WeekTopicHistorical periodStudy philosophersThink critically
Week 1 Subject: “Who am I?” Ancient Ethics
(Virtue Ethics)
Virtue Ethics, Plato,
The Republic, “The Ring of Gyges” 

Virtue Ethics, Plato,
The Philebus
 Are good and bad innate?
Week 2 Virtue Ethics, Aristotle, Nichomachean EthicsIs there a limit to the respect for cultures? 
Week 3Virtue Ethics, Stoics, Epictetus “Fragment” Tolerance of violence, what about the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution? 
Week 4 Virtue Ethics, Epicureanism, Epicurus, Letter to MenoeceusIs there a human nature? 
Week 5 Culture: “Who are we?” Medieval Ethics Jewish Ethics, Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah Can religion dictate morality? 
Week 6Christian Ethics, Ambrose, On the Duties of the Ministry

Christian Ethics,
Ailred of Rievaulx, On Spiritual Friendships
 
What can be the origin of morality? 
Week 7Christian Ethics, Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologiae Can reason serve evil? 
Week 8 Islamic Ethics,
Al Farabi, The Perfect State

Islamic Ethics,
Avicenna, Shefa
Can science be developed without taking morality into consideration? 
Week 9 Reason and Real: “What can we know?” Modern EthicsConsequentialism, Hobbes, Leviathan 

Meta-Ethics,
Hume, An Enquiry into the Principles of Moral
Is morality necessary for social life? 
Week 10Normative Ethics,
Kant, Metaphysics of Moral
Does morality depend on the state’s laws? 
Week 11    Utilitarianism, Bentham, Principles of Moral and Legislation

A. Smith, The Wealth of Nations
Is politics compatible with morality? 
Week 12Ethical Nihilism, Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil Is it the case that every human life has the same value? 
Week 13 Politics: “How to live together?” Contemporary EthicsMeta-ethics, Moore, Principia Ethica What is a person? 
Week 14Emotivism, Stevenson, Ethics and Language Is any pleasure good? 
Week 15Existentialism, Sartre, Existentialism is a Humanism

Normative and Meta-ethics, Rawls, A Theory of Justice 
Is there any merit in being generous? 
Week 16Right theory, Nozik, Anarchy, State, and Utopia 

Virtue-ethics, McIntyre, After Virtue
Should we forgive?