This seminar is centered around the question of whether is it possible to have moral knowledge, and if it is, how we might acquire it.
First, we will consider possible soruces of moral knowledge. Some people think that we can trust our basic intuitions about some fundamental moral truths and build our moral knowledge upon those intuitions. Some people think that we can perceive moral properties, such as goodness or wrongness, through our desires or emotions if not through our senses. Finally, there is an interesting question about whether testimony is a possible source of moral knowledge, and the related question of whether there can be moral experts.
Then we will examine various forms of skepticism about the possiblity of moral knowledge. For example, some think that the pervasive influence that evolutionary forces have exerted on our moral judgments shows, in some way, that our moral judmgents are all unjustified. Others think that the widespread, fundamental disagreement about what is right or wrong undermines the possibility of justified moral belief. We will discuss whether such skeptical worries can be addressed.
This seminar will be taught in English and will consist mainly in the discussion of the assigned readings. Active engagement with the texts and participation in class will be essential. |
