This seminar aims at understanding Henry Sidgwick’s masterpiece The Methods of Ethics and its significance for contemporary ethics. Sidgwick (1838–1900) is considered one of the founding fathers of utilitarianism and the first “modern” moral philosopher in the English-speaking world. For Sidgwick “[…] any rational procedure by which we determine what individual human beings ought to do will count as a method of ethics”. In The Methods of Ethics, Sidgwick presents and evaluates three such procedures: egoism, utilitarianism and common-sense morality.
Since a number of prominent contemporary philosophers – most influentially Derek Parfit – have been rediscovering Sidgwick, their work on Sidgwick can help us to explore Sidgwick’s work. We will read parts of The Methods of Ethics, but the main reading for this seminar will be Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek and Peter Singer’s book The Point of View of the Universe: Sidgwick and Contemporary Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2014). Participants should make sure that they have a copy of this book, but readings will also be made available online.
The book on Sidgwick is divided into 12 chapters, which are preceded by a biographical prologue and followed by a conclusion. Each chapter starts with a description of Sidgwick’s view on a particular issue, which is then related to the contemporary discussion. The Point of View of the Universe presents a particularly clear and accessible introduction to Sidgwick’s ethics. In addition, it can serve as a fascinating general introduction into meta-ethics, normative ethics and value theory. The book convincingly points out the relevance of Sidgwick’s work for contemporary ethics and this makes it a highly recommendable reading for everyone interested in Sidgwick and in ethics, including philosophy students at all levels.
The grade for this seminar will be based on a written essay. As a basis for the written essay, each participant will give an oral presentation (based on a chapter of the book) in which he or she relates Sidgwick’s position on some issue to the relevant contemporary debate. |
