simply because of the kinds of acts they are. Pluralist moral theories propose a plurality of moral duties or morally relevant considerations which must be weighed against each other in individual cases. Finally, virtue ethics comprises ethical theories which approach the central moral categories via the idea of a virtuous agent.

Prerequisite: one previous PHIL course, recommended to be from the following list: PHIL 160, 163, 165, or any PHIL course numbered between 260 and 289