Human Ethics: A Brief History

PHIL 18 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

Does might make right? Should a person focus on achieving immortality or on living a simple, happy mortal life? Is morality simply a matter of convention? Why be moral when being immoral could provide access to more wealth, fame, and power? What is the relationship between etiquette and morality? What do people owe a society that has failed in its obligations to its people? How can we identify and resist oppression, marginalization, and injustice? Human beings all over the world have been thinking about, discussing, and debating questions like these for thousands of years. This course aims to look at this history of ethics and moral philosophy from a genuinely inclusive perspective by focusing on ethical thought both from all over the world, with special emphasis on that of members of traditionally marginalized groups and from areas of the world that typically receive much less attention in academic philosophy and ethics.