Syllabus - PHIL
379
Professor Tom Atchison
Contemporary Moral
Theory
Office: 323 St. John’s Hall (St.
Paul Campus)
Fall Semester 2026
Email: Thomas.Atchison@metrostate.edu
Credits earned: 4
In-person office hours: Tuesday 11:00 to 3:00,
Appointments
for Zoom consultations also available here:Tom's
Bookings page
Note: This course is "bi-modal": students may attend
the Wednesday afternoon classes in person or via Zoom,but it is
not a course that allows for missing more than a few
meetings. Please drop the course if you are unable or
unwilling to attend one way or the other.
When we say something is morally right or wrong, are we simply expressing our personal feelings or are we saying something more? Who gets to decide (and how do they decide) what makes something morally right or wrong? Do moral issues have answers about which we can be certain? Does morality have well-regarded theories like the physical sciences do--theories which help ethicists and others to decide what is right or wrong? These and other questions will be addressed in this decidedly theory-focused course in moral philosophy.
Note: These catalog items are now required to be included in all syllabi.
The course will provide a solid grounding in some of the main
types of moral theory discussed in English-speaking universities
today (both normative theories, which try to say how we
should determine what is right and wrong or good and bad, and meta-ethical
theories, which try to answer questions about the meaning of moral
concepts and the possibilities for moral truths or facts. In
addition we will consider a sampling of critical perspectives on
those theories -- perspectives that flow from Marx and Nietzsche
and from people who belong to disadvantaged or marginalized
groups. Marx argued that crucial elements of conventional
ethical thinking reflected the interests of the ruling class in a
class-divided society, and, therefore, counted as a false or
distorted ‘ideology’. Nietzsche argued that the conventional
(Christian) morality of Europe and North America represented the
interests of the weak and the downtrodden and was, therefore,
‘anti-life’. Feminist writers have claimed that mainstream
moral theories express a distinctively male point of view,
unfriendly to the needs and interests of women and sexual
minorities. This class will explore a variety of thinkers who
either develop the ideas of Marx or Nietzsche or feminism or who
react critically to those ideas. Readings for these parts of
the course will be drawn from: 20th century European writers who
were avowed Marxists or were influenced by Marx, like Georg
Lukacs, Herbert Marcuse, Jurgen Habermas, and Ranier Forst;
Black Marxists like W.E.B. Dubois, C.L.R. James and Cedric
Robinson; French ‘post-structuralist’ thinkers (who claim to be
followers of Nietzsche) like Foucault and Baudrillard;
feminists like Nancy Hartsock, Nancy Fraser, Marilyn Frye, and
Carol Gilligan, ‘post-colonial' thinkers like Fanon and Memmi, and
more recent (21st century) writers who have continued these
critical traditions. In considering these critical
perspectives our guiding questions will be: To what extent
and in what ways have our ideas about right and wrong, good and
bad, just and unjust, been distorted by some form of power?
How can we pursue moral theory in a way that recognizes the role
of power, prejudice and culture in the shaping of ethical ideas
and practices without entirely losing our grip on the idea that
some things really are right and others really are wrong? But,
also, we will want to ask: what elements of the mainstream
theories can survive these critiques? Can we defend or rescue the
project of developing universal moral theories?
All required class readings will be made available online.
Class website (check here often for links and
updates): http://www.tomatchison.net
Please bring the assigned reading to class with you each week (printed out or on a device).
Please make sure your Metro State email account is working and check regularly for class related emails -- this course is especially likely to be revised on the fly.
Conduct of the Course
Class time will be devoted almost entirely to discussion.
Students will be expected to take a good deal of initiative for
determining the direction and focus of that discussion and, to
some extent, of the course as a whole.
Much of our discussion will focus on understanding and evaluating
the texts. This will work well only if you have done the
assigned reading carefully -- often twice or three times -- and
given it some careful thought. In philosophy we are
interested not in the information that can be extracted from a
text, nor simply in the conclusions or opinions that an author
expresses; we are primarily interested in understanding and
assessing the reasoning that an author uses to try to
establish or support those conclusions. This requires a very
careful sort of reading.
The point of reading these texts is not only to understand what
some great minds have produced. A guided tour through the
Museum of Great Ideas is a very good thing, but not the best thing
that philosophy has to offer. Better is the opportunity to
learn to think for yourself. The readings provide models of
careful and/or creative thinking, challenges to our prejudices and
assumptions, and starting points for our own reflections.
