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Mark Collier > Courses > Moral Sentimentalism

Phil 4000: Moral Sentimentalism


University of Minnesota – Morris
Fall 2012
Professor Collier







Course Description: This course provides a survey of one of the most influential positions in the history of ethics: “moral sentimentalism”. Moral sentimentalists argue against those like Hobbes and Mandeville who maintain that human motivation can always be reduced to calculations of self-interest; they also challenge those who maintain that morality can be derived from pure reason. Rather, the sentimentalists assert that altruism and morality are made possible by the fact that human beings are passionate creatures who genuinely care about the welfare of others. We will carefully examine the writings of central figures in the sentimentalist movement. This includes classical thinkers like Shaftesbury, Mandeville, Clarke, Butler, Hutcheson, Hume, and Smith, as well as contemporary philosophers such as Greene and Nichols. We will also consider recent approaches in cognitive science which promise to shed light on these traditional questions.

Requirements: Four short argument summaries (3-4 pages each) and one final research paper (10-12 pages).

 

1. JUSTICE: NATURAL OR ARTIFICIAL?

Hobbes I

Leviathan (1660): Chapters 13-15.

Hobbes II

Hampton: "What is the cause of conflict in the state of nature?" from Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition, pp. 58-79 (e-reserve).

Hobbes III

Hampton: "What is the cause of conflict in the state of nature?" from Hobbes and the Social Contract Tradition, pp. 63-73 (e-reserve).

Hume I

Hume: Treatise 3.2.2 "Of the origin of justice and property" (87-99)

Hume II

Hume: Treatise 3.2.7 "Of the origin of government" (123-126)
Hume: Treatise 3.2.8 "Of the source of allegiance" (126-134)
Hume: Treatise 3.2.12 "Of chastity and modesty" (148-150)
Collier: "Hume's Natural History of Justice"

Game-Theoretic Approaches

Sugden: "Spontaneous Order"
Binmore: "Moral Science" and "Reciprocity" from Natural Justice

2. EGOISM VS. ALTRUISM

Hobbes

Hobbes: Human Nature, Chs. 7-9 (e-reserve)
Kavka: "Human Nature", Hobbesian Moral and Political Theory, pp. 35-51 (e-reserve)

Butler

Butler: Sermon I "Upon Human Nature, the Social Nature of Man"
Butler: Sermon IV: "Upon the Love of our Neighbor"
Hobbes vs. Butler on Compassion (pdf)

Evolutionary Approaches I

Wilson and Sober: "The Evolution of Psychological Altruism" (e-reserve)

Evolutionary Approaches II

Stich: "Evolution, Altruism, and Cognitive Architecture"

Hume

Hume: "Of the love of fame" (28-34)
Hume: "Of our esteem for the rich and powerful" & "Of compassion" (pdf)
Hume: "Self-Love" (275-280)

Psychological Approaches

Batson: Batson: "How Social an Animal: the Human Capacity for Caring"
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Moral Psychology: Empirical Approaches (Section 5.3-5.5)
Schwartz: "Why Altruism is Impossible... and Ubiquitous"

The Philosophy of Laughter

Hobbes: Human Nature 11.13 (pdf)
Hutcheson: "Reflections on Laughter" (e-reserve)



3. MORAL RATIONALISM AND ITS CRITICS


Samuel Clarke's Moral Rationalism

Clarke: "Discourse Upon Natural Religion", pp. 191-206 (e-reserve)

Hutcheson's Challenge

Hutcheson: Illustration Upon the Moral Sense, Sections I and II, pp. 137- 160 (e-book)

Hutcheson-Burnet Debate

Selections from the Hutcheson-Burnet Correspondence: TBA

Hume's Challenge

Hume: Treatise T 2.3.3; 3.1.1 (pp. 60-77); Second Enquiry, Appendix 1 (268- 274)
Shafer Landau: “Humean Motivational Internalism” (e-reserve)

Moral Motivation

Schroeder, Roskies, and Nichols: "Moral Motivation"

Psychopathy

Blair: "A Cognitive Developmental Approach to Morality: Investigating the Psychopath"
Nichols: "How Psychopaths Threaten Moral Rationalism"

 

4. MORAL SENTIMENTALISM

Hutcheson

Hutcheson: Treatise II, An Inquiry Concerning Moral Good and Evil, pp. 85-100, 162-175 (e-book).

Hume

Hume: Moral Philosophy, 77-81, 151-163, 181-184.

Neo-Sentimentalism

Nichols: "Norms with Feelings: Toward a Psychological Account of Moral Judgment".
Slote: "Moral Approval and Disapproval" from Moral Sentimentalism (2010).

Psychological Approaches

Haidt: "The Emotional Dog and its Rational Tail"
Greene: "The Secret Joke of Kant's Soul"

Moral Diversity

Hutcheson: Inquiry II.4 "All Mankind Agree..." (pp. 135-146) (e-book)
Hume: “A Dialogue” (297-310)

Contemporary Debates about Moral Diversity

Nisbett and Cohen: Selections from Culture of Honor
Doris and Plakias: TBA
Prinz: "Dining with Cannibals" (pp. 187-195)

The Ethics of Care

Baier: "Hume, the Women's Moral Theorist?"
Noddings: Selections from Caring: A Feminist Approach to Ethics and Moral Education
Held: Selections from The Ethics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global