Tue/Thurs/Sat 2:00pm-5:00pm
Dr. Chris Higgins, Assistant Professor, Department of Arts and Humanities, Teachers College, Columbia University.
3 Credits - Out-of-Program (OOP) for Group 16
Pass/Fail (Letter Grade option)

DESCRIPTION

In this course, we will explore the three major varieties of ethical theory - deontological, consequentialist, and moral perfectionist - and apply each to questions of teaching, learning, and schooling. The course presumes no background in philosophy, but it does presume a willingness to wrestle with difficult texts and unfamiliar terms, since in philosophy there is no substitute for the study of primary texts.

Thus, together we will tackle the signature works by the three main representatives of modern, Western ethics: Immanuel Kant's Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism, and Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Self Reliance" and "Circles." I will guide the discussion to the key points in the texts and help clarify difficult issues and philosophical jargon. Students will take the lead in finding educational examples of the pertinent moral issues, presenting case studies to the class for discussion.

Preliminary Schedule of Topics:

• Class 1 - Introduction
• Class 2 - Kant 1
• Class 3 - Kant 2
• Class 4 - Kant 3
• Class 5 - Students present Kant cases
• Class 6 - Mill 1
• Class 7 - Mill 2
• Class 8 - Mill 3
• Class 9 - Students present Mill cases
• Class 10 - Emerson, "Self Reliance"
• Class 11 - Emerson, "Circles"
• Class 12 - Students present Emerson cases

PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

Once the textbooks arrive, please start to read them in the order given above.

TEXTBOOKS

• Kant, Immanuel (translated by Beck, Lewis White), Foundations of the metaphysics of morals: and, What is enlightenment? Upper Saddle River, NJ : Prentice Hall, c1997. (Library of liberal arts series).
• Mill, John Stuart, Utilitarianism. Indianapolis : Hackett Pub. Co., c1979. Emerson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays: Selections. New York, N.Y. : Penguin Books, 1982.

BIO-DATA

Chris Higgins is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Education at his alma mater Teachers College, Columbia University. Among the courses he teaches are "Philosophies of Multiculturalism and Pluralism," "Aesthetics and Education," and "The Philosophy of John Dewey." He grew up in a family of educators in Delaware, the second smallest state of the United States of America. In high school, he was a champion wrestler. He earned a B.A. from Yale University where he majored in philosophy and won a prize for debate. After briefly managing a restaurant, he returned to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in philosophy and education at Teachers College, Columbia University. He has published two articles, one on the nature of dialogue in Plato's Meno, and another offering a psychoanalytic perspective on the ethics of teacher-student romance. His dissertation, which concerns the role of educational philosophy in the education of teachers, is entitled: Practical Wisdom: Educational Philosophy as Liberal Teacher Education.