But the only way to learn to philosophize is to enter the
conversation yourself. In this way a course in philosophy is
more like a course in drawing or sculpture -- a studio art course
-- than like a course in art history or art appreciation.
You can’t learn to draw by just watching other people draw, and
you can’t learn to do philosophy by just listening and
reading. You have to express your views and expose them to
other people’s critical reactions.
Groundrules for class discussion
In my view, high quality class discussion is informed by
careful reading of assigned texts, respectful of
the other participants, relevant to the issues we
are trying to discuss and thoughtful in that
points are made or questions are raised that help us move toward
greater understanding. I believe the following guidelines
help foster this kind of discussion:
Coming to class with the reading done and some ideas in mind;
Being willing to say what you really think even if it might be unpopular or not what you think the teacher wants to hear
Never demeaning or "putting down" others for their perceptions or opinions, but honestly expressing disagreement with or confusion about what they say;
Speaking from one's own experience-- not presuming to speak for others;
Being sensitive to what we don't know about each other-- not assuming that we all share certain experiences or perceptions;
Allowing each other to "try on" unfamiliar ideas and ways of looking at the world;
Allowing others space to speak by taking no more than your fair share of “air time’;
Speaking up for yourself in a timely manner if you feel these guidelines are not being respected.
Assignments and Grading
Note: I do not use a point system for grading: I assign letter grades to various assignments, and I determine your final grade by computing a weighted average of those letter grades.
Reading assignments
I expect you to find time (at least several hours) to do the
reading for each class and to come prepared to discuss it.
Come to class ready to say what you found interesting, what you
found confusing, questionable, or just plain wrong, what seemed to
you to be the most important claims made, and what arguments or
justifications were offered for those claims. Expect that
you will need to read the assignments more than once to understand
them adequately, and plan your time accordingly. Depending
on how much background you have in moral philosophy, in economics,
and in political history, you may need to take some time to look
up various terms, concepts, writers, and schools of thought, just
to understand what our authors are saying.
Summary and response papers (for students who are beginning
their study of philosophy)
30 % of your grade will be earned by submitting brief (1-2
pages, typed, double-spaced) responses to the readings for each
class. These must be emailed to the instructor before
the start of class each week in order to be considered 'on
time.' Late response papers will earn (at best) half credit.
If you must miss a class, try to submit your response paper before
the start of that class. Each week’s summary and response
paper should contain a concise summary of the main points made by
the author and some sort of response to those points.
Responses could include questions, points of confusion, points
that you found helpful or insightful, connections to your own
experience or to current events -- really a great variety of
things could go in this second part of your paper.
An alternative assignment for more advanced students: let's
call them "analytical response papers"
If you choose this option your papers should still contain a
concise summary of the main points of the reading. But your
response should include a critical discussion of at least one
argument that you found in the text. For the purposes of
this exercise, an argument is simply a claim supported with some
reasons why we should think that that claim is true. Your
critical discussion should include a concise statement of the
argument (as you understand it) and an assessment of its
success. (Does the author prove his or her point? Can
you identify weaknesses in the argument?)
Students are free to decide for themselves which sort of paper to write each week. Your grade for this assignment will be based on your 10 best response papers.
Class discussion
20% of your grade will be determined by my evaluation of the
quality of your participation in class discussions. Just
showing up and paying attention earns a C for this component;
occasionally making helpful contributions earns a B; regularly
making helpful contributions earns an A. Helpful
contributions include: asking pertinent questions, answering
questions asked by the instructor or by other students, expressing
your views about the texts or topics we are discussing, responding
(relevantly and respectfully) to the views expressed by others.
Position Papers (again, there are two options)
Option #1: write 2 fairly short (4-6 page) papers explaining and
supporting your position on an interpretive or substantive
question arising from one or more of the texts we study. I
will provide topics for you to choose from. Each paper will count
for 25% of your grade. One will be due at the halfway point and
one at the end of the semester.
Option #2: write one longer paper (10-15 pages) due at the end of
the semester. Topic proposals and drafts will be due
earlier, so you can develop your paper in light of feedback at
several stages.
Please keep copies of all the
work you hand in.
