Monash University Arts Undergraduate Handbook, 1997

PHL2150

Ethics

Jeanette Kennett and Neil Delaney

8 points
* First semester at Clayton
* Second semester at Caulfield/Peninsula
* Prerequisites: A first-year sequence in philosophy

Objectives On successful completion of this subject the student should have developed an understanding of core concepts, positions, and issues in both meta-ethics and normative ethics to the point where this will serve as a firm basis for further work in both theoretical and practical courses in moral philosophy.

Synopsis The subject deals with the following areas of philosophical ethics. (i) Meta-ethics: when we judge an action to be right or wrong, are we merely expressing our personal emotions? Or are we using our reason? Are we making a judgement which is capable of being true or false? The first part of this subject will examine these questions. (ii) Normative ethics: normative theories are theories about what is of value, or what acts are right. A major focus of discussion is the opposition between utilitarian theories and non-utilitarian theories. Utilitarian theories judge the rightness or wrongness of actions solely in accordance with their consequences. Can utilitarianism account for special obligations which arise from personal relationships based on love and friendship? Is there a limit to our responsibility to minimise suffering and to maximise happiness? To what extent are the objections to utilitarianism also objections to non-utilitarian theories? We close by considering feminist objections to the impartialist perspective of traditional ethical theory.

Assessment Written (5000 words): 80%
* Examination (1 hour): 20%
* Optional replacement of one essay by a 2-hour examination

Prescribed texts

A collection of readings available from the Monash Bookshop

Mackie J L Ethics: Inventing right and wrong Penguin

Recommended texts

Schaffer S Consequentialism and its critics OUP

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