The History of Ethics: The British Moralists (advanced lecture)
Reason and Religion (lecture)
Prosperity: The Ethics and Economics of Wealth Creation (lecture)
Civic Virtue and the Duties of Citizens (graduate seminar)
Moral Philosophy (lecture)
Environmental Ethics (lecture)
Freedom (first year seminar)
Moral Meta-Theory (senior seminar)

 We will examine some of the most important British moralists of the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, focusing on their views of the foundations of morality. We will explore, in particular, their positions on the relationship between self-interest and morality, on the roles that reason and sentiment play in moral judgment, and on the relationship between human nature and morality (including political justice). We will focus on Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill, but will also examine the work of more minor figures, such as Cudworth, Hutcheson, Butler, and Clarke. The British moralists have often been taken to be forerunners of much of the meta-ethical thought of the 20th and 21st centuries; one of our goals will be to determine the extent to which our ethical thinking has the same basis as that of the British moralists, and the extent to which we can learn valuable lessons from them. We will, consequently, seek to situate the British moralists both within their own historical periods and within contemporary debates in philosophical ethics.

Philosophy writing is an art. It takes practice. Here's some help.

Michael Huemer's Guide

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Martin Young's Guide