KANT'S ETHICAL THEORY
Fall 2007: Philosophy 600/400
Professor Ernesto V. Garcia, Syracuse University
Class meetings: Thursdays, 3:30 – 6:15 p.m., 538 Hall of Languages
Office: 523 Hall of Languages, ext. 3-2519
E-mail: evgarc01@syr.edu
Office hours: Thurs, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and by appointment
This course offers a broad introduction to Kantian ethics, one of the three most influential traditional ethical theories besides virtue ethics (Aristotle) and utilitarianism/consequentialism (Bentham/Mill). We will discuss both (1) Kant’s major ethical works, including the Groundwork, Critique of Practical Reason, Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, and Metaphysics of Morals; and (2) the writings of many recent and highly influential commentators including John Rawls, Christine Korsgaard, Onora O’Neill, Barbara Herman, Thomas Hill, Stephen Darwall, Henry Allison, Paul Guyer, Allen Wood, Thomas Pogge, J.B. Schneewind, Stephen Engstrom, and others.
Topics related to Kant’s historical views include the Categorical Imperative and its various formulations (especially the ‘Formula of Universal Law’ and ‘Formula of Humanity’) as well as his accounts of moral motivation, human agency, freedom, autonomy, moral character and virtue, and the ends of morality. Some more contemporary debates include Kant's views about supererogation (or “acting beyond the call of duty”), respect for persons, non-ideal theory, as well as his overall value theory, in particular his relationship to normative ethics (deontology vs. consequentialism) and to metaethical issues (teleology, realism, and constructivism)
Required texts
Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant (Cambridge UP)
Critique of Practical Reason, Immanuel Kant (Cambridge UP)
Religion within the Bounds of Mere Reason, Immanuel Kant (Cambridge UP)
Metaphysics of Morals, Immanuel Kant (Cambridge UP)
Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals: Critical Essays, ed. by Paul Guyer [PG]
Creating the Kingdom of Ends, Christine Korsgaard [CK]
Recommended texts
- Kant’s Theory of Freedom, Henry Allison
- Kant on Freedom, Law, and Happiness, Paul Guyer
- The Practice of Moral Judgment, Barbara Herman
- Dignity and Practical Reason in Kant’s Moral Theory, Thomas Hill
- Constructions of Reason, Onora O’Neill
- The Categorical Imperative, H.J. Paton
- Kant’s Ethical Thought, Allen Wood
Class requirements
For undergraduate students:
20% - Class participation (including 5 Blackboard weekly posts)
10% - 15-20 min. class presentation (w/ partner)
70% - Two term papers (7-9 pp.)
For graduate students:
15-20 min. class presentation
Term paper (15-25 pp.)
CLASS READINGS
[Note: Ak. refers to the German Akademie edition page numbers located on the margins of all standard Kant translations]
8/30
Cancelled class [make-up session later in the semester]
9/6
Introduction, Groundwork Section 1 {The Good Will/Moral Motivation}
Primary:
Groundwork, Preface and Section I, Ak. 4: 387-405
Secondary:
Herman, “On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty”
Optional
Sorrell, “Kant’s Good Will and Our Good Nature” [PG]
Korsgaard, "Kant's Analysis of Obligation" [CK]
9/13
Groundwork Section 2 {The Categorical Imperative: The Formula of Universal Law I}
Primary:
Groundwork, Section II, Ak. 4: 406-425
Secondary:
Nell [O’Neill], Acting on Principle, Ch. 3
Rawls, "Themes in Kant's Moral Philosophy" (excerpt)
Optional:
Allison, "On the Presumed Gap in Kant's Derivation of the Categorical Imperative"
9/20
Groundwork Section 2 {The Categorical Imperative: The Formula of Universal Law II}
Primary:
Groundwork, Section II (review of last week’s readings)
