PHIL159 CM - Metaethics

Metaethics inquires about the nature of values and value judgments. Are values real? Imaginary? Constructed? When we judge that something is good or bad, what are we doing? Are we making testable observations? Expressing our positive and negative feelings? Asserting universal truths? Asserting culturally relative truths? Talking about fictional entities? Metaethics also inquires into the nature of moral motivation. Can we be motivated do what we believe is right just by the belief that it is right? Related topics include the nature of moral expertise, the relationship between values and reasons, and the relationship between reasons and motivation.

Prerequisite: One prior course in philosophy

Offered: Occasionally

Credit: 1

Course Number: PHIL159 CM