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On many contemporary views on normative ethics, reasons determine what we morally ought to do. However, there are different views on what normative reasons are (mental states of the agent or non-mental facts, for instance) and on whether (and how) normative reasons are dependent on the process of practical reasoning.
In political philosophy, these controversies lead to very different views on the relation between what we politically ought to do and what we morally ought to do, and on the question how moral reasons may, should, or must not figure in political debate and political forms of reasoning. The aim of the seminar is to provide a detailed understanding of the different accounts of reasons and of reasoning and their implications for moral and political philosophy. We will read and discuss a list of contemporary papers (starting with Donald Davidson) on reasons, reasoning, and political philosophy, which will be made available via Moodle.
The language of the master seminar, of the literature that we will read, as well as of presentations (Referate) is English. Written essays (Hausarbeiten) may be handed in either in English or in German. |
