Module 1 What Should I Do?

Week 1 Evaluating moral arguments

01-29-24

• No required readings

01-31-24

1. J. Rachels and S. Rachels. “What is Morality?” In: The Elements of Moral Philosophy . McGraw-Hill New York, 1993. Link

Week 2 Is it all about outcomes?

02-05-24

1. “Cannibalism in the Sea.” BBC History (2021). Link

2. P. Singer. “The Logic of Effective Altruism.” Boston Review (2015). Link

3. “The right to privacy (notes)”. Link

02-07-24

1. R. Shafer-Landau. “Consequentialism.” In: The Fundamentals of Ethics . 2009. Link

Week 3 Are some actions inherently right or wrong?

02-12-24

1. E. Hoel. “Why I am not an effective altruist.” The Intrinsic Perspective (2022). Link

02-14-24

1. R. Shafer-Landau. “The Kantian perspective.” In: The Fundamentals of Ethics . 2009. Link

Week 4 What do we owe each other?

02-19-24

1. J. Rachels and S. Rachels. “The Social Contract Theory.” In: The Elements of Moral Philosophy . McGraw-Hill New York, 1993. Link

02-21-24

1. M. Sandel. “The case for equality.” In: Justice . 2009. Link

Week 5

02-26-24

• No required readings

02-28-24

• Essay # 1

Module 2 Ethics in the Wild

Week 6 How should we live?

03-04-24

1. R. Shafer-Landau. “Hedonism.” In: The Fundamentals of Ethics . 2009. Link

03-06-24

1. P. Bloom. “Why We Choose to Suffer.” The Wall Street Journal (2021). Link

2. R. Nozick. “The Experience Machine.” In: Anarchy, State, and Utopia . Basic Book, 1974. Link

Week 7 Animal welfare

03-11-24

1. I. Kant. “We have no duties to animals.” Lectures on Ethics (1930). Link

2. F. De Waal. “Animal rights.” In: Primates and philosophers: How morality evolved . Princeton University Press, 2009. Link

03-13-24

1. P. Singer. “All animals are equal.” In: Animal Liberation . Harper Collins, 1975. Link

Week 8

03-18-24*

• No class

03-20-24*

• No class

Week 9 The tragedy of the commons

03-25-24

1. M. Ridley. “Ecology as Religion.” In: The Origins of Virtue . Penguin UK, 1997. Link

2. Optional: J. Diamond. “Easter’s End.” Discover (1995). Link

03-27-24

1. The Tragedy of the Commons (definition). Link

2. R. Roberts. “Incentives Matter.” Econlib (2016). Link

3. Optional: G. Hardin. “The tragedy of the commons.” Science 162 (1968), pp. 1243–1248. Link

Week 10

04-01-24

• No required readings

04-03-24

• Essay # 2

Module 3 What Makes Us Moral

Week 11 The moral sense

04-08-24

1. C. Buckley. “Man is rescued by stranger on subway tracks.” The New York Times 3.1 (2007). Link

2. C. Booth. “The Bad Samaritan.” Time 152.10 (1998), pp. 59–60. Link

3. Optional: L. MacFarquhar. “The Kindest Cut: What sort of person gives a kidney to a stranger?” New Yorker (2009), pp. 38–51. Link

04-10-24

1. J. Rachels and S. Rachels. “Does Morality Depend on Religion?” In: The Elements of Moral Philosophy . McGraw-Hill New York, 1993. Link

Week 12

04-15-24*

• No class

04-17-24

• Special guest

Week 13 Is morality in the eye of the beholder?

04-22-24

1. J. Rachels and S. Rachels. “The Challenge of Cultural Relativism.” In: The Elements of Moral Philosophy . McGraw-Hill New York, 1993. Link

2. K. Cuomo. “Interview with Fauziya Kassindja.” PBS (2000). Link

04-24-24

1. J. Greene. “Efficiency, Flexibility, and the Dual-Process Brain.” In: Moral Tribes: Emotion, reason, and the gap between us and them . Penguin, 2014. Link

2. J. Greene. “Cushman et al’s experiment on human aggression.” In: Moral Tribes: Emotion, reason, and the gap between us and them . Penguin, 2014. Link

Week 14 Do we feel or think our way to morality?

04-29-24

1. F. De Waal. “Morally Evolved.” In: Primates and philosophers: How morality evolved . Princeton University Press, 2009. Link

05-01-24

1. K. Simler and R. Hanson. “‘Norms’ and ‘Cheating’.” In: The Elephant in the Brain . Oxford University Press, 2017. Link

Week 15

05-06-24

1. K. Simler and R. Hanson. “Religion.” In: The Elephant in the Brain . Oxford University Press, 2017. Link

05-08-24

• No required readings

Week 16

05-13-24

• Essay # 3