Moral Disagreement and Dialogue

This course will be an exploration of moral and political disagreements from a philosophical perspective, drawing on moral psychology, metaethics, epistemology, feminist and non-Western perspectives. We will analyze standard philosophical approaches to moral argument, review some of the relevant empirical evidence about the psychology of disagreement and moral intuition, and attempt to shed light on our deeper disagreements by situating them within a thicker social and cultural context. Along the way, we will try to apply what we learn in the context of concrete disagreements over ethical vegetarianism, religious faith, and abortion. We will also consider the possibilities of relativism and pluralism, living with reasonable disagreements, and prospects for finding common ground.