This course is an introduction to moral philosophy. We will ask questions such as: what are our duties to the global
poor? Is it wrong to eat meat from factory farms? What makes human life go well? Under what circumstances is
it permissible to bring people into existence? Does life have a meaning, and does it matter if it does not? Are there
objective moral facts, or is morality subjective? In short, we will explore classic questions in applied ethics, normative
ethics, and meta-ethics.
1. Understand central ideas and arguments in applied ethics, normative ethics, and meta-ethics.
2. Learn how to. . .
(a) Read and understand philosophical texts,
(b) Accurately reconstruct (philosophical) arguments,
(c) Pose objections to (philosophical) arguments,
(d) Subject your own beliefs to critical scrutiny, and
(e) Converse about difficult, controversial topics in a rigorous, respectful manner.

week1: Existentialist backdrop
week2: Global poverty
week3: Animals and factory farming
week4: Abortion
week5: Well-being
week6: Population Ethics
week7: Midterm oral and written exams
week8: Independent study period
week9: Aggregation
week10: Moral facts and explanations
week11: Evolutionary debunking
week12: Error theory and realism
week13: Meaning
week14: Absurdity and skepticism
week15: Final oral and written exams
week16: Independent study period

We will follow a technology-free classroom policy. Laptops, phones, tablets, etc. must be put away, on silent, during
class, unless a student has an academic accommodation that has been approved by the university.
The use of (generative) AI for any work related to the course is not allowed.

Here is some short advice from me.
Jim Pryor’s guidelines on reading and writing philosophy, as well as his introduction to philosophical terms and
methods, are very helpful.
The Stanford Encylopedia of Philosophy contains excellent entries, written by subject-matter experts, on a
staggeringly wide array of philosophical topics.