This course is an introduction to moral philosophy, as such it does not require any prior course in ethics or philosophy. It will, however, offer a fairly broad and detailed treatment of ethical thought. Toward the end of the course we will also consider some contemporary ethical problems as well as some lesser known ethical theories.

The aim in this course is to help the student develop a clearer understanding of the questions and approaches that underlie much of the ethical debates taking place both inside and outside of academic discussion. Our second aim will be to help give you, the student, the conceptual tools to enable you to address questions like: “What does it mean for something to be good?”, “How should I treat others?”, “Do I have duties to others? If so what are they?”