Teaching Materials
Spring 2026: Metaethics, Bielefeld
Description: We make moral claims all the time – “it was wrong for the USA to use nuclear weapons in 1945”, “it's okay to eat cows, but not dogs”, “Nelson Mandela was a good person”. What are we doing when we make such claims? Are we attempting to describe some kind of mind-independent normative reality? Or are we merely expressing our own attitudes? Are there any moral facts? If there are, how can we come to know them? This course will study these questions and others. All readings, seminars and coursework will be in English.
Spring 2024: Ethics in Your Life: Being, Thinking, Doing (or Not?), MIT
Co-taught with Nicholas Collura.
Description: All of us are regularly confronted with ethical questions. Some of these questions concern small, daily decisions: Is it okay to pet this stranger’s dog without asking first? Should I forgive my friend for being grumpy this morning? What should I eat for dinner tonight? Other questions are broader: What moral responsibilities do I have as a researcher? What should I do when others say things I find offensive? What kind of life do I want to live? In this 6-credit seminar we meet each week to clarify and discuss these kinds of questions. The ultimate goal of the course is to give you the tools to develop your own ethical perspective, and the confidence to act on it.
Autumn 2023: Problems of Philosophy, MIT
Description: This course is an introduction to some classic philosophical questions. Should I believe in God? Do I really know anything? Is morality objective? What should I do? Do I have free will? What does it take for me to persist through time? What’s the meaning of life? We’ll discuss the significance of these questions and assess the plausibility of various ways that these questions might be answered. The ultimate goal of the course is to develop your critical and argumentative skills: by the end of the course, you should be able to think philosophically for yourself.