This week I begin the final section of my MCCC Logic class. I'm excited since I'll be teaching, for the first time, Vaughn's Chapter 11 - "Judging Moral Arguments and Theories."
We'll look at:
- The nature of moral argumentation
- The place of moral premises in moral argumentation
- Moral theories (the difference between a moral theory and a scientific theory; coherenc e in moral theorizing; etc.)
- Moral worldviews (especially utilitarianism [Benthan and Mill] and Kantian ethics [deontological theories])
I'll present Francis Beckwith's logical argument against abortion as a type of philosophical-legal reasoning. I'll cite some Appeal to Pity objections to the Pro-Life position. Then, I'll use the Counterexample Method to illustrate reasoning against one of these objections. These are all terms and concepts we've been teaching this semester. Now, we'll apply them to moral reasoning. (For more on Beckwith see here.)
