Admission requirements
BA students in Filosofie, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including History of Modern Philosophy, Griekse en Romeinse filosofie or History of Political Philosophy, Ethiek, Politieke filosofie / Political Philosophy.
BA students in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including World Philosophies: Greek and Roman Antiquity, World Philosophies: Modern Europe, Ethics, Political Philosophy.
Pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement and who have to complete an advanced seminar, to be selected from package B.
Description
This year, the seminar will be dedicated to a close look at the history and theory of consequentialism and its critics.
Consequentialist theories have been around for a long time and are among the most influential moral theories in history. Utilitarianism is by far the most widely known form of consequentialism, but there are others, such as prioritarianism and other forms of egalitarianism.
In this course, we will look at the historical roots of consequentialist thought, as well as its contemporary defenders, such as Amartya Sen, Peter Railton, Philip Pettit, Julia Driver, and others.
In addition, we will look at theories of value, its nature and measurement. Finally, we will also discuss the most important criticisms of consequentialism: John Rawls, Bernard Williams, Samuel Scheffler, Jean Hampton, and others.
Course objectives
Students who successfully complete this course will:
have insight in and knowledge of the most important forms of consequentialism, value theory, as well as its historical precursors;
recognize and be able to analyze consequentialist theories;
be able to reflect on and critically evaluate various forms of consequentialist moral thought;
be able to express their evalutions in discussion and in writte form;
learn to collaborate on a joint assignment.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar.
Class attendance and active participation is required.
Assessment method
Assessment
Students will be assessed as follows:
Individual assignment (10%);
Group assignment based on the individual assignment (two-stage testing) (20%);
Final paper (60%);
Peer review (10%).
In addition, students are expected to actively participate in class and cooperate in the group (mandatory).
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Weighing
The final mark for the course is established by determination of the weighted average of several subtests (see above).
Resit
The resit will consist of an individual essay assignment on a given topic that was dealt with in the course. The result of this essay replaces all other partial results.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
The readings will be announced and made available through Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.