Universität Wien
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180029 SE Constitutivism About Agency and Morality (2015S)

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 18 - Philosophie
Continuous assessment of course work

Constitutivism is a family of theories that has recently gained a significant following in contemporary Anglophone practical philosophy. Constitutive arguments attempt to vindicate the normative authority of the most fundamental practical requirements (e.g., moral norms and principles) on the basis of an analysis of human agency. For example, Christine M. Korsgaard claims that Kant’s categorical imperative is best understood as receiving its inescapable normativity because compliance with this imperative is necessary for any successful practical deliberation and action – tasks that we must confront in one way or the other qua human agents. The seminar primarily looks at Korsgaard’s influential conception of constitutivism but will dedicate some space to J. David Velleman’s, Luca Ferrero’s, and Paul Katsafanas’ conceptions of this kind of theory. Critics of constitutivism (e.g., David Enoch) too will be discussed.

If you want to figure out whether or not this seminar is of any interest to you, I recommend the following two texts that summarize quite well the subject matter of the course:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/practical-reason-action/

https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24047-the-constitution-of-agency-essays-on-practical-reason-and-moral-psychology/

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 45 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Tuesday 10.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 17.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 24.03. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 14.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 21.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 28.04. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 05.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 12.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 19.05. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 02.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 09.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 16.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 23.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien
  • Tuesday 30.06. 09:45 - 11:15 Hörsaal 2G, NIG Universitätsstraße 7/Stg. II/2.Stock, 1010 Wien

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Constitutivism is a family of theories that has recently gained a significant following in contemporary Anglophone practical philosophy. Constitutive arguments attempt to vindicate the normative authority of the most fundamental practical requirements (e.g., moral norms and principles) on the basis of an analysis of human agency. For example, Christine M. Korsgaard claims that Kant’s categorical imperative is best understood as receiving its inescapable normativity because compliance with this imperative is necessary for any successful practical deliberation and action – tasks that we must confront in one way or the other qua human agents. The seminar primarily looks at Korsgaard’s influential conception of constitutivism but will dedicate some space to J. David Velleman’s, Luca Ferrero’s, and Paul Katsafanas’ conceptions of this kind of theory. Critics of constitutivism (e.g., David Enoch) too will be discussed.

If you want to figure out whether or not this seminar is of any interest to you, I recommend the following two texts that summarize quite well the subject matter of the course:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/practical-reason-action/

https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/24047-the-constitution-of-agency-essays-on-practical-reason-and-moral-psychology/

Assessment and permitted materials

Your final grade will be a combination of the following three components:

1. Attendance and class participation: 10%
Attendance will be kept track of and, together with participation in class, will count towards your final grade.

2. Discussion points (5 total): 20%
Five times during the semester, you are required to turn in a “discussion point” to me. A discussion point is a paragraph or two (approx. 200 – 250 words) describing a part of the assigned reading you think we should discuss in class. You should briefly say what the (part of the) reading is about, and then say why you think we should discuss it. Aim for a robust issue. Ideally, raise an objection to the reading which we can examine in class. You can, if you like, raise two points for discussion in your discussion point, but do try to stay within the 200 – 250 word limit. These are due to me Sunday by 5 pm (17:00), though I am very happy to accept them earlier. Late submissions cannot be accepted because I will compile a document for each session consisting of all submitted discussion points. Each discussion point is worth 4% of your final grade. Please be prepared to briefly present and explain your discussion point in class. I will grade them on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best grade. I expect everyone to get very high marks on this portion of the course.

3. Paper, 15-20 pages: 70%
You are required to turn in a paper between 15 and 20 pages long that deals with the readings and issues we discussed during the semester. Try not to go too far below or above these page requirements. Definitely do not go too far above. There will be a reading week, probably in Week 10 or 11, to enable students to work on their paper; instead of the usual class meeting, I will organize individual meetings to discuss essay topics.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

The essays that will be discussed in this seminar are very difficult and require a lot of patients and time to analyze. Expect to spend a significant amount of time and energy when carefully preparing each essay before our meetings. We will therefore read mostly one essay per week only (there might be exceptions to this rule though). If you do the readings carefully though, complete the assignments reliably, and participate in class discussion, then attaining the aims of the course will be rewarding in that it will allow you to comment on an influential and lasting debate in contemporary practical philosophy. Students completing this course will be able to understand and analyze the central arguments for and against constitutivist accounts in ethics and theories of practical reason. Prerequisites: Some familiarity with Kant’s and Kantian ethics desired.

Examination topics

Close reading and discussion of recent primary literature on the topic. You are expected (i) to have read and studied the assigned readings before class meets and (ii) to actively participate in class discussion. In order to better facilitate these two tasks you are required to turn in “discussion points” to me that you are then asked to briefly present during the class meeting. For details on the discussion points, see section “course assessment.” A final paper will ask you to engage in a thorough discussion of one of the assigned readings of your choice.

Reading list

Copies of the articles will be made available to you via Moodle.

Association in the course directory

BA M 6.2, PP 57.3.4, BA UF PP 09

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:36