PHI 6607: NON-CONSEQUENTIALISM AND ITS CRITICS

SYLLABUS

Professor: Sam Rickless
Office: Dodd 287
Telephone: 644-0218
Office Hours: Tuesday 12:30pm-2pm & Thursday 2pm-3:30pm, or by appointment
E-mail: srickles@mailer.fsu.edu
Seminar: Tuesday 2:30pm-5:30pm
Notes: * There will be no seminar meeting on 3/10 [Spring Break]
* I will be unavailable from 3/25 to 3/29 [Meetings of the APA.]

Course Description and Course Objectives

In this course we will consider the prospects for the development of a coherent and motivated non-consequentialism in ethics. Ethical non-consequentialism is the thesis that the moral status of an action is not determined solely by the goodness or badness of its consequences. Topics to be discussed include the Doctrine of Doing and Allowing (more particularly, the thesis that there is a morally significant difference between killing and letting die), the Doctrine of Double Effect (more particularly, the thesis that there is a morally significant difference between directly and indirectly intending harm), and whether a principled rationale for either Doctrine can be found.

Books

The following books have been ordered, and should be available at Bill’s Bookstore or at the FSU Bookstore:

KLD: Steinbock, B. and A. Norcross. 1994. Killing and Letting Die, Second Edition. New York: Fordham University Press.
RC: Scheffler, S. 1994. The Rejection of Consequentialism, Revised Edition. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Course Units

UNIT 1: The Moral Significance of the Doing/Allowing Distinction

Readings:
James Rachels, "Active and Passive Euthanasia", in KLD
Jonathan Bennett, "Morality and Consequences", Lectures I and II, in Henderson
Philippa Foot, "Euthanasia", in Henderson
Philippa Foot, "Killing and Letting Die", in KLD

UNIT 2: The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing

Readings:
Warren Quinn, "Actions, Intentions, and Consequences: The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing", in KLD
John Martin Fischer and Mark Ravizza, "Quinn on Doing and Allowing", in Henderson
Frances Kamm, "Non-Consequentialism, the Person as an End-In-Itself, and the Significance of Status", pp. 364-370, in Henderson
Samuel Rickless, "The Doctrine of Doing and Allowing", in Henderson

UNIT 3: The Trolley Problem

Readings:
Philippa Foot, "The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of Double Effect", in KLD
Judith Thomson, "Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem", in Henderson
Judith Thomson, "The Trolley Problem", in Henderson
Judith Thomson, The Realm of Rights, Chapter 7, in Henderson
Bruce Russell, "On the Relative Strictness of Positive and Negative Duties", in Henderson
James Montmarquet, "Doing Good: The Right and the Wrong Way", in Henderson
Frances Kamm, "Harming Some to Save Others", in Henderson

UNIT 4: Justifying the Doctrine of Doing and Allowing

Readings:
Samuel Scheffler, The Rejection of Consequentialism, Chapters 1 and 4, in RC
Philippa Foot, "Utilitarianism and the Virtues", in Henderson
Samuel Scheffler, "Agent-Centred Restrictions, Rationality, and the Virtues", in RC
Shelly Kagan, The Limits of Morality, Chapter 1 (pp. 1-19 & 24-32) and Chapter 3 (pp. 83-127), in Henderson

UNIT 5: The Doctrine of Double Effect

Readings:
Jonathan Bennett, "Morality and Consequences", Lecture III, in Henderson
Nancy Ann Davis, "The Doctrine of Double Effect: Problems of Interpretation", in Henderson
Warren Quinn, "Actions, Intentions, and Consequences: The Doctrine of Double Effect", in Henderson
John Martin Fischer, Mark Ravizza, and David Copp, "Quinn on Double Effect: The Problem of Closeness", in Henderson

UNIT 6: Justifying the Doctrine of Double Effect

Readings:
Shelly Kagan, The Limits of Morality, Chapter 4 (pp. 128-182), in Henderson

Course Requirements and Grading Policy

* 1-2 Presentations
* 8 short (2-3 page) papers
* 1 (3-4 page) prospectus for the final paper (includes bibliography)
* 1 final paper (12-15 pages)

* Each week (starting on 1/27 and ending on 3/24 - Spring Break excluded), you will be asked to write one short paper. Each paper is to be handed in at the beginning of the following week’s seminar. The short papers will be graded on a Ö, Ö+, Ö- basis. No late paper will be accepted without a valid excuse communicated to me (if possible) substantially before the paper is due.

Each paper should focus on an aspect of the reading for the following week. You are free to choose your own topics.

* A prospectus for the final paper is due at the beginning of seminar on Tuesday, March 31. It should include a concise description of the project for the final paper and a (tentative) bibliography. You are strongly encouraged to discuss possible paper topics with me substantially before the prospectus is due. You must obtain approval from me for your final paper topic. I will be happy to look at a draft of the final paper and discuss possible improvements with you before the final version is handed in.

* The final paper is due in my mailbox before 5pm on Tuesday, April 28. For policy on late papers, see above.

* The course grade will be largely determined by the grade for the final paper, but may go up or down slightly depending on the overall quality of the short papers and on whether the quality of the papers (short and final) improves or declines.

Notes

* If accommodations are needed for a disability, please notify me as soon as possible.
* The Academic Honor Code must be observed in this course.
* The course units, requirements, and policies stated above are subject to change.