1. 1.CONTENT OF THE COURSE
   

2. 2.AIM OF THE COURSE
   

3. 3.CONTACT INFORMATION
   

4. 4.CLASS TIMES
   

5. 5.READINGS
   

6. 6.ASSESSMENT
   

7. 7.IMPORTANT DATE
   

1. 1.CONTENT OF THE COURSE
   

This course is an exploration of topics in the metaphysics of value. We will explore some or all of the following topics:

1. •Values and attitudes: What's the relation between value and evaluative attitudes? Are things valuable because we value them (idealism), or do we value them because they are valuable (realism)? Or perhaps nothing at all matters (nihilism).
   

2. •The evaluative and the non-evaluative: It is often assumed that two things cannot differ in their value profile without differing in their natural profile. This dependence relation has been cashed out in terms of identity, reduction, universalizability, supervenience, and grounding. The relation, whatever it is, has implications for the correct metaphysics of value.
   

3. •The logical geography of value concepts: There are a number of distinctions in value theory: between intrinsic and extrinsic value; between final and non-final value; between fundamental and derivative value; between personal and impersonal value. There is as yet no well-developed map of the logical geography of these distinctions. We need one, otherwise we will forever be left gnashing and grinding our teeth in outer darkness.
   

4. •Value bearers: A theory of value should tell us what types of entity can be have value. There are two main contenders: concreta (concrete particulars and/or actual states of affairs); and abstracta (that is, possible states and/or properties). As Plato knew well, concreta are perennially more popular among the earth-bound. But (as he warned us) popularity does not make right.
   

5. •Knowledge of value: Different metaphysics yield different epistemologies and value is no exception. There is a possible gap between our valuing attitudes (beliefs, judgments, preferences etc.) and the value facts. Nihilists tell us the gap is unbridgeable because one side of the gap is missing (value facts). The idealists try to eliminate the gap altogether by making value entirely attitude-dependent. Clearly these accounts won't do. Realists acknowledge the gap and try to narrow it, at least a little, but without closing it. Many philosophers are certainty freaks (It is the lust for certainty that idealism panders to). But most of what we claim to know (minus a couple of boring Cartesian truths and a few tautologies) is more or less uncertain. Recently the importance of value uncertainty, and how we might handle that, has engaged value theorists.
   

6. •The logical structure of value: First, do goods aggregate and if so in what way? Is the value of a complex whole the sum of the values of its parts? There is some relationship between value additivity and the ubiquitous method of bare differences. It also underlies Parfit's notorious repugnant conclusion. This is something we definitely need to know. Second, are values commensurable? We examine recent arguments for and against non-standard value relations, like parity.
   

7. •Monism and pluralism: There appear to be a vast range of different kinds of putatively valuable things: music, knowledge, friendship, love, ecosystems, achievements, honor, courage, snowflakes, the starry heavens, happiness, pleasure, well being... Monists think there is some one thing (like pleasure) that unifies and explains this apparent diversity of value. Pluralists say there is no such thing. Which is it?
   

2. 2.AIM OF THE COURSE
   

The aim of the course, apart from being an introduction to and immersion in some recent work on value theory, is to get you to write a short or medium-sized paper (i.e. around 3000-4000 words) that you might submit to grad student conferences or to a philosophy journal. Short papers of this sort might present a new idea but more typically they are discussion notes on a recent paper, or an important paper, in the field. Much of what is new in philosophy arises out of criticisms of what just went before. So be on the lookout for an article or a bunch of articles that strike you as interesting but wrong, and that you can prove to be wrong.

3. 3.CONTACT INFO
   

4. Professor: Graham Oddie, Hellems 274
   

5. Email: oddie@colorado.edu
   

6. Phone (303) 492-8449. But, honestly, don’t bother! I almost never answer that phone, nor do I ever venture into its impossibly burgeoning archive of voicemails (I have lost the password). Better to email me or accost me in the hallway.
   

7. Web site: http://spot.colorado.edu/~oddie/GrahamOddie/Home.html
   

8. My office hours: Friday 2.00 pm - 3.00 pm, in Hellems 274. At other times by appointment.
   

9. I am here to help you, so do not hesitate to come to the scheduled office hours if you have any problems. Other times can be arranged by appointment.
   

4. 4. CLASS TIMES
   

5. Tuesday/Thursday 5.00 pm - 6.15 pm, in Hellems 177.
   

6. (Note: this is a god-awful time and I would never have chosen it myself.)
   

5. 5.TEXTS AND READINGS FOR THE COURSE
   

6. There are no required texts though a pretty useful book to have is Oddie Value, Reality and Desire (OUP, 2009).
   

7. I will also be placing books on reserve and recommending articles as we go, most of which I will probably be able to make available on the D2L website.
   

6. 6.ASSESSMENT
   

7. The assessment for the course will be based on four items:
   

1. i.In-class participation: 15%.
   

Purely logical point: you cannot participate at all, let alone, effectively if you are not there! I assign one point per week for 15 weeks, so half a point for each class)

2. ii.Short weekly exercises/responses: 15%.
   

To be submitted to the D2L discussion board each Sunday by midnight.) The point of these is to start you thinking and writing about these topics, and to initiate interactions on the issues among class members. What you write doesn’t have to be brilliant, it just has to be there.

Philosophy, like every other field of inquiry, advances by conjecture and refutation, and the point of i and ii is not just to make busy work which in turn generates grades, but to get you all interacting with each other and with me, producing conjectures and refutations of those conjectures.

3. iii.Final Paper: 70%.
   

The final version of this is to be submitted in electronic format, through the D2L website, Monday May 5, midnight.) Although I am very open about what aspect of the course you write on, it has genuinely be an aspect of this course, not some other course or some related interest you have. So be sure to talk with me and clear your topic before you embark on it.  A very important aspect of the discipline of writing philosophy is writing and rewriting drafts. I am happy to read and comment on early drafts of your final.

Publication: As noted above, this is an advanced graduate seminar. At this stage of your education in philosophy you should be thinking about writing a piece that might have a chance of being presented or published somewhere.

1. Disabilities:  If you have specific physical, psychiatric, or learning disabilities and require accommodations, please let me know in the first two weeks of the semester so that your learning needs may be appropriately met. You will need to provide documentation of your disability to the Disability Services Office in (C4C), Suite N200, phone 303-492-8671, E-mail dsinfo@colorado.edu.
   

2. Religious observances. It is university policy to make reasonable accommodations for religious observances.  (But for those of you who do do not observe any religion, you have to be there and get your stuff in on time, no excuses.)
   

7. 7.IMPORTANT DATE
   

8. FINAL PAPER: due by the end of the finals slot. Submit your paper electronically, through the D2L website.