Sentimentalism in Ethics is the claim that moral judgements (or concepts or properties) are intimately related to moral feelings (think of the German term “Gefühlsethik”) or moral sentiments. The term “intimately related” is pretty vague, but attempts to achieve more focus will be part of our topic. At the end of this course, you should know and understand the basic features of the sentimentalist approach to ethics. You should be able to articulate the major pros and cons both of the approach as such and of competing options within the approach; you should be able to see the relation of prominent contributions from the 18th century to current thoughts in philosophical ethics.
We will make parts of the journey on our own, thinking without texts, but will receive some help from others – most notably, from David Hume. His moral philosophy in its earliest form, as set out by him in his Treatise, will play a significant role, especially, from Book 3 (“Of Morals”) of the Treatise: part 1, sec. 2, and part 3, sec. 1.
This course is also an introduction to the techniques of philosophizing. We’ll try to shed some light not just on sentimentalism, but also on philosophical thinking and writing in general.
There will be a written exam on one of the Mondays towards the end of the term. The questions will be in English; you can reply in English or German, as you like.
The course will take place in double sessions (with a 15-minute break) from 16:00 to 1
- DozentIn: Christoph Fehige
- DozentIn: Thorsten Helfer