Dr. Bradley Richards
bradrich@yorku.ca
Office Location:  N822 Ross Building
Phone Number:  TBA
Office Hours:  by appointment, either in person or remote (I am usually available Monday at 12-1
in person, but you can make appointments for other times too.

This course is an introduction to some of the foundational questions in moral, political, and legal philosophy. We will engage with ethical questions regarding global justice and poverty, punishment and the death penalty, liberty and drug use, oppression, affirmative action, and sexual morality. Our aim in this course is not necessarily to find the right or wrong answers to all of these questions. Instead, we will use the fundamental tools of philosophy to better understand what these questions are asking and how best to argue for and defend various conclusions intended to answer them.

Course Delivery (Hybrid)
1. We will meet in person on Mondays to discuss material (but not on Wednesdays).
2. There will be no formal lecture. (only recorded lecture material posted to eClass)
3. The nature of the posted materials (video, or slides, or both, may vary from week to
week).
4. Quizzes and discussion boards will become available weekly starting Week 2.
5. Most readings are in the textbook bundle. Additional readings will be posted to eClass.

Technical Requirements
● Eclass will be used to deliver most course content.
● Students are required to submit assignments through eClass
● Assignments may be evaluated by Turnitin
● Zoom may also be used to deliver some content
● Students will need a computer or smart device to access the course materials

The texts for this course are available as a digital bundle
Here are the details of the ebook bundle available through the York bookstore and OUP.
Bundle:
● E-ISBN: 9780190168049

Bradley Richards - Justice, Law, and Morality PHIL 1002

The bundle contains three books:
9780190058241 Shafer-Landau: The Ethical Life 5/e (TEL)
9780190921149 Fischer: Death, Immortality, and Meaning in Life
(DIML)
9780190491000 Cahn: Principles of Moral Philosophy (PMP)
Other readings (not in these three books) will have links or articles provided in D2L

Critical Argument
Evaluation 1
Sep 30, 2022 30%
Weekly Discussion Board
(complete 8/12)
Weekly on Friday 15%
Weekly Quizzes (complete
8/12)
Weekly on Wednesday 20%
Final Exam tba 35%

Course Schedule
1. Introduction 7/9
2. The Good Life 12/9 & 14/9
a. *JS Mill: Hedonism TEL
b. *Nozick: The Experience Machine TEL
3. Death and Value19/9 & 21/9
a. *Fischer, Chapter 3: Bads Without Negative Experience (DIML)
b. *Fisher, Chapter 7: Identity, Boredom, and Immortality Realism (DIML)
4. Realism and Objectivism 26/9 & 28/9
a. *David Hume: Moral Distinctions Not Derived from Reason TEL
b. Mackie: The Subjectivity of Values TEL
c. *G.E. Moore: Principia Ethica PMP
d. David Enoch: Why I Am an Objectivist about Ethics (And Why You Are, Too)
TEL
5. Relativism 03/10 & 05/10
a. *Harman: A Defense of Moral Relativism TML
b. *Mary Midgley: Trying out One’s New Sword TEL
*****Reading WEEK NO CLASSSES 10/10 & 12/10*************
6. Egoism: Why be moral? 17/10 & 19/10
a. *Plato: The Republic PMP
b. Jesse Kalin: In Defense of Egoism PMP
c. *James Rachels: Egoism and Moral Skepticism PMP
7. Divine Command Theory 24/10 & 26/10
a. *Plato, Euthyphro PMP
b. *Steven M. Cahn: God and Morality PMP
c. Robert M. Adams: A Modified Divine Command Theory of Ethical Wrongness
PMP
8. Consequentialism 31/10 & 02/11
a. Jeremy Bentham: An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation
PMP
b. *John Stuart Mill: Utilitarianism TEL
c. *Bernard Williams: A Critique of Utilitarianism PMP
d. The Singer Solution to World Poverty TEL
9. Kantian Ethics 07/11 & 09/11
a. *Immanuel Kant: Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals TEL
b. *Judith Jarvis Thomson: The Trolley Problem PMP
10. Emotivism 14/11 & 16/11
a. *J. Prinz, The Emotional Construction of Morals, Chapter 1: Emotionism
11. Virtue Ethics 21/11 & 23/11
a. Chapter 6: Virtue Ethics
i. *Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics (TEL)
ii. Alistar MacIntyre: The Virtues
iii. The Sermon on the Mount
12. Social Contract Theory 28/11 & 30/11
a. Thomas Hobbes: Leviathan TEL
b. *John Rawls: A Theory of Justice PMP
c. Robert Nozick: The Entitlement Theory EMP 338
13. Panopticism (if we have time)
a. *Gutting, Foucault, Chapter 8, Crime and Punishment
b. Foucault, Discipline and Punish, Chapter 1

Completing the work for this course will:
•Introduce you to some of the central questions in moral philosophy.
•Teach you the motivations behind the primary positions in the field, along with their benefits
and flaws.
•Improve your ability to read difficult texts with comprehension.
•Improve your ability to analyze and evaluate arguments.
•Improve your ability to communicate complicated ideas in concise prose.

RECORDINGS POLICY
Lecture recordings are to be used for educational purposes only and as a means for
enhancing accessibility. Students do not have permission to duplicate, copy and/or
distribute the recordings outside of the class (these acts can violate not only copyright
laws but also FIPPA).

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
All forms of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism and cheating, will be taken
extremely seriously. Potential penalties include, but are not limited to, failure of the
assignment and/or failure of the course. In addition, students who plagiarize or cheat on
any assignments forfeit their privilege to drop their lowest grades. Students are expected
to be familiar with York’s policy regarding academic integrity:
http://www.yorku.ca/secretariat/policies/. All students are expected to complete the
Honour Code Pledge on eClass.

Bradley Richards - Justice, Law, and Morality PHIL 1002
Accessibility
This course employs universal design learning. My goal is to see every student succeed. No one
should do poorly on an assignment because of time constraints. Accordingly, I have adjusted
everyone’s time allotments so that you have a 3X modifier (3 times the required amount of time
to complete an assignment). If anyone has an official accommodation greater than 3x, please let
me know. Likewise, please let me know if you require accommodations of other kinds.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We are committed to fairly accommodating students with disabilities. Please contact us as
soon as possible with the relevant documentation from Student Accessibility Services.
Late Assignments
- No late quizzes will be accepted and no extensions granted. However, you are permitted
to miss 4/12 (you must complete 8). Aim to complete all 12 quizzes and your lowest
grades will be dropped.
- No late discussion board entries will be accepted and no extensions granted. However,
you are permitted to miss 4/12 (you must complete 8). Aim to complete all 12 discussion
board entries and your lowest grades will be dropped.
- Late critical argument evaluations will be accepted for two weeks without penalty
(extensions must be requested). Again, this is enough time for everyone. After this
period there are no extension and no late assignments will be accepted.