This will be a course in contemporary metaethics. Metaethics is concerned with what ethical claims mean, and with the kinds of reasoning or evidence that justify ethical claims. The course will take up the ethical intuitionism of Moore and Ross, the emotivism of Ayer and Stevenson, Hare's universal prescriptivism, and recent proposals such as Rawls' theory of reflective equilibrium, Brandt's linguistic reform, new versions of "moral realism," and moral "expressivism" with "quasi-realism." Students should already have some background in moral philosophy in the twentieth century "analytic" tradition, preferably PHIL 361 or the equivalent. Three short (five page) papers will be required, and there will be a midterm and a final examination. Classes will consist both of lecture and of discussion.