Introduction

What is Philosophy?
Is Philosophy a science?

The study of Morality and Ethics: Philosophy or Social Science?

"Areas" of Philosophical Inquiry:

Metaphysics

Epistemology, 2, Moral Epistemology
Logic, 2

Ethics, 2

Aesthetics
Political Philosophy, 2

Analytic/British Philosophy vs. Continental Philosophy.

 

Preliminary Approaches to the Study of Ethics:

1. Consequentialism (Chapter 2)

2. Nonconsequentialism (Chapter 3)

3, Virtue Ethics (Chapter 4)

4: Historical: "Heritage Ethics"

 

Cultural/Historical “origins” of “morality” in Western Civilization

1 Judaism

2 Greek and Hellenistic Civilization

- Eudemonia

- Socrates (469-399 BCE)

- Plato (427-347 BCE)

a- In The Republic, does Plato describe a Utopia or a Dystopia?
b - Does the Republic advance Justice as a criterion for moral and poetical philosophy?

- Aristotle (384-322 BCE) (Plato and Aristotle: key distinctions).

- Early Christianity

3 Roman and Medieval Civilization

-    Stoicism (& other Hellenistic philosophies: Epicureanism, Skepticism, Cynicism)

-    Platonic Catholicism (St. Augustine)

-    Aristotelian Catholicism (Scholasticism, St. Thomas Aquinas)

4 Renaissance and Reformation  ( 13th-17th centuries; 1517-1648(?) )

A) Rise of Middle Class

B) Northern Europe: Luther and Calvin

C) English Reformation:

-    Henry VIII (1491-1547). Anglicanism. Elizabeth I (1533-1603)

-    Later: Congregationalism, Calvinism, Arminianism, various sectaries.

-    Civil Wars (1640s)

-    Commonwealth (1650s)

-    Locke (1632-1704).  Glorious Revolution 1688.

-    English Common Law

5 Modern Period

    - Foundations of American Political Culture and Philosophy

Philosophers and Ethics:

Plato

Aristotle
Locke, 1, 2, 3

Jefferson, 2, "He wanted to be remembered not for his presidency, but for the roles he played in the creation of the Declaration of Independence, the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom and the University of Virginia."

"The Good Old Cause"
Puritan Origins
Origins

A useful tool:  Moral Philosophy in Context   Learn it!


From Thiroux and Krasemann:

On analytic philosophy: "...these philosophers feel that they might as well do what other specialists have done and concentrate on language and logic rather than attempt to arrive at ethical systems that will help human beings live together more meaningfully and ethcially" (5).

Kaplan:  Is it not possible that concentrating on logic and language can help us to live together more meaningfully and ethically?

Syllabus