Seminar: Special Topics in Philosophy (410-0-1)
Topic
Iris Murdoch's Ethical Theory
Instructors
Kyla Ebels-Duggan
847/467-0437
Kresge 3-437
Meeting Info
Kresge 3438 Philosophy Sem. Rm: Wed 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Iris Murdoch believes that we are naturally solipsists, and argues that the views that dominated philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and ethics in her day tended to encourage us in this solipsism. She thinks that we need a richer set of ethical concepts than these views afford us if we are to see clearly, think well, and live freely. Such concepts come embedded in the stories that we tell and accept about what is most fundamentally going on in the world. Murdoch's tells a story on which the world is filled with real, individual people, each with a value beyond price. We learn their value through love, which also provides our only means of escape from solipsism.
We will consider the primary themes of Murdoch's ethical theory and their systematic relationship. We will set her thinking in the context of her own philosophical milieu, considering her relationship to both early analytic and existentialist thought. And we will put her in conversation with later thinkers including Bernard Williams, John Rawls, Thomas Nagel, Christine Korsgaard, and Pamela Hieronymi.
This course is open to Philosophy grad students or with permission of the instructor.
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the major themes of Iris Murdoch's philosophical system and their relationship to one another.
2. Compare and contrast Murdoch's views with those of her contemporaries and later moral philosophers.
3. Assess and respond to Murdoch's thought.
Class Materials (Required)
Class materials must be purchased.
Murdoch, Iris
Existentialists and Mystics: Writings on Philosophy and Literature
Penguin-Random House
1999
9780140264920
Other readings available on the course web site.
Class Notes
Weekly reading responses
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Registration is reserved for Philosophy PhD Graduate Students