Secondary:
Korsgaard, “The Formula of Universal Law”
Pogge, “The Categorical Imperative" [PG]Garcia, “A New Defense of the Logical Contradiction Interpretation”
9/27
Groundwork Section 2 {The Categorical Imperative: The Formula of Humanity}
Primary:
Groundwork, Section II, Ak. 4: 425-440
Secondary:
Korsgaard, “The Formula of Humanity” [CK]
Wood, "Kant's Formula of Humanity" [PG]
O’Neill, “Between Consenting Adults”
10/4
1st Critique/Groundwork Section 2 and 3 {Kant on Freedom and Autonomy I – Deduction of CI}
Primary: 1st Critique (selections)
Groundwork, end of Section 2 and Section 3, Ak. 440-463
Secondary:
Allison, “Morality and Freedom: Kant’s Reciprocity Thesis”
Optional:
McCarty, “Kant’s Rejection of the Argument of Groundwork III”
Henrich, “The Deduction of the Moral Law”
10/11
Critique of Practical Reason {Kant on Freedom and Autonomy II – “The Fact of Reason”}
Primary:
2nd Critique, Preface, Analytic (selections), esp. sections 6, 7, Deduction, Warrant, Critical Elucidation Ak. 5: 3-33, 42-57, 90-106
Secondary:
Ameriks, Kant’s Theory of Mind, Ch. 6
Wood, “Kant’s Compatibilism”
10/18
Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone {Kant on Freedom and Autonomy III – Wille-Willkür/Moral Character and Virtue}
Primary:
Religion, Part One, Ak. 6: 19-53
Secondary:
Allison, Kant’s Theory of Freedom, Ch. 7
O’Neill, “Kant’s Virtues”
10/25
Metaphysics of Morals {Kant’s Taxonomy of Duties/Virtue Revisited/The Ends of Morality}
Primary:
Review of Groundwork, ‘The Formula of Humanity’
2nd Critique, “On the Concept of the Object of Pure Practical Reason”, Ak. 5: 58-71
Metaphysics of Morals, Preface, Ak. 6: 205-221, 375-413
Secondary:
Wood, “The Final Form of Kant’s Practical Philosophy”
11/1
Critique of Practical Reason/Religion {Practical Faith – The Highest Good and the Postulates}
Primary:
2nd Critique, Dialectic, Ak. 5: 107-148
Religion, Preface, Pt. 3 (excerpts), Ak. 6: 3-11, 93-107
Secondary:
Beck, A Commentary on Kant’s Critique of Practical Reason, Ch. 13
Engstrom, “The Concept of the Highest Good in Kant’s Moral Theory”
11/8
Kant on Supererogation
Primary: Review of Groundwork, Section 1
Secondary:
Urmson, “Saints and Heroes”
Baron, “Kantian Ethics and Supererogation”
Optional:
Heyd, Supererogation, Ch. 3
11/15
Kant on Respect for Persons
Primary:
Metaphysics of Morals, Ak. 6: 434-437, 462-474
Secondary:
Stephen Darwall, “Two Kinds of Respect”
Hill, “Servility and Self-Respect”
Garcia, “A New Look at Kantian Respect for Persons”
11/22
THANKSGIVING
11/29
Kant on Non-Ideal Theory
Primary:
Kant, “On the Supposed Right to Lie”
Kant, Lectures on Ethics Collins, "On Ethical Duties Towards Others, and Especially Truthfulness"
Secondary:
Korsgaard, “The Right to Lie: Kant on Dealing with Evil” [CK]
Schapiro, “Kantian Rigorism and Mitigating Circumstances"
Optional:
Hill, “Making Exceptions without Abandoning the Principle”
Korsgaard, “Taking the Law into Our Own Hands: Kant on the Right to Revolution”
Schapiro, "Compliance, Complicity, and the Nature of Nonideal Conditions”
12/6
Kant’s Value Theory {Deontology/Teleology/Realism/Constructivism I}
Required:
Rawls, "Themes in Kant's Moral Philosophy"
Hill, “Kantian Constructivism in Ethics”
O’Neill, “Constructivisms in Ethics"
Optional:
O’Neill, “Constructivisms in Rawls and Kant”"
Korsgaard, "Realism and Constructivism in Twentieth-Century Moral Philosophy"
TBA
MAKE-UP CLASS: Kant’s Value Theory {Deontology/Teleology/Realism/Constructivism II}
Required:
Herman, “Leaving Deontology Behind”
Guyer, “Kant’s Morality of Law and Morality of Freedom”
Optional:
Brink, Moral Realism and the Foundations of Ethics, Appendix 4 (“Rawlsian Constructivism”)
Schneewind, "Kant and Stoic Ethics"