Meta-Ethics

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Are there moral truths? If so, are they universal or relative? Is morality merely an expression of, for example, our emotions? Is God necessary for morality? Can we understand and explain morality from a purely scientific or naturalistic point of view? What motivates us to act morally? Some of the most gripping questions in contemporary life are about the nature and status of morality itself. In contemporary philosophy, these questions are central to a field known as "metaethics." Metaethics aims to understand and to explain the nature and grounds of morality, moral discourse, and moral practice. This course is an introduction to metaethics. In it, students will learn how to think philosophically about metaethical questions (like those above) and the answers philosophers have proposed to them. Some of the contemporary philosophers that we will read include Christine Korsgaard, David Enoch, Sharon Street, AJ Ayer, JL Mackie, Philippa Foot, Russ Shafer-Landau, GE Moore, and others. We may also occasionally turn toward some of the giants of the past, such as Plato, Kant, and Hume.