Introduction to Moral Philosophy

This course is an historical examination of different philosophical approaches to morality. First, we will look at the foundations of Western morality found in Plato and Thomas Aquinas; then we will look at the Enlightenment approach of Immanuel Kant and at Friedrich Nietzsche's attack on Western morality, whether it be Platonic, Thomistic or Kantian. Due consideration will be given to the approaches of Emmanuel Lewinas and some Indigenous thinkers and see whether they are compatible with traditional Western morality and whether they can survive Nietzsche's scathing critique. Students will be constantly encouraged to apply different moral theories to their personal experience to evaluate both the strengths and weaknesses of the theories and of their own moral behaviour.