Full information about each assessment task is available in the Task Outlines, Task Descriptions, and Task Rubrics, all of which are located under "Assessment" on the unit iLearn site.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT WEEKLY QUIZZES

There are 10 Weekly Quizzes available (Weeks 2-5 and Weeks 7-12).

These quizzes are worth 2% each.

Correction to information below: YOU CAN COMPLETE AS MANY QUIZZES AS YOU LIKE. (Please ignore the error below where it is stated that you should complete 7 out of 10 quizzes. That is no longer applicable to this unit.)

Quiz deadlines:

To be eligible for a mark the quiz must be completed by the following times/days each week in which there is a quiz:

Internal students:  11.59pm each Wednesday night (i.e. the night before the second Lecture each week);

Online-only students: 11.59pm each Sunday night following the lectures on that topic.

No extensions will be granted for any quizzes.

Delivery: Day/attendance

This unit will use: iLecture, iLearn

Times and Locations for Lectures and Tutorials: For current updates and to confirm lecture times and classrooms please consult the MQ Timetables website: http://www.timetables.mq.edu.au.

Classes:

In Week 1: There will be two live lectures. Internal students are expected to attend both lectures this week. Online students must listen to iLearn recordings as per usual.

Lecture 1: Tuesday 2–3pm

Lecture 2: Thursday 11am–12pm - Live lecture: Internal students are expected to attend 7/10 live lectures.

Tutorials:

Thursdays 12–1pm 

Thursdays 2–3pm 

FROM WEEK 2:

Lecture 1: Recorded mini-lecture, available on Echo360 at unit iLearn site by 12pm each Monday. There will be no live lecture, BUT AN ONLINE QUIZ BASED ON READING AND LECTURE MUST BE COMPLETED by 11.59pm each Wednesday night).

All students: Listen online to recorded mini-lecture 1 at the start of each week and complete weekly quiz based on Reading 1 for that week, and recorded mini-lecture.

Internal students: Attend Lecture 2 and 1 tutorial each week. Tutorials start in Week 2.

Online students: Listen online to both lectures each week and complete weekly online discussion tasks as provided on iLearn.

Required and recommended resources:

All required readings are in the PHL2025: Ethical Theory course reader available via Print On Demand from the bookstore. This contains the essential weekly readings for lectures and tutorials. All students are expected to read the essential readings. Additional readings will be mentioned in lectures, and must be used for the Essay. Most journal articles are available electronically; additional books and book chapters covering all core areas of the unit, are available in the Library.

PHL2025 UNIT SCHEDULE AND READINGS

The following is an outline of the topics and the readings that will be covered week by week. The listed essential readings are all in the PHL2025 course Reader. These are the minimum required reading for the unit. The further readings will assist you to develop an expanded understanding of the issues discussed in lectures, and should be used for essay preparation. More detailed reading lists will also be provided for essay topics.

SECTION 1: ARISTOTLE, AGENCY AND FRIENDSHIP

Week 1 (beginning 24 February): Unit Introduction; Introduction to Aristotle

Essential Reading:

(i) Aristotle: Moral Virtue, How Produced’. From P. Singer (ed) Ethics (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994, pp.26-7.

Week 2 (beginning 2 March): Aristotle on voluntary/involuntary action; Nagel on moral luck

Essential Reading:

(i) Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book III.

(ii) T. Nagel, ‘Moral Luck’, Chp. 3 in Nagel Mortal Questions (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1979): 24-38.

Further Reading:

(iii) J. Feinberg. 1986. ‘Failures of Consent’, extracts from Chs. 23 & 26 of Harm to Self, (New York & Oxford: OUP) Extracts: pp. 189-195; 269-280; 316-322.

(iv) T. Irwin, ‘Reason and Responsibility in Aristotle’ in Amelie Rorty (ed), Essays On Aristotle’s Ethics, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1980, pp. 117-157.

Week 3 (beginning 9 March): Aristotle and contemporary views of friendship

Essential Reading:

(i) Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics,  Books VIII, IX

(ii) D. Cocking and J. Kennett, ‘Friendship and the Self’, Ethics 108, 1998: pp. 502-27.

Further Reading:

(iii) Cooper, J. ‘Aristotle on Friendship’, in Amelie Rorty (ed), Essays on Aristotle’s Ethics, pp. 301- 340

(iv) Badhwar, N.K., (ed.), 1993, Friendship: A Philosophical Reader, Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

(v) Friedman, M.A., 1993, What Are Friends For? Feminist Perspectives on Personal Relationships and Moral Theory, Ithaca, NY: Cornell UP

SHORT PAPER DUE: 11.59pm Friday 13 March

SECTION 2: MILL AND PATERNALISM

Week 4 (beginning 16 March): Mill on Liberty

Essential Reading:

(i) J. S. Mill: “Introductory” p, 126-140. (Note the famous passage on p. 135)

(ii) Chapter III “Of Individuality” pp. 184-204.

