Who are you? And why do you behave like that? This course is concerned with some philosophical issues faced by anyone attempting to answer those questions, such as: the nature and existence of character traits like courage, honesty, and integrity; the difference between intended, intentional, and unintentional actions; the role of desire in action and the difference between desires that are yours and desires that aren’t; whether it is really true that people see the world differently and why; how pleasure features in our motivations and how it should; how it is possible to do what you know you shouldn’t.

Although these issues are central to moral philosophy, they are themselves issues in the philosophy of mind and philosophy of psychology. Hence the course title. There will be very few lectures for this course. Lectures will only introduce each major topic. The rest of the course will be spent in seminars, two per week for each student, discussing excerpts from classic philosophy texts such as Aristotle and Mill or recent philosophy articles. We will also look at some classic psychology experiments.

The module aims to give students a thorough understanding of a range of debates in contemporary moral psychology, including an understanding of classic philosophical treatments of the issues and classic psychology experiments pertaining to them, and to equip students to argue for and against positions in current debates on these topics.

• demonstrate knowledge of key debates in moral psychology and the central positions in them.
• demonstrate knowledge of relevant empirical findings and their philosophical limitations.

There will be very few lectures for this course. Lectures will only introduce each major topic. Most of the timetabled teaching slots will be used for seminars. Each seminar group will meet twice per week, for one hour at each meeting, to discuss the reading set for that seminar. This will always be a passage from a classic philosophy text or a recent philosophy article. In some weeks, when we are beginning a new topic, there will be two hours of lectures and one hour of seminar for each student. We will cover three or four topics in the module, drawn from the following list: character; intention; agency and selfhood; moral perception; pleasure; weakness of will.

This module will be taught using a printed course reader containing book chapters and/or journal articles.

Timetabled sessions will be supplemented with written material in the form of a skeletal outline of the content/detailed summary of the content, questions and/or instructions for discussion and a list of further reading. This supplementary material will be provided in the form of a printed handout and will be projected during the session using PowerPoint or OHP acetates. Any supplementary material in a permanent form (e.g. a paper handout or downloadable document) will be made available at the beginning of the session.

Still images or diagrams and videos or animation with soundtrack will be used as an occasional supplement in this module to supplement or illustrate points which are also presented verbally (e.g. in text or by means of a caption). Any audio-visual materials used will be subtitled.

Students will practise and develop the following skills:

• The ability to engage in reasoned debate over these key issues.
• The ability to communicate clearly thoughts about these issues in speech and writing.

Students will develop employability skills which include the ability to synthesise information, operating in group-based discussion involving negotiating ideas and producing clear, informed arguments in a professional manner.

The formative assessment for this module consists of one essay of up to 4,000 words which should be submitted by a deadline towards the end of the semester. This will be for formative feedback only. Essays submitted late without good cause might not be marked in time for the revision period.

The summative assessment for the course takes the form of one three-hour written examination, in which each candidate must answer two questions.

This module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the Philosophy UG Student Handbook. There are academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities. Reading, understanding, and conveying complex arguments in written form are the key transferable skills at the core of this module.

The module will be concerned with a range of key issues in contemporary moral psychology, drawn from the following list: character; intention; agency and selfhood; moral perception; pleasure; weakness of will.

Gilbert Harman, Moral Philosophy Meets Social Psychology. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society 1999.

Nancy Snow, Habitual Virtuous Actions and Automaticity, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2006.

Lorraine Besser-Jones, Social Psychology, Moral Character, and Moral Fallibility, Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 2008.

Stephanie Beardman, Altruism and the Experimental Data on Helping Behaviour, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 2012.

Jonathan Webber, Character, Attitude and Disposition, European Journal of Philosophy 2013.