78000 - Moral Philosophy (1) (LM)

Learning outcomes

This course will address topics and texts in moral philosophy at an advanced level. At the end of the course students will be expected to possess the main abilities required from a professional moral philosopher. These include: appraise theories and justify one's own position about them; critically analyzing philosophical texts, both from classical and recent authors; originally elaborate on them; provide fresh points of view and good working hypotheses to address them. Students will have learnt how to pull apart received knowledge in the ethical and meta-ethical field, and to reconstruct it on an original basis. Moreover, they will be expected to show their ability both to write on moral topics in a professional, opinionated, and thorough way, and to effectively communicate their views to an audience.

Course contents

THE BOOK OF JUSTICE: NICOMACHEAN ETHICS V

This year's course is dedicated to the concept of justice, analysed through one of the founding texts of Western ethics: Book V of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics.

After introducing Aristotelian ethics, and outlining Aristotle's legacy in our philosophical and socio-cultural view of justice, we will move on to a close reading of the text (in English translation; no knowledge of ancient Greek is required).

Please note that this is a graduate course. I will try and make it as accessible as possible, but it is not an introductory class to moral philosophy, or to Ancient ethics in general.

Readings/Bibliography

Primary literature

1. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, translated with introduction, notes, and glossary by Terence Irwin, 3rd ed., Indianapolis: Hackett, 2019.

   There are of course innumerable translations of EN, but this is the one we will use for class reading and commentary. Other translations can be used for comparison. For those who are interested, the Greek text (with Rackham’s translation) is available at Perseus: https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0053

   Readings (mandatory)

2. Otfried Höffe, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, Engl. transl., Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2010 [free for Unibo users, please visit https://sba-unibo-it.ezproxy.unibo.it/en/homepage]

   Readings (optional)

3. Jonathan Lear, Aristotle: The Desire to Understand, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1988, various reprints [a fine general introduction to Aristotle; available free for Unibo users]
4. Jon Miller, ed., Nicomachean Ethics. A Critical Guide,Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2011 [free for Unibo users]

   For those who are entirely new to ancient Greek philosophy, I recommend a comprehensive and very dependable overview of Greek philosophy and science:

5. Jacques Brunschwig, Geoffrey E.R. Lloyd, eds., Greek Thought: A Guide to Classical Knowledge, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 2000.

For non-attending students (i.e. attending less than 12 lessons), nos. 1, 2, 3, & 4 are mandatory.

Teaching methods

The course will mainly consist of frontal lessons, commentary on texts, and teacher-led discussions. Students' comments, reflections, and active participation are encouraged, both face-to-face and via whatever online tool will be made available by Unibo.

Lessons are scheduled to start on Wednesday, 18 September, 2024, and continue every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, from 3pm to 17pm, in Aula IV, via Zamboni 38. There will be 15 classes, so the course should end on the 22nd of October.

Lessons will be recorded and deposited on virtuale.unibo.it.

Please check my "News" page and Virtuale for information and updates.

Assessment methods

Students are expected to submit a final paper of 4000 to 8000 words, which will be graded on a 30/30 scale. I shall provide a list of topics, but please feel free to devise a topic of your own, provided it centrally involves one or more of the main issues raised in the course. Argumentative papers are recommended, but students coming from other fields than philosophy may suggest different kinds of treatment (e.g. literary, historical, etc.).

All papers will be written in English and emailed to me. There will be two delivery periods: 24 October-30 November and 25 June-31 July. Allowance will be made for the difficulties of students whose first language is not English, but I expect all students to make sure their writing is reasonably correct.

Alternatively, students can take a viva voce exam instead of the paper. The exam will be based on the bibliography as indicated in the Readings/Bibliography section. The viva test will consist in expounding, first, a topic of your choice among the course contents (please be prepared to speak approx. 15 min.; you may use notes and sources as you speak). Then I will ask you a few questions about the course topics.

Unlike other countries, in Italy you may take an exam without attending the course. You will be considered non-attending if you miss more than 3 classes. Non-attending students are required to study the texts listed under 1 to 4 above. 

Criteria for the paper’s assessment and components of the final grade:

1. Comprehension of the examined texts (knowledge of their content, ability to gather the most relevant information and the meaning): up to 11/30.

2. Clarity, thematic pertinence, breadth and structure of the exposition (ability to convey thoughts in an exhaustive, well-ordered, and clear way, and to stick to the topic): up to 5/30.

3. Correctness of writing (spelling, syntax, punctuation, style, command of the philosophical and general vocabulary): up to 5/30.

4. Logical consistency, quality and cogency of arguments: up to 5/30.

5. Originality of ideas and personal reflection (grasping the critical points of the texts, formulating objections, developing the ideas of the texts): up to 4/30;

6. Participation in class discussions: up to 1/30.

The assessment of the viva test will be approximately along the same lines, mutatis mutandis.

 

Students with disabilities and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students with disabilities or Specific Learning Disorders have the right to special adjustments according to their condition, following an assessment by the Service for Students with Disabilities and SLD. Please do not contact the teacher but get in touch with the Service directly to schedule an appointment. It will be the responsibility of the Service to determine the appropriate adaptations. For more information, please go to:

https://site.unibo.it/studenti-con-disabilita-e-dsa/en/for-students

 

Teaching tools

I will use slides, which I will make available on a weekly basis on the course-related webpage of the Unibo e-learning platform Virtuale. The webpage will also feature study topics and tools, event calendar, recordings of all classes, and it will be used for teacher-students communication and the distribution of homework.

Students (whether attending or not) are required to enrol on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Brigati