Numbering Code	U-LAS00 10030 LE34	Year/Term	2022 ・ First semester
Number of Credits	2	Course Type	Lecture
Target Year	Mainly 1st & 2nd year students	Target Student	For all majors
Language	English	Day/Period	Mon.2
Instructor name	Campbell, Michael (Graduate School of Letters Assistant Professor)
Outline and Purpose of the Course	This course concerns the topic of practical necessity. Practical necessities are considerations that play a special role in shaping deliberation over what to do. Their most easily visible manifestation is in claims to the effect that one 'must' or 'cannot' do something. We deal with such limits whenever we obey a sign which says 'private, no entry', or say that we cannot make it to an appointment on time, or when it is said that it is our duty to stand up for what we think is right. The distinctive features of practical necessity, supposing there to be such, may show us something about the nature of agency, as well as helping us to understand the relation of agents to the world around them. Worries surrounding the concept of practical necessity came to a head in British philosophy immediately after the Second World War, when notions such as duty and obligation had been thrown into sharp relief. As such, the category provides a useful lens through which to examine the philosophical views of the philosophers of that time. In this course we will look at the ways in which this concept has been deployed in moral philosophy, beginning with the work of Joseph Butler and Immanuel Kant and then moving onto the group of post-WWII British moral philosophers, especially RM Hare, Philippa Foot, Peter Winch and Iris Murdoch.
Course Goals	・To familiarise students with some of the aims, methods and problems of contemporary moral philosophy. ・To develop a deepened understanding of certain perennial questions concerning the nature of action, moral responsibility and goodness. ・ To introduce a tradition of thought concerning ethics spanning from the 18th to the 20th Centuries. ・To develop students' ability to reason critically, to construct and critique arguments and to write philosophical essays in English.
Schedule and Contents	During the course we will consider how the concept of practical necessity has been deployed throughout the history of Western philosophy, paying particular attention to the development and change of the concept between the 18th Century and the 20th Century. During the first few weeks I will introduce the historical and conceptual background. The conceptual background will include the distinction between theoretical and practical reason; the relations between judgements of necessity, possibility and what ought to be done; and the relations between judgements of rightness and of goodness. The historical background will include a discussion of these issues as they arose in philosophy and theology in the Scholastic period, and a brief look at their origins in the work of the classical philosophers of ancient Greece. After this, we will go on to consider in detail the work of Bishop Butler and Immanuel Kant, paying particular attention to Butler’s Fifteen Sermons (1726) and Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten) (1785), with particular attention to the role that the concept We will then jump ahead to the 20th Century where we will first consider briefly the work of the British pre-War moral philosophers, especially HA Pritchard and GE Moore, and then will go on to consider how the concept of practical necessity was taken up in the post-War period, paying particular attention to the work of RM Hare, Philippa Foot, Peter Winch and Iris Murdoch. 1-3 Introduction: the conceptual and historical background 4-5: Joseph Butler 6-9: Immanuel Kant 10-11: The Pre-War philosophers 12-14: The Post-War philosophers 15: Feedback class
Evaluation Methods and Policy	There will be a series of short quizzes or writing assignments spread out through the semester. This is to encourage students to practice writing and to help guide the students in their reading outside of class. Assessment will be based on quiz (40%) and final paper (60%). Final grade will be given in raw score form (out of 100).
Course Requirements	A good level of English comprehension (listening, reading and writing) is necessary for this course. No previous knowledge of philosophy is presumed, though familiarity with the background concepts of the discipline will be an advantage.
Study outside of Class (preparation and review)	Students will be expected to read the required text in preparation for the lecture. They will also be expected to complete quizzes periodically in the semester. Secondary literature will be made available for students who want to do extra reading. As the course develops students should also do preparatory work for their final paper.
Textbooks	Textbooks/References	The primary text which students will require is a copy of Kant’s Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals (Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten). This is widely available and has been translated into many languages. For the other thinkers, I will provide pdfs of the required reading on the PandA site.