Philosophy

In this course, Dr Luke Elson (University of Reading) explores what it means to be a moral anti-realist. We begin in the first module by thinking about what moral anti-realism actually is. After that, in the second module, we outline four reasons why ...

In this course, Dr Iain Law (University of Birmingham) thinks about utilitarianism, one of the three major normative ethical theories alongside Kantian deontological ethics and virtue ethics. In the first module, we introduce the concept of a moral theory ...

In this course, Dr Iain Law (University of Birmingham) thinks about Kantian deontological ethics, one of the three main normative ethical theories alongside utilitarianism and virtue ethics. We begin in the first module by introducing the ...

In this course, Professor James Lenman (University of Sheffield) explores one of the key questions in meta-ethics: do objective moral reasons exist? After a brief discussion of what we mean when we talk about reasons, we spend the bulk of ...

In this course, Dr Iain Law (University of Birmingham) thinks about virtue ethics, one of the three major normative ethical theories alongside utilitarianism and Kantian deontological ethics. We begin in the first module by providing a broad introduction ...

In this course, Professor Anthony Price (Birkbeck College, London) explores Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics. In the first module, we explore the central concept of eudaimonia, or happiness, in Aristotle's ethics, before turning in the second module to the concept of egocentricity:...

In this course, Professor Adrian Moore (University of Oxford) explores Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals through eight key questions. In particular, we think about the fundamental difference between the three main strands of moral philosophy (consequentialism, deontology and...

In this course, Professor Susan James (Birkbeck, University of London) discusses Spinoza's Ethics, widely considered to be his magnum opus. In the first module, we think about Spinoza's ontological framework, including his remarkable claim that there is only one substance,...

Utilitarianism is the belief that the right action is the one that maximises happiness. The philosophy theory has its origins in the hedonism of Aristippus and Epicurus, though reached its most well-known form in the writings of Jeremy Bentham and...

Published in 1887, the Genealogy of Morality is the locus classicus of Nietzsche's criticism of contemporary morality and religion. The book is divided into three essays: the first deals with the origins of Christian and contemporary secular morality; the second...

War has always been a feature of human history. It is reviled as one of the great evils of which we are capable as a species, but often also commemorated and recounted as honourable and just. War raises many difficult...