Week 5 (beginning 23 March): Paternalism

Essential Reading:

(i) G. Dworkin, ‘Paternalism’. In Paternalism, ed. Rolf Sartorius (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1983), pp. 19-34.

(ii) R. E. Goodin, ‘Permissible Paternalism: Saving Smokers from Themselves.’ In Ethics In Practice: An Anthology. Ed. Hugh La Follette (Cambridge; Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1997), pp. 320-325.

Further Reading:

(iii) A. E. Cudd, ‘Taking Drugs Seriously: Liberal Paternalism and the Rationality of Preferences.’ In Ethics In Practice: An Anthology. Ed. Hugh La Follette (Cambridge; Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1997), pp. 309- 319.

Week 6 (beginning 30 March): Contemporary Liberal Autonomy

Essential Reading:

(i) A. E. Fuchs, ‘Autonomy, Slavery, and Mill’s Critique of Paternalism’, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice 4, 2001: 231-251

Further Reading:

(ii) John Christman, ‘Autonomy in Moral and Political Philosophy’, (2003), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, url: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/autonomy-moral/

Week 7 (beginning 6 April): Mill and Scanlon on Freedom of Thought and Expression

Essential Reading:

(i) J. S. Mill Chapter II “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion pp. 141- 183 (The last few pages are a good although brief summary.)

(ii) T. Scanlon, ‘A Theory of Freedom of Expression’, Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 1, No. 2, (Winter 1972), pp. 204-226.

Further Readings:

(iii) J. Riley, Routledge Philosophy guidebook to Mill on Liberty London and New York: Routledge, 1988

(iv) R. Amdur, ‘Scanlon on Freedom of Expression’. Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 9, No. 3, (Winter 1972), pp. 287-300.

*** MID-SEMESTER BREAK: 13-24 April ***

Week 8 (beginning 27 April): Challenges to Freedom of Expression: “Hate Speech” and Pornography

Essential Reading:

(i) J. Arthur, ‘Sticks and Stones’. In Ethics In Practice: An Anthology. (3rd edition.) Ed. Hugh La Follette (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007), pp. 398-410.

(ii) D. Dyzenhaus, ‘John Stuart Mill and the Harm of Pornography’, Ethics, 102 (3), 1992: 534-551

Further Reading:

(iii) Ronald Dworkin: ‘Do We Have a Right to Pornography?” In Ethics In Practice: An Anthology. Ed. Hugh La Follette (Cambridge; Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1997), pp. 333-337.

(iv) Rae Langton, ‘Pornography, Speech Acts, and Silence’. In Ethics In Practice: An Anthology. H. La Follette (Cambridge; Mass.: Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 1997), 338- 349.

SECTION 3: KANT

Week 9 (beginning 4 May): Kant on Duty and the Good Will

Essential Reading:

(i) Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, ed. Mary Gregor (CUP, 1997), Section I (‘Transition from Common Rational to Philosophic moral cognition’), [4:393-405]

Further Reading:

(ii) Barbara Herman, ‘On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty’, in The Practice of Moral Judgment, (Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press, 1993)

Week 10 (beginning 11 May): Kant on Duty and the Categorical Imperatives

Essential Reading:

(i) Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Section II, 4: pp. 406-431.

(ii) Christine Korsgaard, ‘An Introduction to the ethical, political and religious thought of Kant’. Chp 1 in Creating the Kingdom of Ends (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Week 11 (beginning 18 May): Kant on respect and dignity

Essential Reading: (NB: the Kant pieces are short)

(i) Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, Section II, 4: [pp. 430-440].

(ii) The Doctrine of Virtue: Introduction, Sections XI & XII [pp. 398-403];

(iii) Part 1, Ch. II (‘Man’s Duty to Himself Merely as a Moral Being’) [pp. 429-437];

(iv) Part II, Ch. 1. Section II (‘On Duties of Virtue Towards Other Men Arising from the Respect Due to Them’, [pp 462-468];

(v) Ch. II ‘On Ethical Duties of Men Toward One Another with Regard to their Condition’ [pp. 469- 473].

(vi) Stephen Darwall, ‘Two Kinds of Respect’, Ethics 88, 1977: pp. 36-49.

Further Reading:

(vii) Robin Dillon, ‘Kant on Arrogance and Self-Respect’, in Cheshire Calhoun (ed). Setting the Moral Compass: Essays by Women Philosophers, (New York: OUP, 2004), pp. 191- 216.

Week 12 (beginning 25 May): Non-teaching week (Essay preparation and one-on-one consultation)

ESSAY DUE: 11.59pm Friday 29 May