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Department of Philosophy   Northern Illinois University

Course Offerings: Spring 2008

PHILOSOPHY 531: ADVANCED ETHICAL THEORY

TUESDAY
SECTION 1, 6:00 - 8:40 P.M.

PROFESSOR SHARON SYTSMA

REQUIRED TEXTS
Nagel, The Possibility of Altruism
Darwall, The British Moralists and the Internal “Ought”
Numerous Articles on Electronic Reserve
Students can access the classical works on line if they do not already own the books

COURSE CONTENT
The course will be devoted to the distinction in contemporary ethics between ethical internalism and externalism. The distinction has to do with the nature, if any, of the relationship between the recognition or moral obligation and the motivation to act accordingly. We begin by reviewing the theories of moral motivation of the classical theorists (including but not limited to Plato, Aristotle, Hobbes, Hume and Kant) by focusing on the sections of their works addressing that issue. Then we turn to the locus classicus of the internalist/externalist distinction in Falk, Frankena, and Nagel. Important articles from the last three decades on the debate will be critically examined in view of developing a cogent theory about moral motivation. Authors we will study include David Brink, E. J. Bond, Michael Stocker, Christine Korsgaard, Charlotte Brown, Alfred Mele, Michael Smith, Nick Zangwill, Linda Zagzebski and others.

COURSE FORMAT
The requirements for this seminar are one or two class presentations (depending on class size), a short paper, and one term paper.