PHI524 Systematic Ethics: Themes from Darwall, Wallace, and Watson
Spring 2006
Course Materials

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The seminar will devote four weeks each to studying the work of three contemporary philosophers: Stephen Darwall (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), R. Jay Wallace (University of California, Berkeley), and Gary Watson (University of California, Riverside). In the first three weeks we will study a selection of their previously or soon-to-be published work. In the fourth week they will visit and present a paper that they're currently working on. During their visit we will also have an opportunity over lunch and dinner to discuss their previously published work with them. The reading, which must be done prior to each seminar, can be downloaded by clicking on the names of the papers below.

1. Stephen Darwall on the second-person standpoint
Tuesday 7 February 7:00-10:00
"The Main Ideas I" (this is chapter 1 of his manuscript The Second-Person Standpoint: Respect, Morality, and Accountability forthcoming with Harvard University Press (hereafter TSSP)) and "The Main Ideas II" (TSSP chapter 2)

2. Stephen Darwall on accountability and the second-person
Tuesday 14 February 7:00-10:00
"Accountability and the Second-Person" (TSSP chaper 4) and "Moral Obligation and Accountability" (TSSP chapter 5)

3. Stephen Darwall on respect, dignity, and the second-person
Tuesday 21 February 7:00-10:00
"Respect and the Second-Person" (TSSP chapter 6) and "Dignity and the Second-Person: Variations on Fichtian Themes" (TSSP chapter 10)

4. Presentation by Stephen Darwall
Tuesday 28 February 7:00-10:00
Steve Darwall will visit and present a paper at this week's seminar.

5. R. Jay Wallace on rational agency
Tuesday 7 March 7:00-10:00
"Addiction as Defect of the Will" in Law and Philosophy (1999) and "Three Conceptions of Rational Agency" in Ethical Theory and Moral Practice (1999)

6. R. Jay Wallace on instrumental rationality
Tuesday 14 March 7:00-10:00
"Normativity, Commitment, and Instrumental Reason" in The Philosopher's Imprint (2001) and "Postscript" (forthcoming)

Spring Break

7. R. Jay Wallace on the authority of morality
Tuesday 28 March 7:00-10:00
"The Rightness of Acts and the Goodness of Lives" in Reason and Value: Themes from the Moral Philosophy of Joseph Raz edited Wallace, Pettit, Scheffler, and Smith (2004) and "Reason and Responsibility" in Ethics and Practical Reason edited by Cullity and Gaut (1997)

8. Presentation by R. Jay Wallace
Tuesday 4 April 7:00-10:00
Jay Wallace will visit and present a paper at this week's seminar.

9. Gary Watson on weakness and compulsion
Tuesday 11 April 7:00-10:00
"Skepticism about Weakness of Will" in Philosophical Review (1977) and "Disordered Appetites: Addiction, Compulsion, and Dependence" in Addiction: Entries and Exits edited by Jon Elster (1999)

10. Gary Watson on responsibility
Tuesday 18 April 7:00-10:00
"Two Faces of Responsibility" in Philosophical Topics (1996)

11. Gary Watson on the will
Tuesday 25 April 7:00-10:00
"The Work of the Will" in Weakness of Will and Practical Reasoning edited by Sarah Stroud and Christine Tappolet (2003)

12. Presentation by Gary Watson
Tuesday 2 May 7:00-10:00
Gary Watson will visit and present a paper at this week's seminar.