This is an advanced module focusing on recent, cutting-edge work in moral philosophy and/or practical reason. Typically the module will involve a close reading of a recently published book or selection of closely related articles. The precise topics and readings may vary from year to year, to reflect recent developments in the field. Nonetheless, topics will typically concern the relation between morality and reasons for action (for instance: whether and why we ought to be moral).

• demonstrate a knowledge of recent work and debates in moral philosophy and/or practical reason
• demonstrate an ability to interpret, analyse and critically evaluate cutting-edge work in this field
• demonstrate the ability to appraise and assess arguments
• demonstrate the ability to reach conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of arguments and to justify these conclusions with sound reasoning and detailed interpretations of source material
• demonstrate the ability to form a consistent position about questions raised in the module
• demonstrate a knowledge and critical understanding of recent work and debates in moral philosophy and/or practical reason
• interpret, analyse and critically evaluate  recent work in this field

This module will be delivered through a combination of lectures, discussion sessions and seminars. Students will be expected to have read selected book chapters and accompanying articles prior to discussion sessions and seminars, to have prepared answers to any questions set, and to be able to critically discuss the philosophical issues raised.

The module will be taught using printed books, a printed Course Reader and journal articles available from the library or available online.

Timetabled sessions will be supplemented with written material which may take the form of a skeletal or detailed summary of the content, questions and/or instructions for discussion, a list of new vocabulary, acronyms or subject-specific terminology or a list of further reading. This supplementary material may be written on the board during the session, take the form of a printed handout, be provided on Learning Central or be projected 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 module (for topics, readings etc.), made available at least 24 hours before the session (in the case of handouts on Learning Central) or made available in hard copy at the beginning of the session (in the case of handouts distributed in hard copy).

Images, diagrams, sound, video or other multimedia resources will not be used in this module.

Intellectual Skills:

• interpretation of texts
• appraisal and assessment of arguments
• the ability to reach conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of arguments and to justify these conclusions with sound reasoning and detailed interpretations of source material
• the ability to develop views on the topics examined with a degree of intellectual independence
• the ability to form a consistent position about questions raised in the module

Discipline Specific Skills:

• interpretation of philosophical texts
• analysing and constructing philosophical arguments
• deploying appropriate philosophical vocabulary

Transferable Skills:

• analysis of arguments
• reading texts in a creative and disciplined manner
• communication of complex ideas clearly and accessibly to others, both orally and in written work (through a combination of discussion work, seminars and written assessment)
• structuring ideas and arguments clearly, both orally and in written work
• the ability to form own views and ideas

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.

One formative essay of 1,200 words is required, chosen from a list of questions to be circulated. The essay should be submitted through Learning Central by a specified date during the spring semester.  The essay will be returned electronically, and students are encouraged to make an individual appointment with the marker in order to discuss it.

The module is assessed by a summative essay (of not more than 2,000 words) and a 1.5 hour exam.  The summative essay may be based on the formative essay.

This module is assessed according to the Marking Criteria set out in the Philosophy Undergraduate Student Handbook. There are otherwise no academic or competence standards which limit the availability of adjustments or alternative assessments for students with disabilities.

The exact content may vary from year to year, to reflect recent developments in the field. Nonetheless, topics will typically focus on any (or all) of the following:

• normative ethics: e.g. accounts of the moral rightness/wrongness of actions
• practical reason: e.g. whether all reasons for action depend on what agents desire

• the relation between morality and reasons: e.g. whether and why we all have reasons to do what morality demands

Readings may vary from year to year. Typically the module will involve a close reading of a recent book, supplemented by relevant articles, or a series of articles. Here are examples of books/articles that could form the module’s primary focus:

Bernard Williams: ‘Internal and External Reasons’, in his Moral Luck (Cambridge University Press, 1981), pp.101-13.

Mark Schroeder: Slaves of the Passions (Oxford University Press, 2007)

Paul Katsafanas: Agency and the Foundations of Ethics: Nietzschean Constitutivism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).

For some useful background reading, see:

Stephen Finlay & Mark Schroeder: ‘Reasons for Action: Internal vs. External’, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,   http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reasons-internal-external/(2008).

Simon Robertson: ‘Reasons, Values, and Morality’, in The Routledge Companion to Ethics, ed. J. Skorupski (Routledge, 2010), pp. 433-34.

Berys Gaut & Garret Cullity: Ethics and Practical Reason (Oxford University Press, 1997).