Note: I try hard to base my evaluation of your work on your understanding of the reading, the quality of your reasoning and questioning, and the clarity and effectiveness of your expression of your thoughts, not on whether I agree with your philosophical theories, ideas, or opinions.
Time commitment outside of class
In accordance with Metropolitan State University guidelines, I've
designed this course with the expectation that students will do
2-3 hours of course-related work outside of class for every hour
spent in class. In other words, you should expect to spend
7-10 hours a week outside of class working on this course.
Needed reading and writing skills
Although there are no specific prerequisites for this course, it
is an upper-division course intended for students who have
completed at least 30 credits of college-level work . This
means I assume you have the following reading and writing skills,
and assignments are made with this expectation in mind:
Course Policies
Attendance
I do not require attendance per se, but 20% of
your grade is determined by class discussion. Students who
do not attend class regularly are giving up that portion of their
final grade. I strongly advise regular attendance (and
prompt completion of response papers) because the material in this
course is relatively difficult and confusing, and few students
will be able to do well on their papers without the explanations
and practice provided in class.
Late work
Response papers must be turned in at (or before) the beginning of
class to receive full credit. Late response papers will
receive half credit. In fairness to students who turn their
position papers in on time, I will subtract one grade (e.g., B+ to
B) for each day that a position paper is late. If you cannot turn
in your papers on time due to circumstances beyond your control,
please let me know.
Incompletes
I will give incomplete grades only to students who have
satisfactorily completed most of the course work and who are
unable to finish on time because of circumstances beyond their
control.
Plagiarism
All work submitted for this course must be your own.
Plagiarism is the academic ‘sin’ of presenting someone else’s work
as your own. It is plagiarism if you copy something verbatim
(word for word) from a published source, from the Internet, from
an AI chat-bot, or from another student. It is still
plagiarism if you rearrange, paraphrase, condense, or summarize
someone else’s work without making clear to your reader what is
your contribution and what is taken from your source. If the exact
wording comes from your source, then use quotation marks. If
the idea comes from someone else, give him or her credit for it.
The way to do this is to cite your sources.
There is a clear and detailed explanation of various forms of
plagiarism and of proper citation practices at http://cmsw.mit.edu/writing-and-communication-center/avoiding-plagiarism.
Also here: https://www.plagiarism.org/article/what-is-plagiarism.
I will give a grade of ‘F’ to any student who submits
plagiarized work for this course.
Diversity and Disability Statement:
Our institution values diversity and inclusion; we are committed
to a climate of mutual respect and full participation. Our goal is
to create learning environments that are usable, equitable,
inclusive and welcoming. If there are aspects of the instruction
or design of this course that result in barriers to your inclusion
or accurate assessment or achievement, please notify the
instructor as soon as possible. Students with disabilities are
also welcome to contact the Center for Accessibility Resources to
discuss a range of options to removing barriers in the course,
including accommodations. Phone: 651-793-1549 Web: Center for
Accessibility Resources
Also: if you are struggling or having trouble in this course, please talk to me regardless of your official status. We can work it out.
University Non-Attendance and Reporting Policy and Procedure
The purpose of the Non-Attendance and Reporting Policy is to ensure Federal Title IV regulations are adhered to with respect to a student’s enrollment level for the purpose of calculating and paying financial aid. While Metropolitan State University is not required to take attendance, Federal Title IV financial aid regulations require a procedure to establish that students have attended, at a minimum, one day of class for each course in which the student’s enrollment status was used to determine eligibility for the Pell Grant Program. In addition, the university needs to determine a last date of attendance for those students who receive all failing grades or unofficially withdraw.
Attendance is defined based on course delivery mode. A student is
“in attendance” if he or she meets the following conditions before
the end of the second week of the course:
• Classroom Courses – the student is
present in the classroom. For hhis online class, that means
attending a Zoom session.
In other words, if you do not show up (in-person or on Zoom) for at least one of the first two class sessions for this course I will be required to report you as “non-attending” and you will automatically be dropped from the class.
Drop date, Tuition Refunds; Withdrawal deadline
Withdrawing from courses after the drop deadline (Friday, August
28) will result in a ‘W’ on your record, will eliminate any
possibility of a refund of the tuition you have paid, and may have
an impact on your financial aid. My advice is to determine
quickly whether or not this is the right course for you and to
drop before that deadline, if it is not.
The last day to withdraw from this course is November 23, 2026.