Professor Robert Myers
rmyers@yorku.ca
Office Location:  S423 Ross Building
Phone Number:  (416) 736-2100 Ext. 77556

Office Hours:  Tuesday 1:30 - 2:30

What can it mean to say that morality requires something of someone?  Are there really truths of this sort, or do moral claims merely give expression to people’s wants and interests?  If there are truths about what morality requires of people, are such truths somehow relative to time and place or are they universal?  What reason, if any, could people have to comply with them?

This course explores the answers to such questions given by four towering figures in the history of Western philosophy: Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill.  We will study their writings alongside a sampling of recent work by philosophers who have been influenced by them.  We will also consider some recent dissenters.

Technical requirements for taking the course: Classes and tutorials will be in person.  Students will need internet access to the course eClass site.

Times and locations: Lectures are on Tuesdays from 10:30-12:30 in Vari Hall B; tutorials are on Thursdays at 10:30 and 11:30.

Required texts:

1. Immanuel Kant, Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, translated by James W. Ellington. Hackett Publishing Company, 1993.
2. John Stuart Mill, Utilitarianism, edited by George Sher. Hackett Publishing Company, 2002.

Other readings will be available electronically on the course eClass site.

1. First writing assignment: 20%
2. Second writing assignment: 30%
3. Third writing assignment: 30%
4. Tutorial participation: 20%

There will be 4 components to class assessment: three writing assignments and tutorial participation.

Detailed handouts, to help structure our meetings, will be posted on the course eClass site.  Note, however, that these handouts will not be replacing the classes, and that attending classes is essential to doing well in the course.

1. Students will learn to read and analyze philosophical texts and to articulate and defend philosophical positions of their own.
2. Students will develop familiarity with the moral philosophies of Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and John Stuart Mill and some of their most important current followers.
3. Students will learn to think critically both about the demands that morality makes of us and about our reasons to comply with them.

Course policies

The three writing assignments must be submitted BOTH to Turnitin AND to the teaching assistant via email.  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.