HU Credits: 2

Degree/Cycle: 1st degree (Bachelor)

Responsible Department: Philosophy

Semester: 1st Semester

Teaching Languages: Hebrew

Campus: Mt. Scopus

Course/Module Coordinator: Uri Eran

Coordinator Email: urieran82@gmail.com

Coordinator Office Hours: Tuesday, 12:00

Teaching Staff:
Dr. Uri Eran

Course/Module description:
In this course we will be looking at key exegetical and philosophical problems pertaining to Kant's ethical theory. Among the problems to be discussed: what is involved in acting from duty and why is doing so important? What is respect from the moral law, and how is it related to moral feelings? What is self-love? Does the universal law formula of the categorical imperative provide a decision procedure? What is humanity and why is it important?

Course/Module aims:
Understanding key philosophical and interpretive issues in Kant's ethics.

Learning outcomes - On successful completion of this module, students should be able to:
1. Describe in a clear manner the different issues we have been discussing.
2. Present the interpretive debate on these issues.
3. Defend a reading of Kant on these issues using textual evidence and philosophical considerations.
4. Assess Kant's views and arguments.

Attendance requirements(%):
85

Teaching arrangement and method of instruction: Lectures, group discussions, student presentation

Course/Module Content:
How is Kant's conception of freedom of the will related to his transcendental idealism? What is acting from duty and why is it important? What is respect and how is it related to moral feelings? What is self-love? Is the universal law formula of the categorical imperative a decision procedure? What is humanity and why is it important? What is autonomy and why is it important? How does it bear on Kant's meta-ethics? Does the highest good undermine the idea of autonomy? What is radical evil and how is it related to man's social nature? What is virtue and what is its place in a deontological ethic?

Required Reading:
Meeting 1, 30.10: Introduction to Kant, no mandatory reading
Meeting 2, 6/11: The third Antinomy

א. קאנט: ביקורת התבונה הטהורה,
בתרגום ירמיהו יובל.
הניגוד השלישי של האידאות הטרנסצנדטאליות 412- 416, ופתרון האידיאות הקוסמולגיות של הטוטאליות של הסקת אירועי העולם מתוך סיבותיהם, 456-469 A 444/ B 472- A 451 / B 479, A 533 / B 561 - A 559 / B 587

Kant's Compatibilism
Allen W. Wood
In Self and nature in Kant's philosophy. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press. pp. 73--101 (1984)

Meeting 3, 13.11: Good will, moral worth, acting from duty

א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד למטאפיזיקה של המידות, בתרגום חנן אלשטיין. הקדמה וחלק ראשון (מעבר מן ההכרה התבונית המוסרית הרגילה אל זו הפילוסופית)

Herman, Barbara. “On the Value of Acting from the Motive of Duty.” The Philosophical Review 90, no. 3 (1981): 359–82. https://doi.org/10.2307/2184978.

Meeting 4, 20.11: Good will, moral worth, acting from duty


Allen W. Wood, The Free Development of Each: Studies on Freedom, Right, and Ethics in Classical German Philosophy (Oxford ; New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2014). pp.13-40.

Meeting 5, 27.11: Respect, moral feelings

א. קאנט, ביקורת התבונה המעשית, בתרגום ברגמן ורוטשנטרייך, פרשה שלישית על המניעים הממריצים של התבונה הטהורה, 71-86, 5:71-89

6:399-403

Andrews Reath, “Kant's Theory of Moral Sensibility. Respect for the Moral Law and the Influence of Inclination,” Kant Studien 80, no. 1–4 (1989): 284–302, https://doi.org/10.1515/kant.1989.80.1-4.284.

Meeting 6, 4.12: Self-love

ֿ
א. קאנט, ביקורת התבונה המעשית, 21-30, 5:19-28
הדת הגבול התבונה בלבד, בתרגום רונטשטרייך, 23-25, 6:26-28


Andrews Reath, “Hedonism, Heteronomy, and Kant’s Principle of Happiness,” in Agency and Autonomy in Kant’s Moral Theory: Selected Essays, ed. Andrews Reath (Oxford University Press, 2006), 0, https://doi.org/10.1093/0199288836.003.0003.

Meeting 7, 4-18.12, recorded meeting on Zoom, watch during your free time sometime between these dates
Universal Law Formula of Categorical Imperative, part 1

א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד, חלק שני

O’Neill, Onora, 1975, Acting on Principle, New York: Columbia University Press, chapter 5.

Meeting 8, 18.12:

Universal Law Formula of Categorical Imperative, part 2

א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד, חלק שני
Barbara Herman, The Practice of Moral Judgment, Harvard University Press, 1993, Chapter 7.

25.12 no meeting, Christmas

Meeting 8, 1.1: Formula of Humanity of Categorical Imperative


א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד, חלק שני
המטאפיזיקה של המידות,
קטעים מתוך המטאפיזיקה של המידות:
6:392, 6:522

ב. ספרות משנית
Christine M. Korsgaard, Creating the Kingdom of Ends (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996), Chapter 4.

8.10 Autonomy


א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד חלק שני
ב.
Andres Reath,
Autonomy of the Will as the Foundation of Morality
in Agency and Autonomy in Kant's Moral Philosophy

15.1 The deduction of Categorical Imperative


א. קאנט, הנחת יסוד, חלק שלישי
ב. ספרות משנית:

Henry Allison
Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, excerpts from chapters 10-12
Meeting 12, 22.1: Highest Good and postulates

א. קאנט, ביקורת התבונה המעשית, 58-66, 116-127
5:122-134, 5:56-67

ב.
Engstrom, Stephen, 1992, “The Concept of the Highest Good in Kant’s Moral Philosophy,” Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 51(4): 747–80.

Meeting 13, 29.1 Radical evil and unsocial sociability


א. קאנט, הדת בגבולות התבונה בלבד,
15-49 6:19-53

ב.
Allen Wood, Kant's Ethical
Thought, pp.283-300
.
Meeting 14: Virtue

א. קאנט, המטפיזיקה של המידות, 6:394-396, 403-410 383-4

Denis, Lara, 2006, “Kant’s Conception of Virtue,” in Paul Guyer (ed. ), Cambridge Companion to Kant and Modern Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 505–537.

Additional Reading Material:

Grading Scheme :
Essay / Project / Final Assignment / Referat 70 %
Presentation / Poster Presentation / Lecture/ Seminar / Pro-seminar / Research proposal 20 %
Active Participation / Team Assignment 5 %
Attendance / Participation in Field Excursion 5 %

Additional information: