180138 LPS Kant: Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals (2019W)

Aims, contents and method of the course

Central questions of practical philosophy and ethics will be explored through an accurate and complete reading of Kant's Foundation of the Metaphysics of Morals. By teaching and practicing the basics of a sound approach to philosophical texts, problems should be understood in an appropriate way. Another goal is to teach scientific working techniques and their practical application with regard to the current texts and as a basis for further study. The primary text is the commented edition of Christoph Horn, Corinna Mieth and Nico Scarano. Working with this commented edition will allow a thorough and comprehensive examination of text passages and give insight on how to deal with an extensive commentary. Essentially, we are to gain insight into the prerequisites and consequences of Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy and to relate these to current questions.

Methods

Close Reading:
Emphasis is on reading together, working very close to the text well as the discussion of individual positions and arguments.

Text based questions:
Students are to submit "question to the text" and are free to choose five text passages as an assignment for the following unit. This can be written as a question in the form of a short text commentary or directly as a question to the author and should be approximately one-half to a maximum of one page. (to be delivered on moodle, one day before the particular unit).

Expert groups:
Expert groups of four or five students are given the task of editing sections of the text and of preparing a reading proposal for the following unit (further research, clarification of unclear terms, and taking up text based questions). Based on this proposal, the expert groups lead through an entire unit and the current reading section. In the process, the lecturer make sure that the questions submitted by the colleagues are considered.