Write a paper in which
you consider what, if anything, makes gratitude inapt. To do this, you will need to settle on what you take
to be the strongest account of both kinds of gratitude (unless you hold to a single, broad
conception) and what it means for gratitude to be fitting or apt. Your essay
should address some of the following: misplaced gratitude, gratitude for immoral acts, intimate vs. non-intimate relationships, virtues, duties, and moral regard. Defend your
own position by advancing
what you take to be the strongest objection and showing how it fails.
The following are all the readings from the course. Two of the references must be from a source other than these.
Jan. 4 Important information about the class, expectations, etc.
Jan. 9 Robert Solomon. “Foreword,” in Robert Emmons and Michael E. McCullough (eds), The Psychology of Gratitude, Series in Affective Science (New York, 2004; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Mar. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150100.002.0005Links to an external site. , accessed 20 Dec. 2023. And Emmons, Robert. “The Psychology of Gratitude: An Introduction,” in Robert A. Emmons, and Michael E. McCullough (eds), The Psychology of Gratitude, Series in Affective Science (New York, 2004; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Mar. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150100.003.0001Links to an external site. , accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
Jan. 11 Watkins, Philip. “Gratitude and Subjective Well-Being,” in Robert Emmons, and Michael E. McCullough (eds), The Psychology of Gratitude, Series in Affective Science (New York, 2004; online edn, Oxford Academic, 22 Mar. 2012), https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150100.003.0009Links to an external site. , accessed 20 Dec. 2023.
Jan. 16 Gulliford, Liz, Morgan, Blaire, and Kristjan Kristjánsson. “Recent Work on the Concept of Gratitude in Philosophy and Psychology,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 47, 285–317 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-013-9387-8Links to an external site. (285-301)
Jan. 18 Gulliford, Liz, Morgan, Blaire, and Kristjan Kristjánsson. “Recent Work on the Concept of Gratitude in Philosophy and Psychology,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 47, 285–317 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-013-9387-8Links to an external site. (301-317)
Jan. 23 Walker, A.D.M. “Gratefulness and Gratitude,” Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, 81, 1981, 39-55.
Jan. 25 McAleer, Sean. “Propositional Gratitude,” American Philosophical Quarterly, 49(1), 2012, 55-66.
Jan. 30 Fitzgerald, Patrick. “Gratitude and Justice,” Ethics, 109(1), 1998, 110-153 (110-133).
Feb. 1 Fitzgerald, Patrick. “Gratitude and Justice,” Ethics, 109(1), 1998, 110-153 (133-153).
Feb. 6 Manela, Tony. “Gratitude and Appreciation,” American Philosophical Quarterly, 53(3), 2016, 281-294.
Feb. 8 EXAM
Feb. 13 McConnell, Terrance. “Inapt gratitude: against expansionist views,” ZEMO 4, 91–108 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42048-020-00086-0 Links to an external site.
Feb. 15 Rush, Michael. “Motivating Propositional Gratitude,” Philosophical Studies, 177, 2022, 1191-1211.
Feb. 20, 22 Mid-term Break
Feb. 27 Manela, Tony. “Negative Feelings of Gratitude,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 50, 2016, 129-140.
Feb. 29 Riedener, Stefan. “Beyond Benefits: Gratitude as a Response to Moral Regard,” Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy, 66(10), 2023, 1821-1840.
Mar. 5 Card, Claudia. “Gratitude and Obligation,” American Philosophical Quarterly, 25(2), 1988, 115-127.
Mar. 7 Heath Wellman, Christopher. “Gratitude as a Virtue,” Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 80, 1999, 284–300.
Mar. 12 Shaw, Joshua. “Gratitude, Self-Assessment, and Moral Community,” Journal of Value Inquiry, 47, 2013, 407–423. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10790-013-9396-7Links to an external site.
Mar. 14 Kristjánsson, Kristján. “An Aristotelian Virtue of Gratitude,” Topoi, 34, (2), 2015, 499-511.
Mar. 19 Lewis, Max. “On Gratitude to Nature,” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 40 (2), 2023, 321-339.
