What makes an action right? What kind of person should we try to be? And how can we decide between different answers to these questions? This course explores major traditions in ethical theory from around the world, including Confucian, Mohist, Buddhist, Cārvāka, Akan, and European schools of thought. We’ll look at different ways these traditions think about ethics – whether they focus on consequences, duties, character, or something else entirely – and consider what each approach takes to be the point of living an ethical life. Rather than working from just one cultural or philosophical framework, we’ll compare ideas across traditions and ask what happens when they come into conflict. The course doesn’t assume any background in philosophy, but it does ask you to think hard and engage seriously with unfamiliar ideas.

What makes an action right? What kind of person should we try to be? And how can we decide between different answers to these questions? This course explores major traditions in ethical theory from around the world, including Confucian, Mohist, Buddhist, Cārvāka, Akan, and European schools of thought. We’ll look at different ways these traditions think about ethics – whether they focus on consequences, duties, character, or something else entirely – and consider what each approach takes to be the point of living an ethical life. Rather than working from just one cultural or philosophical framework, we’ll compare ideas across traditions and ask what happens when they come into conflict. The course doesn’t assume any background in philosophy, but it does ask you to think hard and engage seriously with unfamiliar ideas.

Michael Hemmingsen. 2024. Ethical Theory in Global Perspective. SUNY Press.

Michael Hemmingsen. 2024. Ethical Theory in Global Perspective. SUNY Press.