FIL4600 - Spring 2020

Pensum/læringskrav

Topic:

The course will focus on Kant’s moral and political thought. We shall read his three main books on the topic. Furthermore, we shall look at the historical origin of some of his central ideas in the work of Christian August Crusius.

The course will be taught in English.

Requirements:

In order to get their study points, participants have to attend the course sessions on a regular basis (not miss more than three sessions without explanation); before every session, they have to submit one question – through Canvas – about the reading for this very session. Furthermore, they have to submit 2 short (2 page) texts in the first part of the semester and then a draft of their semester paper before they deliver the final version of this paper. The short texts, the draft and the semester paper can be written either in Norwegian or in English.

The final grade will be based on the quality of the semester paper. The short papers and draft will not be considered for the final grade.

Reading list:

Primary texts:

Crusius, Christian August (1744) ‘Guide to Rational Living.’ In: Schneewind, J. B., ed. (2003) Moral Philosophy from Montaigne to Kant (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 568-585.

Kant, Immanuel (1785/1996) Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. In: Immanuel Kant. Practical Philosophy. Translated and edited by Mary J. Gregor, general introduction by Allen Wood). (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Kant, Immanuel (1788/1996) Critique of Practical Reason. In: Immanuel Kant. Practical Philosophy. Translated and edited by Mary J. Gregor, general introduction by Allen Wood). (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Kant, Immanuel (1797/1996) The Metaphysics of Morals. In: Immanuel Kant. Practical Philosophy. Translated and edited by Mary J. Gregor, general introduction by Allen Wood). (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).

Secondary literature:

Allison, Henry (1990) Kant’s Theory of Freedom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Ameriks, Karl (2003) Interpreting Kant’s ‘Critiques’. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Part II, 159-282.

Beiser, Frederick (2006) ‘Kant’s Intellectual Development’. The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Ed. Paul Guyer. Cambridge: CUP, 26ff.

Fricke, Christel (forthcoming) ‘Kants moralische Begründung der Rechtspflichten und das Immanuel-Kant-Problem.’ – An English translation will be provided.

Fricke, Christel (2018) ‘Die Quadratur des Kreises: Kants Moralphilosophie und ihr crusianisches Erbe.’ Aufklärung. Interdisziplinäres Jahrbuch zur Erforschung des 20. Jahrhunderts und seiner Wirkungsgeschichte 30, 51-72. – An English translation will be provided.

Horn, Christoph (2014) ‚Das Bewusstsein unter dem moralischen Gesetz zu stehen: Kants Freiheitsargument in GMS III.‘ In: D. Schönecker (ed), Kants Begründung von Freiheit und Moral in Grundlegung III, Münster 2015, 137-156. – For those who read German, not generally required.*

Horn, Christoph (2016) ‘Kant’s Political Philosophy as a Theory of Non-Ideal Normativity.’ In: K. Sorin-Baiasu/H. Pauer-Studer (eds), Freedom and Coercion. Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy, Kant-Studien 107, 89-110.

Kain, Patrick (2004) ‘Self-legislation in Kant’s Moral Philosophy.’ Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 86/3, 257-306.

Kain, Patrick (2010) ‘Practical Cognition, Intuition, and the Fact of Reason.’ In: Lipscomb, Benjamin J. Bruxvoort and James Krueger (eds) (2010) Kant’s Moral Metaphysics. God, Freedom, Immorality. Berlin: DeGruyter, 211-230.

Korsgaard, Christine M. (1996) The Sources of Normativity. Cambridge: CUP, Lecture 3, 90-130.

Korsgaard, Christine M. (1997) ‘The Normativity of Instrumental Reason.’ In: Garrett Cullity and Berys Gaut (eds) Ethics and Practical Reason. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Maliks, Reidar (2012) ‘Revolutionary Epigones: Kant and his radical followers.’ History of Political Thought XXXIII/ 4, pp 647-671.

Maliks, Reidar (2015) ‘Kant and his conservative critics.’ In: Quentin Skinner and Martin Van Gelderen (eds) Freedom and the Construction of Europe. Vol 2 Free Persons and Free States. Cambridge: CUP, 188-207.

Ripstein, Arthur (2009) Force and Freedom. Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy. Cambridge(Mass and London/England: Harvard University Press.

Schneewind, J.B. (1998) The Invention of Autonomy. A History of Modern Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: CUP.

Schneewind, J.B. (2006) ‘Autonomy, obligation, and virtue: An overview of Kant’s moral philosophy’. The Cambridge Companion to Kant. Ed. Paul Guyer, 309-341, Cambridge: CUP.

*I shall try and provide English translations.

Published Nov. 27, 2019 4:27 PM - Last modified Dec. 17, 2019 3:57 PM