Both Aristotle and Kant are central to the Western humanistic tradition in ethics.  So, how can their theories be so radically different?  The answer I propose in the course is that these theories diverge along a deep fault line running through the same humanistic culture.  This fault line has its origin in an almost total disagreement about the nature and origin of scientific knowledge. 

In light of the role this disagreement plays in the development of these two approaches to ethics, the course will focus its attention on the way crucial moves in the authors’ theories of knowledge influenced equally crucial moves in their ethical theories.

Because the course also aims at developing the students’ ability to think about specific ethical issues, each class will begin with an open discussion of an ethical problem.