Moral Ideals and Moral Theory

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

This course will be an exploration of the role that moral ideals play in normative ethical theories and the problems generated by those ideals in non-ideal contexts. We will take up problems internal to the theories (e.g. whether adherence to the ideals undermines the goals of the theory) and external to the theories (e.g., whether the ideals reflect or instantiate objectionable moral norms). Among other things, the course will include critical discussion of idealization in Aristotelian virtue ethics, Kantian ethics, ideal observer theory, and Michael Smith’s version of moral rationalism.