AP/PHIL4070 3.0 M: Seminar in Moral Philosophy
Offered by: PHIL
Session
Winter 2021
Term
W
Format
SEMR
Instructor
Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite
An intensive examination of particular problems in moral philosophy, or intensive studies of the writings of individual moral philosophers. Topics vary from year to year. Prerequisites: At least nine credits in philosophy including AP/PHIL 3020 3.00 or AP/PHIL 3110 3.00. Course credit exclusion: GL/PHIL 4237 3.00 (may be waived with permission of the Department).
Course Start Up
Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.
For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.
For IT support, students may contact University Information Technology Client Services via askit@yorku.ca or (416) 736-5800. Please also visit Students Getting Started UIT or the Getting Help - UIT webpages.
Professor Robert Myers
rmyers@yorku.ca
Virtual office hours:
Office hours will be by appointment only. Students should email the instructor at rmyers@yorku.ca to make an appointment; a Zoom meeting or phone conversation will then be scheduled.
The topic of this seminar will be recent developments in metaethics. We will begin by examining the competing positions that philosophers currently take on questions concerning the meaning of moral judgements and the nature of moral properties. We will then consider a series of difficulties that these positions face, with a view to assessing their comparative plausibility (or implausibility).
Technical requirements for taking the course:
Classes will be online, delivered synchronously over Zoom. They will not be recorded. In addition to a stable, higher-speed Internet connection, students will need a computer with a webcam and a microphone, and/or a smart device with these features.
Here are some useful links for computing information, resources and help:
Zoom@YorkU User Reference Guide
Computing for Students Website
Student Guide to eLearning at York University
To determine Internet connection and speed, there are online tests, such as Speedtest, that can be run.
Times and locations:
Classes will be delivered over Zoom at the scheduled meeting times. There will be no in-person interactions or activities on campus.
Russ Shafer-Landau and Terence Cuneo, eds., Foundations of Ethics: An Anthology. Blackwell Publishing, 2007.
Other readings will be available electronically on the eClass site.
- First writing assignment: 30%
- Second writing assignment: 50%
- Tutorial participation: 20%
There will be 3 components to class assessment: two writing assignments and class participation.
- Students will improve their ability to read and analyze philosophical texts and to articulate and defend philosophical positions of their own.
- Students will improve their ability to communicate complicated ideas and arguments both in speech and in writing.
- Students will develop greater familiarity with the contending positions on metaethical issues and with the principal difficulties that they face.
- Students will learn to think critically both about the demands that morality makes of us and about our reasons to comply with them.
Late submissions will be subject to a penalty of 2.5% per calendar day or fraction thereof, unless prior approval has been granted by the instructor.
- Academic Honesty
- Student Rights and Responsibilities
- Religious Observance
- Grading Scheme and Feedback
- 20% Rule
No examinations or tests collectively worth more than 20% of the final grade in a course will be given during the final 14 calendar days of classes in a term. The exceptions to the rule are classes which regularly meet Friday evenings or on Saturday and/or Sunday at any time, and courses offered in the compressed summer terms. - Academic Accommodation for Students with Disabilities
