Phil 181 – introduction To philosophical issues is morality objective? CLASS 1: INTRODUCTION

WELCOME TO THE CLASS! HI! Welcome to Phil 181. I’m Zoë, and I’ll be your instructor. I am… A PhD candidate in Philosophy With a BA and M.Phil in Philosophy And a teaching degree Specializing in Ethics and Metaethics

How about you? On your cards, tell me : Your name Your major and year Three things you are hoping to get out of the course… …and anything else you want me to know! Something Extra: On the back, list some moral beliefs that you have.

AGENDA FOR TODAY Schedule and syllabus What is this class going to be about? How to read Philosophy

Syllabus – course goals The course is not just a general Philosophy course. We will be examining a particular area of Philosophy, and addressing a specific question: IS MORALITY OBJECTIVE? Along the way, we’ll cover a bunch of related questions… Does moral disagreement undermine moral objectivity? Does evolutionary theory undermine moral objectivity? How could there be facts that tell you what to do? …and we’ll also have to discuss a lot of other philosophical ideas.

Syllabus – course goals This course is supposed to be an INTRODUCTION TO PHILOSOPHY, so I will not assume that any of you have done Philosophy before. I am going to be explicitly teaching key philosophical skills. These include: Identifying the structure of an argument Presenting a focussed objection to an argument Analyzing the strength of different objections to an argument Rationally defending a point of view

In-class participation (5%) Syllabus – assessment Here’s how assessment breaks down: FINAL GRADE Final exam (30%) Participation (20%) Midterm paper (20%) Final paper (30%) Reading responses (10%) In-class participation (5%) Improvement grade (5%) The paper itself (25%) i>clicker (5%)

STREET’S “DARWINIAN DILEMMA” Schedule – July MACKIE’S ARGUMENTS STREET’S “DARWINIAN DILEMMA” MIDTERM PAPER DUE QUASI-REALISM REDUCTIVE NATURALISM Feedback meetings

NON-REDUCTIVE NATURALISM Schedule – august NON-REDUCTIVE NATURALISM CONSTRUCTIVISM FINAL PAPER DUE REVIEW FINAL EXAM DUE

Syllabus – policies and procedures The Syllabus contains a lot of important information about: i>Clickers and Canvas (for those of you not already familiar with these!) Electronics in the classroom Emails Plagiarism Disability accommodations Campus mental health services I urge you to read it!!

AGENDA FOR TODAY Schedule and syllabus What is this class going to be about? How to read Philosophy

LET’S TEST THOSE i>clickerS Is i>Clicker working? A: Yes B: Yes C: Yes D: Yes E: Yes

Use your imagination… Argus has just one minute to make an agonizing choice. A runaway train is hurtling down the track, right by where he is standing. It is headed toward five people trapped on the track, which it will surely kill. Argus can’t stop the train. But he can pull a lever to divert it onto another track on which only one person is trapped. That person will die, but the other five will live. Q: Should he do it? A: Yes B: No

Use your imagination… Liliana is on a game show, trying to win some money for herself. She has already won $1,000. Now the game show host is offering her a choice. She can leave with the $1,000 she has. Or she can gamble on a lottery with a 20% chance of giving her $1m and an 80% chance of leaving her with nothing. A: Yes B: No Q: Should Liliana take the gamble?

Use your imagination… Efigénia wants to know what time it is, so she looks at a clock. The clock says 3pm. So Efigénia believes that it is 3pm. The clock has stopped: it says 3pm all the time. (Efigénia does not know this.) BUT, by sheer coincidence, it actually is 3pm when Efigénia looks at the clock!! A: Yes B: No Q: Does Efigénia know that it is 3pm?

QUICK THINK! Moral questions are just one type of NORMATIVE question. As well as moral normativity, there is epistemic normativity, and prudential normativity. The questions I just asked you are all NORMATIVE questions. Take a few minutes to discuss with a partner or a group of 3: based on this information alone, what do you think “normative” means? When you’re ready, try to come up with a definition of “normative”…

The meaning of “normative” ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The meaning of “normative” …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

What I would say to the aliens ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… What I would say to the aliens …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Normative questions Normative questions are questions about what should happen, and what people should do. This includes: How people should act (selfishly or selflessly) What people should believe What is good, bad, right, wrong, required, forbidden, permitted… Normative questions are different from questions about what does happen, and what we actually do – these are called “empirical” questions.

Use your imagination… Imagine that you have been captured by aliens, and beamed up into their ship… Where is the wrongness?

QUICK THINK! Q: What would you say to the aliens? Where is the wrongness?

Metaethics and metanormativity “Meta” is a Greek word meaning “beyond” or “about”. When we do metaethics, we are talking about what were doing when we talked about ethics. Are we stating facts about the world? Are we expressing beliefs? Do our judgments count as true and false? What makes them true or false? The same goes for metanormativity more broadly.

Test yourself! Q: Which of these is not a metaethical view? A: When we make moral judgments, we are just expressing our emotions. B: Moral claims can only be true or false relative to a particular culture. C: It is morally wrong to be intolerant of other people’s beliefs. D: There are moral facts, and moral claims are true if they report the facts. E: Moral facts, if they exist, are very different from other kinds of facts.

Questions you would like to ask That’s the basics. What questions do you have?

AGENDA FOR TODAY Schedule and syllabus What is this class going to be about? How to read Philosophy

How to read philosophy Philosophy is quite unlike a lot of other subjects. Learning to read Philosophy papers – and to understand them!! – is a skill in and of itself. Fortunately, it is a skill that can be taught. And I have made a handout.

Practice time Let’s practice! In your pairs and 3s from earlier, try reading and annotating a passage of philosophical text. Do this just as you would do if you were reading for class – practice flagging, and identify the structure of the author’s argument. What conclusion does the author want you to accept? What are the main claims that they are making in support of this conclusion? Why do they think that these claims support the conclusion? What is the reasoning that takes us from the supporting claims to the conclusion?

How to think of a good philosophy question Every Monday and Wednesday night – starting next Monday! – I want you each to submit a question, objection, comment or idea in response to the reading/s for the following day’s class. This serves multiple purposes: It helps me to see which parts of the readings the class struggled with, and which parts you were most interested in, so I can then plan our class “around” your questions and ideas. It allows quieter students some one-on-one instructor interaction! It may seem scary at first. But I have a handout for this too! 

AGENDA FOR TODAY Schedule and syllabus What is this class going to be about? How to read Philosophy

How about you? Four On your cards, tell me : Your name Your major and year Three things you are hoping to get out of the course… ADD A 4TH THING!! Four