PHI524 Systematic Ethics: Themes from Setiya, Bratman, and Dancy
Fall 2008
Michael Smith
Course Materials

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The seminar will devote four weeks each to studying the work of three contemporary philosophers: Kieran Setiya (Pittsburgh), Michael Bratman (Stanford), and Jonathan Dancy (Reading/UT Austin). In the first three weeks we will study a selection of their work. In the fourth week they will visit, give a presentation, and answer questions. During their visit we will also have the opportunity to discuss their work with them more informally over lunch and dinner. The reading, which must be done prior to each seminar, will in most cases be downloadable by clicking on the names of the chapters/papers posted below.

1. Kieran Setiya
In the first two sessions we will read Setiya's Reasons Without Rationalism (Princeton University Press, 2007). Those wishing to attend should buy a copy and read it in advance. If you are unable to get hold of a copy, email me immediately at: msmith@princeton.edu
Wednesday 17 September 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
Kieran Setiya Reasons Without Rationalism (Princeton University Press, 2007) Introduction
Kieran Setiya Reasons Without Rationalism (Princeton University Press, 2007), Part One

2. Kieran Setiya
Wednesday 24 September 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
Kieran Setiya Reasons Without Rationalism (Princeton University Press, 2007), Part Two
Kieran Setiya Reasons Without Rationalism (Princeton University Press, 2007), Conclusion

3. Kieran Setiya
Wednesday 1 October 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
"Sympathy for the Devil"

4. Kieran Setiya visits the seminar
Wednesday 8 October 7:00pm - 10:00 pm

5. Michael Bratman
As background for all three seminars students should read Michael Bratman Intention, Plans, and Practical Reason, (Harvard University Press, 1987. Reissued by CSLI Publications, 1999.) esp. pp. 1-35, 50-53.
Wednesday 15 October 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
"Three Theories of Self-Governance" reprinted in Michael Bratman Structures of Agency (Oxford University Press, 2007) (primary reading)
"Reflection, Planning, and Temporally Extended Agency" Philosophical Review (109) 2000. (supplementary reading)

6. Michael Bratman
Wednesday 22 October 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
"Modest Sociality and the Distinctiveness of Intention" (primary reading)
"Shared Valuing and Frameworks for Practical Reasoning" in Jay Wallace, Philip Pettit, Samuel Scheffler, and Michael Smith, eds., Reason and Value: Themes from the Moral Philosophy of Joseph Raz (Oxford University Press, 2004) (primary reading)
"I Intend that We J" reprinted in Michael Bratman Faces of Intention (Cambridge University Press, 1999) (supplementary reading)

Mid-term break

7. Michael Bratman
Wednesday 5 November 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
"Intention, Belief, Practical, Theoretical" in Jens Timmerman, John Skorupski, and Simon Robertson, eds., Spheres of Reason (Oxford University Press, forthcoming) (primary reading)
"Intention, Practical Rationality, and Self-Governance" (supplementary reading)
"Intention, Belief and Instrumental Rationality" forthcoming in David Sobel and Steven Wall, eds., Reasons for Action (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press) (supplementary reading)

8. Michael Bratman visits the seminar
Wednesday 12 November 7:00pm - 10:00 pm

9. Jonathan Dancy
Wednesday 19 November 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
Jonathan Dancy Ethics Without Principles (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004) Chapter 5
Jonathan Dancy Ethics Without Principles (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2004) Chapter 6

10. Jonathan Dancy
Wednesday 26 November 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
Jonathan Dancy Practical Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) Chapter 5
Jonathan Dancy Practical Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000) Chapter 6

11. Jonathan Dancy
Wednesday 3 December 7:00pm - 10:00 pm
"Practical Reasoning and Inference"

12. Jonathan Dancy visits the seminar
Wednesday 10 December 7:00pm - 10:00 pm


Last updated 9 September 2008