PHIL 418Seminar in Ethical Theory

3 credits · Philosophy · Penn State

This course builds on lower level courses in ethics and value theory (e.g., PHIL 103 ). It goes deeper into questions of the meaning, justification, and motivational grounding of ethical judgments. Topics may include "normative ethical systems" such as utilitarianism, Kantian ethics, Aristotelian virtue theory, and feminist care ethics. Also included are more abstract issues in "meta-ethics" such as whether ethical statements can be true or false, whether they stand in logical relation to each other as do other propositions, what connection do such judgments have to the psychological make-up of human beings, and the like. Also considered are questions such as the objectivity (or relativity) of ethical judgments and their relation to the meaning and evaluation of social practices and institutions.