Hum 8
Right & Wrong
Instructor: Steven Quartz, steve@hss.caltech.edu, Dabney 209
Tuesday, Thursday
Using historical figures as our starting point, we
will explore major themes and controversies in ethical theory and its
application to society.
Class Policies:
Attendance/Grading: Class attendance is mandatory. Non-attendance at more than
2 classes without prior approval will result in a failing grade. Grading is
based on participation in class (40%), Written
assignments (60%).
Assignments: 2 2,000 word
essays. Essay 1 due Oct 30 prompt: Does situationism undermine virtue ethics?
Week 1: Oct 2, 4
Tuesday: Organization and overview
Thursday: writing overview
and in-class writing assignment
Week 2 & 3: Oct 9 and Oct 18
Character &
Virtue
No class Oct 16
Ethics Overview and Comparison of theories
Aristotle,
Books I and II, Nicomachean Ethics http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/nicomachaen.html (only read Books I and II)
Harman,
Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology
Sabini & Silver, Lack of Character?
Situationism Experiments slides
Week 4: Oct 23
Reason & Emotion-Part I
overview of writing assignment #1 (due week 5), assessment of situationsim.
Bentham,
An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and
Legislation
Mill,
Utilitarianism
(not required reading, but for background, here's a resource:
http://www.utilitarianism.com/bentham.htm and http://www.utilitarianism.com/jsmill.htm)
Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Week 5 Oct 30 Reason & Emotion-Part II
Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Greene, The Neural Basis of
Cognitive Control and Conflict in Moral Judgment
Haidt, The Emotional Dog
and its Rational Tail
Week 6 Nov Egoism,
Evolution, and the State
Hobbes, Selections
from The Leviathan
for background on Hobbes, http://www.iep.utm.edu/h/hobmoral.htm (this is not required
reading-just a suggested resource for historical context)
Miller, Sexual
Selection for Moral Virtues
Fehr, Social Norms and Human Cooperation
Hobbes Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Evolution lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Week 7 Nov 13 Reputation and Empathy
The roots of modern justice:
cognitive and neural foundations of social norms and their enforcement
Neural
Basis of extraordinary empathy and altruistic motivation
Empathy for the
social suffering of friends and strangers
On the wrong side of the track
Week 8 Nov 20
Reputation Continued
No class Nov 22 (Thanksgiving)
Week 9 Nov 27
Moral Responsibility, Free Will, and the Law
paper & writing review
Greene, For the Law,
Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything
Goodenough, Responsibility and
Punishment
Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
Week 10 Dec 4 Distributive Justice
overview: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/
Lecture slides (compiled from various sources)
FINAL ESSAYS
Due Date: March 16,
5pm: email paper to steve@hss.caltech.edu. Essay length: 2,000 words (at least 2 sources beyond class readings).
Final Essay Topic Suggestions:
These are some suggested topics - you may address only one part of a topic,
modify the topic, or develop your own topic.
1.
Mill's utilitarianism requires moral agents to apply the Greatest Happiness
Principle impartially. Is this a psychologically plausible requirement? Do such
psychological considerations matter for a normative
theory?
2.
Is it possible for self-interested individuals to cooperate? Do solutions to
collective problems require a strong central authority?
3.
Is legal responsibility possible without free will? What would a legal system
look like that did not depend on assumptions of free will?
4.
Would an individual who was incapable of emotion be able to act morally?