Why Study Moral Philosophy?

(beyond gaining core credit ... ) Studying moral philosophy provides a key to self-understanding, for our values are largely responsible for shaping who and what we are, both in our social and personal selves. By acquiring an understanding of the development moral thought, students acquire a richer appreciation of the present and possibilities for the future.

Intellectual growth entails the development of academic skills. Effective reading, writing, thinking; analysis and synthesis of concepts; and understanding of key events, ideas and forces that have shaped the world, all contribute to the education the University seeks to provide. Gaining insight into the development of ethics, students expand their basis for understanding themselves and shaping their worlds and a reference point for respecting the autonomous development of diverse elements of all cultures.

Moral philosophy is sometimes divided into metaethics and normative ethics. Normative ethics tackles the ethical questions we all face, such as "What has value?" and "What are our moral obligations?" Metaethics, on the other hand, asks philosophical questions about ethics, rather than ethical questions per se. "What is value?" rather than "What has value?" And "What can make it the case that we ought to do something?" rather than "What ought we to do?"

The term 'philosophical ethics' sometimes refers to the project of integrating metaethics and normative ethics in a systematic way, trying to gain insight into what is valuable and obligatory (normatively) by understanding what value and obligation are (metaethically). 

The great systematic ethical philosophies, such as those of Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Mill, can all be read as examples of philosophical ethics. We will read them and consider their applicability to contemporary ethical problems.

   Why Study Ethics

   Textbooks

   Course Packet

Objectives

Grading

Assignments

   Procedures

   Academic Honesty

   Acknowledgements