Moral Responsibility: Doubt, Debate, and Dialogue
PHIL 271
Spring 2021 not offered
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This intermediate philosophy course will investigate conflicting ideas about moral responsibility and develop skills in understanding and critiquing the arguments associated with each view.
Key themes include: (1.) For what can we hold people responsible? For their intentions? For consequences? For their character? For other implications of their action? (2.) How much do concepts of moral responsibility reflect particular (and questionable) cultural ideals? (3.) Can we hold someone morally responsible even when there is a good causal explanation for their conduct?
(4.) What is our aim and purpose in holding ourselves and others responsible, and how else might such purposes be achieved? |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA PHIL |
| Course Format: Lecture / Discussion | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: [PHIL212 or ENVS212] OR [PHIL215 or ENVS215] OR PHIL217 OR PHIL218 |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (CIVI-MN)(PHIL)(PHIL-Philosophy)(PHIL-Social Jus) |
Major Readings:
George Marshall, _DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change_
Pereboom, ed., FREE WILL (Hackett)
Fisher & Revizza, ed., PERSPECTIVES ON MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
Tammler Sommers, RELATIVE JUSTICE: Cultural Responsibility, Free Will, and Moral Responsibility
Dana Nelkin, MAKING SENSE OF FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
Manuel Vargas, BUILDING BETTER BEINGS: A Theory of Moral Responsibility
(Texts subject to revision.)
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Examinations and Assignments:
Participants will engage in regular written dialogue on the readings, two short essays, and one final paper. Students will practice frequent analysis of arguments (using diagrams and short essays). The close critical discussion of inferences and reasoning patterns should be especially useful to students interested in journalism and/or legal and policy domains, as well as philosophy. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Prior to the semester's beginning, students are encouraged to read Marshall, _Don't Even Think About It_; it will set the stage for the first week of classwork. |
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