PHIL153 Ethics

Review for second midterm exam – although your final exam will be comprehensive, this exam will only cover material since the previous exam.

Rationalist constructivism: Kant’s theory
Categorical imperative

Utilitarianism: Bentham version, Mill version
            Greatest good for the greatest number
            Hedonistic conception of pleasure in Bentham; Mill disagrees
            Mill defines distinction between deontological theories and consequentialist theories
            Act-utilitarianism vs rule-utilitarianism

Scottish enlightenment tradition
            Hutcheson and the “moral sense”
            Hume and Smith on sympathy
            Smith’s “impartial spectator”

Contractarianism: Gauthier
            Relationship between self-interest and cooperation
            Prisoner’s Dilemma
            “Morals by Agreement”

Readings: chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, Smith reading on website, Taylor videos