Contemporary Ethical Theory

In this course, we shall explore some of the major texts on moral philosophy of the past 30 years. We shall begin with John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, which attempts to develop a substantive theory of justice, considering both his substantive theory and the methodology of the book. We shall then study a series of works that consider whether substantive moral theory is possible, including Bernard Wiliams's Ethics and the Limit of Philosophy and Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue. (No prerequisites, but PHIL 0150, PSYC 0102, or PHIL 0205 would provide useful background.) 3 hrs. lect.