55-01.231.417 Inventing Right and Wrong (P)

Instructors: Dr. Eline Gerritsen

Event type: Advanced seminar

Displayed in timetable as:

Hours per week: 2

Credits: 4,0

Language of instruction: English

Min. | Max. participants: 5 | 21

Allocation scheme: Phil_Standard_WS1415

Comments/contents:
Description ‘Inventing Right and Wrong’:

In this seminar, we will explore the idea that morality is not discovered but has been – or can be – invented. The discussion will be built around J.L. Mackie’s influential Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong, which makes the case that ordinary moral judgements are mistaken, as there are no objective moral values. Although this book was published in 1977 and responds to the metaethical debates of its time, it still forms the background of moral scepticism today. Our focus will be on the chapters of the book that deal with the nature, status, and role of moral value. Next to an in-depth reading of these, we will cover secondary literature on Mackie’s arguments as well as more recent work on related topics. We will discuss arguments for and against moral error theory, theories of how or why we have come to make moral judgements, and the question what we should do with our moral norms and judgements if they are indeed mistaken. In addition, we will consider metaethical theories that interpret morality as invented in some sense but nonetheless oppose moral scepticism, such as constructivism.