Ethical Theory and Hard Choices

The course aims to introduce the contemporary discussion in moral philosophy. The first section will: a) provide a characterization of morality, as a distinctive form of normativity, as compared to law, aesthetics, and convention or etiquette; b) discuss the relationship and distinction of morality and religion and c) discuss the relationship of moral responsibility with the notion of free will. The second section will present the main normative theories of right action: a) the various forms of consequentialism (act- or rule-based), with their different attached theories of the good life (hedonism, desire-theory, objective-list theory); b) the different forms of deontological theories, both duty-based and rights-based; c) the main versions of either Aristotelian or agent-based virtue ethics. The third section will shortly present some theories on the nature of morality, such as expressivism, error theory, relativism, and some forms of moral realism.

At the end of the course, students are expected to possess the basic general information on both the normative and the metaethical discussions in moral philosophy; they are expected to acquire the language for the discussion of normative problems both in theoretical and applied ethics; they should have acquired the capacity to collect, present and discuss existing literature on a chosen topic in contemporary discussion, to prepare a short paper for the exam.