Readings
Some of the links below will take you directly to the electronic version of the paper or book chapter. In order to access those from an off-campus location, you may need to use your library proxy server. To use the UMass Libraries one, simply drag this link to your bookmarks folder (for instructions see here).
Readings for 1/27
- John Harris, “The Survival Lottery”
- Russ Shafer-Landau, “Consequentialism: Its Nature and Attractions”
Readings for 1/29
- R. M. Hare, “What is wrong with Slavery?”
Readings for 2/3
- J. J. C. Smart, “Extreme and restricted utilitarianism”.
Readings for 2/5
No meeting due to inclement weather.
Readings for 2/10
- Julia Driver, “Contemporary consequentialism”
Readings for 2/12
- Thomas Nagel, “Death”
Readings for 2/18
- Fred Feldman, “Some Puzzles About the Evil of Death”
Readings for 2/19
- Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons, Ch. 16, sections 119-122
Readings for 2/24
- Derek Parfit, Reasons and Persons, Ch. 17.
Readings for 3/5
- Judith Jarvis Thomson, “Killing, Letting Die, and the Trolley Problem”
Readings for 3/7
No meeting.
Readings for 3/10
- Immanuel Kant, Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (excerpts)
Readings for 3/12
- Fred Feldman, “Kantian Ethics”
Readings for 3/24
- Christine Korsgaard, “The right to lie: Kant on Dealing with Evil”
Readings for 3/26
- Christine Korsgaard, “The right to lie: Kant on Dealing with Evil” (continued)
Readings for 3/31
- David Velleman, “A right to self-termination?”
Readings for 4/2
- David Velleman, Beyond Price
Readings for 4/7
- Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Readings for 4/14
- Judith Jarvis Thomson, “A Defense of Abortion”
Readings for 4/16
- Don Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral”
Readings for 4/23
- Philippa Foot, “The Problem of Abortion and the Doctrine of the Double Effect”
Readings for 4/28
- Igor Primoratz, “Justifying Legal Punishment”
Readings for 4/30
- Stephen Nathanson, “Why We Should Put the Death Penalty to Rest”