Teaching
Science of Moral Understanding
Course Description
Moral conversations can be some of the most difficult conversations to have. We feel passionately about our values and viewpoints, and struggle to understand those who do not share them. A host of forces — psychological, biological, sociological — contribute to and deepen the divides between people on opposing sides of a moral argument. This course will center those most difficult conversations (e.g., abortion, euthanasia, biomedical enhancement), and, drawing from philosophy, theory and the new science of moral understanding, will train students how to begin to bridge those moral divides.
“Kurt is an excellent lecturer who keeps his class engaging and interesting. I was always looking forward to the conversations we had in class and the topics we discussed. Loved this course!”
Topics
Module 01: Moral Understanding
Module 02: Abortion. The Nature of Mind.
Module 03: Euthanasia. Free Will.
Module 04: Biomedical Enhancement.
Module 05: The Holocaust. Doing Evil.
Module 06: Cultural Relativism.
Module 07: Racism. Individuals & Institutions.
Module 08: Pandemics. Utilitarianism vs. Deontology
Module 09: Taxes. Inequality & Freedom.
Module 10: Social Media & Moral Outrage
Open Educational Resources
Find all the necessary materials to teach students about the Science of Moral Understanding generally, and about the topics above specifically, and watch videos of Kurt teaching the modules to his students.
What Students Say About the Course
“Dr. Gray's lectures were fast–paced, witty, timely, and extremely engaging. There was not a moment that I was bored in this class. I particularly appreciated the flexibility with the flow of lectures –– student participation was always encouraged, and we could explore different paths than may have been planned if that's where class discussion took us. Another huge benefit was that Dr. Gray is clearly very knowledgable, and was able to really elaborate when students posed questions or concerns.”
“Professor Gray made learning possible by making every single class extremely engaging and entertaining. Most classes I've taken I have to force myself to pay attention, but this class was so easy to listen to. Professor Gray is the funniest teacher I've had at UNC, and all the lecture topics were applicable to real life and really interesting.”
“He made learning possible for me in so many ways. His energy was contagious, which made even the more challenging topics feel approachable. He had this way of explaining concepts that made them feel relatable to real life, which helped me stay engaged. Plus, he was funny at times, which lightened the mood and made class enjoyable. At the same time, he seemed super relaxed, like he wasn’t trying too hard to impress, but you could tell he was deeply in tune with the material. His balance of being approachable and knowledgeable made the class feel like a space where I could actually understand and apply what we were learning.”
“This was the class I looked forward to most and I genuinely looked forward to doing the readings for the class. Kurt did a great job explaining very complicated moral topics in a simple way, and did a great job being centrist in a class that goes over fraught topics. He presented information in a clear and concise way and his positive energy made it fun to learn.”
“This is probably the best class I've taken at UNC. All of the units were incredibly interesting, and the material we talked about was relevant and useful to my daily life.”
“Gray was such a fun professor and made this higher level work feel so manageable and interesting!”
Course created by the Center for the Science of Moral Understanding
Director: Kurt Gray
Executive Director of Instructional Development: Steven G. Buzinski
In collaboration with: Kevin Marinelli