Philosophy 941, Virtue Ethics
CUR
607, Monday
Professor Andrea Westlund
614 Curtin Hall, 229-4395/4719, westlund@uwm.edu
Office Hours: TBA
Course Description
Elizabeth Anscombe’s paper “Modern Moral Philosophy” (1958) simultaneously launched an influential critique of the two dominant traditions in moral philosophy at the time (utilitarianism and Kantianism) and ushered in a period of renewed and vigorous interest in the concepts of virtue, vice, and character which continues to the present time. In this course we will focus primarily on developments in virtue ethics since the publication of Anscombe’s groundbreaking piece, though we will fill in historical background (especially Aristotle) as appropriate. We will begin by considering Anscombe’s and other related criticisms of modern moral philosophy, but will spend the bulk of the course exploring more recent work on virtue and related concepts by Rosalind Hursthouse, Alasdair MacIntyre, John McDowell, Philippa Foot, Michael Thompson, and others. Later in the term, if time permits, we will examine one or more specific virtue(s) in more detail, and we may also consider challenges, from a social-psychological perspective, to the usefulness of the very notion of character in ethics.
Course homepage is located at http://d2l.uwm.edu/
Required Texts
·
Foot, Philippa.
Natural Goodness.
·
Hursthouse, Rosalind. On
Virtue Ethics.
· MacIntyre, Alasdair. Dependent Rational Animals. Open Court Publishing Company, 2001.
· Additional required readings are on electronic reserve at the Golda Meir Library.
Course Work
· One short (15 minute) presentation, followed by a 750-1000 word write-up (15%)
§ The primary purpose of the presentation is to provide the class with a spring-board for discussion. You will not be graded directly on your in-class “performance,” but rather, on the written component of the assignment. The oral component of the presentation will be considered part of your class participation (see below).
§ You must meet with me at least one day prior to your presentation to discuss your plan. If more than one person is scheduled to present on a given day, I’d like all of us to meet together for purposes of coordination.
§ Your post-presentation write-up will be due within one week of your presentation. (If this falls near the due-date for another paper, see me and we will work something out.) You may wish to write a draft of your write-up before you present, but you should expect to revise in light of questions raised in class before handing it in.
· Papers: select option (a) or (b)
(a) Two-paper option: Write two 2000-3000 word papers (30% and 40% respectively)
§ Generally, the first paper should deal with an issue arising in the first part of the course and the second with an issue arising in the second part of the course.
§ Topics are to be worked out with me on an individual basis. You should meet with me to discuss your topic well in advance of the due-date (at least two weeks).
§ The first paper will be due Friday, October 29th, and the second will be due on Friday, December 17th.
OR
(b) Term-paper option: Write one 4000-6000 word paper (70%)
§ Select this option if you want to pursue a single, possibly more complex topic in greater detail than the shorter word-limit would allow.
§ Topics are to be worked out with me on an individual basis. You should meet with me to discuss your topic at least one month before the end of term, and come with a brief abstract or proposal to discuss (it may be rough).
§ The term paper will be due on Friday, December 17th.
· Participation (15%)
§ The quality of your in-class presentation (as opposed to the post-presentation write-up) will count here, as, of course, will your general involvement in class discussion. There will also be ongoing opportunities to participate in a discussion-board on our D2L site.
Disability Information
If you will need accommodations in order to meet any of the
requirements of this course, please contact me as soon as possible. If you have not already done so, you should
also contact the
Schedule of
If not otherwise noted, readings are on electronic reserve.
OVE = On Virtue Ethics
(Hursthouse); NG = Natural Goodness
(Foot);
DRA = Dependent Rational Animals
(MacIntyre)
Sept 6 Labor Day; no class meeting.
13 Elizabeth
Anscombe, “Modern Moral Philosophy”; Bernard Williams, “Morality,
the Peculiar Institution;
Michael Stocker, “The Schizophrenia of Modern Ethical
Theories.”
20 Philippa Foot
“Virtues and Vices”; Gary Watson, “On the Primacy of Character”;
John McDowell, “Virtue and
Reason.”
27 Rosalind Hursthouse, Ch. 1-3 (OVE pp. 25-87).
Oct. 4
Life.”
11 Philippa Foot, Ch. 2-4 (NG pp. 25-65).
18 Philippa Foot, Ch. 5-7 (NG pp. 66-115).
25 John McDowell, “Two Sorts of Naturalism”
Nov. 1 Rosalind Hursthouse, Ch. 8-9 (OVE pp. 165-216)
8 Rosalind Hursthouse, Ch. 10-11 (OVE pp. 217-265)
15 Alasdair MacIntyre, Ch. 1-6 (DRA pp. 1-61)
22 Alasdair MacIntyre, Chapters 7-9 (DRA pp. 62-118)
29 Alasdair MacInyre, Chapters 10-13 (DRA pp. 119-166)
Dec. 6 Nomy Arpaly, Chapters 2 and 3 of Unprincipled Virtue
13 John Doris, “Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics” Nous 32:4 (1998) 504-530.
Gilbert Harman, “Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 99:3
(1999) 315-331.
Rachana Kamtekar, “Situationism and Virtue Ethics on the Content of Our Character” Ethics 114:3 (2004) 358-391.
Julia Annas, “Virtue Ethics and Social Psychology” A Priori www.apriori.canterbury.ac.nz