Admission requirements
Admission to (one of) the programme(s) listed under Part of in the information bar on the right
Description
Philosophy is differentiated from the sciences through its focus on normative questions. What is a good argument? What is the good life? Are these norms determined by us? Would this mean that different people and cultures give different answers to these questions? Or are there norms of truth and goodness that are independent of our actual reasoning and living?
This is a course on the philosophy of normativity. It caters to students in practical and theoretical philosophy. The course aims to prepare students for advanced work in meta-normativity, such as a seminar paper or a thesis.
The course consists of two parts. In part I, we discuss various foundational issues. In part II, we read two books cover to cover. The foundational issues are important in themselves, as well as laying the groundwork for the books that we will read.
The foundational topics covered in the first half of the course concern such topics as explaining what reasons are (including metaphysical, constructivist and constitutivist approaches), the distinction between prudential, moral and epistemic reasons, and skepticism about reasons.
In the second half of the course, we first read Terence Cuneo’s 2007 The Normative Web (OUP). Cuneo’s book defends a companions in innocence argument for moral realism, which is the view that moral facts exist. Cuneo’s argument, in essence, is that if moral facts do not exist, then epistemic facts do not exist; but epistemic facts exist, so moral facts exist. We discuss these claims extensively, focusing equally on moral and epistemic cases.
Finally, we read James Lenman’s new book The Possibility of Moral Community (2024, OUP). This book discusses many of the topics we encountered earlier in the course, including skepticism, realism, the relation between reasons and passions, constructivism, and epistemology.
Course objectives
A student who has successfully completed this course will have:
- advanced knowledge of some of the central issues in the philosophy of normativity.
A student who has successfully completed this course will be able to:
connect philosophical issues in practical philosophy with comparative issues elsewhere in philosophy, especially theoretical philosophy;
discuss various answers to the question of normativity, especially of contemporary authors;
develop a well-argued, independently developed thesis on the question of normativity, to be presented in a paper.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminars;
Class attendance is required.
Assessment method
Assessment
- Paper.
Students without sufficient attendance will be excluded from the examinaton.
Weighing
- Paper (100%).
Resit
Paper.
Inspection and feedback
There will always be feedback on papers within the official deadline for grading.
Reading list
Cuneo, T., (2007), The Normative Web, Oxford: OUP
Lenman, J., (2024), The Possibility of Moral Community, Oxford: OUP
Various other texts.
All texts are available free of charge through the university liberary e-prospectus.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.