Philosophy 2

Life presents us with many practical problems. How should we treat other people? How should we arrange social institutions? In this class, we will discuss different moral theories that help us answer these questions, and we will test these theories on some real-world examples. Our focus will be on how real-world examples inform our decisions about what makes the most persuasive moral theory, and how moral theory, in turn, helps us clarify controversial issues in moral and political decision-making. We will analyze, for example, how different moral theories justify the right to free speech, and how these theories can help us decide whether hate speech should be protected. We will, also, discuss such pressing issues as wealth inequality and abortion. In taking up all these issues, we will examine our fundamental moral beliefs and try to determine whether our own opinions are philosophically defensible.