Seminar Materials
Philosophy 333—Ethical Theories: Altruism & Egoism
Michael Taber
Spring 2026

These are the books we will use, in the order in which we will use them.

1. What We Owe the Future, by William MacAskill (Basic Books, 2022), ISBN: 978-1-5416-1862-6
2. Immanuel Kant’s Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, 3^rd edition, translated by James Ellington (Hackett Publishing, 1993), ISBN: 9780872201668
3. Ayn Rand’s The Virtue of Selfishness (Signet, 1964), ISBN: 978-0451163936
4. Dostoevsky’s The Grand Inquisitor with Related Chapters from The Brothers Karamazov, translated and edited by Charles Guignon (1993, Hackett Publishing, ISBN: 978-0872201934

Some additional readings will be distributed to you as handouts.

Also, there is a Google folder for this course, in which will appear such items as sign-up sheets for Back-up Buddies, tutorials, and some readings.

Some of the readings in the schedule below are links to New York Times or Washington Post articles, to which you can gain access at no additional charge because our library has worked out a deal with the NYT and with the Washington Post. That is, all SMCM students, faculty, and staff have a subscription to these newspapers; they just have to activate it, at no additional charge. (Your tuition $$ at work.)

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Send me mail: mstaber at smcm dot edu

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