This week we wade into discussion of ethics. We will spend two weeks with this topic as it is arguably the most meaningful interaction people have with philosophy in their everyday lives. You can go the rest of your life without wondering if your desk is real but you probably can’t avoid wondering which of your actions are moral or not.
This topic began to sneak out last week when we began to discuss freewill. If we don’t have freewill, how can we hold ourselves as responsible for our choices? It’s a huge question.
We will begin to unpack this and other ethical ideas by first looking at what many of us consider to be the source of morality: religion.
If what is moral is only determined by God’s will … then what does that look like … and does it work, even for the faithful? And if we don’t base our morality on God’s laws, then does that damn us to utter relativity? With morality being nothing more than personal preferences??
Be sure to provide reasoned evaluations of the issues and discuss them philosophically rather than just stating your opinion as we wade into these most emotional and personal topics.
Open discussion week. You choose what you would like to discuss from the week’s course material.
For Example:
The Divine Command Theory
The Euthyphro Dilemma
Moral Relativism
Morality Without God and the like
Be sure to provide reasoned evaluations of the issues and discuss them philosophically rather than just stating your opinion.
