Entry requirements

Eligible is the person who fulfils the requirements for a Bachelor's degree in the humanities or has a corresponding foreign degree

Learning outcomes

Students will be introduced to and will evaluate the way in which the tool of analysis has been used in 20th and 21st century metaethics and in the theory of value. After completing the course, students should:

• understand the different notions of analysis studied
• understand the role these notions of analysis played in theory development
• understand the relations amongst the different types of analysis
• understand why how the use of different notions of analysis motivated theoretical developments

Content

This course looks at the changing notions of analysis used as a tool in the development of metaethics and the theory of value in 20th and 21st century analytic philosophy. We will examine notions associated with linguistic, metaphysical, and conceptual analysis and how they influenced key developments in metaethics and the theory of value. We will pay particular attention to efforts to analyse ethical properties, concepts, and language in terms of natural properties and their conceptual and linguistic analogues, as well as looking closely at more recent attempts to analyse value in terms of attitudes.

Instruction

Instruction will take the form of lectures and seminars.

Assessment

The examination consists of a single 4000-5000 word paper on a theme relating to the course.