FIL2308 – Ethics and Practical Philosophy: Virtue Ethics

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FIL2308 – Ethics and practical philosophy: Virtue Ethics Franco V. Trivigno Office Hours: Email: [email protected] TBD COURSE DESCRIPTION: What sort of person am I? What sort of person ought I strive to be? In this course, we will explore the notions of character and virtue from both ancient and modern perspectives. The first part of the course will focus on an articulation of the structure of ancient virtue ethics, in order to contrast its emphasis on the notion of character with traditional deontological and consequentialist theories. The second part will focus on particular issues and controversies in contemporary virtue ethics, including the action-guiding force of virtue theoretic concepts, the legitimacy of ethical naturalism, and the empirical viability of the notion of character. TEXTS: Required Aristotle, 2000, Nicomachean Ethics, transl. T. Irwin, 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Hackett. Annas, J., 1993, The Morality of Happiness, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hursthouse, Rosalind, 1999, On Virtue Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Recommended Crisp, R. and M. Slote (eds.), 1997, Virtue Ethics, Oxford: Oxford University Press. MacIntyre, A., 1985, After Virtue, London, Duckworth, 2nd Edition. Russell, D. 2009, Practical Intelligence and the Virtues, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Snow, N., 2010, Virtue as Social Intelligence, New York: Routlegde. REQUIREMENTS: There will be six one-page paper assignments, of which you must complete five, and one long final research paper. The questions for the one-page papers will focus on a significant theoretical aspect of virtue ethics, and we will be discussing our responses in class. Attendance is also mandatory; if you miss more than 4 class meetings, you will not be allowed to hand in a final paper. COURSE OBJECTIVES: By the end of the course, you should be able to: • Understand the main structural components of an ethics of virtue • Compare the virtue ethical approach with other approaches to morality • Articulate the main strengths and weaknesses of virtue ethics • Compare and contrast different approaches within virtue ethics • Write a substantive research paper, dealing with a core issue in contemporary virtue ethics. .

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Research in Practical Philosophy
Research in Practical Philosophy in Sweden: 1998 - 2008, appendix to Report of the International Panel for the Evaluationof Swedish Research in Philosophy to the Swedish Research Council Rabinowicz, Wlodek 2009 Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Rabinowicz, W. (2009). Research in Practical Philosophy in Sweden: 1998 - 2008, appendix to Report of the International Panel for the Evaluationof Swedish Research in Philosophy to the Swedish Research Council. Swedish Research Council. Total number of authors: 1 General rights Unless other specific re-use rights are stated the following general rights apply: Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal Read more about Creative commons licenses: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. LUND UNIVERSITY PO Box 117 221 00 Lund +46 46-222 00 00 Wlodek Rabinowicz Research in Practical Philosophy in Sweden: 1998-2008 In this short summary, which is aimed to give a rough picture of the main lines of research in practical philosophy in Sweden during the last decade, I have decided to organize the presentation by universities rather than by particular research subjects.
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