https://at-ceu.studyguide.timeedit.net/modules/PHIL5321?type=COREThis course aims to provide a foundation and an entry point into current debates in metaethics for graduate students with a background in philosophy. In the first two thirds of the course, we'll work through a survey of the field, introducing the puzzles that metaethics addresses and the main positions taken in response to them. In the last part of the course we will take a deeper dive into selected areas. We will investigate questions such as: Do moral thoughts and moral sentences represent properties that exist in reality? If so, are these properties "natural" or sui generis? How can different theories of the subject matter of ethics account for moral knowledge? How can they account for the practical action-guiding role of moral judgments? We will emphasize some ways in which metaethics relates to other subfields of philosophy including metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, and normative ethics. The seminar aims to provoke active debate at an advanced level, while also providing a textbook-supported introduction to the field. No prior knowledge of metaethics is assumed.