Course Five · The Complete Micro-Course

Ethics, one idea
at a time.

The entire introductory ethics canon, rebuilt as 210 numbered videos — each one a single idea, each idea traced to the philosopher and the primary text that made it. Start at the beginning, or start anywhere and follow the numbers back.

210 lessons · 186 atoms · 11 procedures · 13 capstones0 of 210 live

How the course works

Every idea has a number. Every number knows what comes before it.

Ethics goes wrong in a particular way: an argument about euthanasia or economic justice collapses into people talking past each other, because somewhere upstream a distinction never got made. This course is built so the way back is always visible. When an objection doesn’t land, you don’t rewatch a lecture. You follow the number back to the distinction it depends on.

Three kinds of video: atoms (one theory, objection, or distinction, about twenty seconds), procedures (one method, shown step by step — putting an argument in standard form, testing a maxim), and capstones (one moral case run through several theories at once). On contested applied questions the course presents the standard arguments on each side and declares no verdict — the reasoning is the lesson.

The whole map

All 210 videos, in order.

New videos post daily until the course is complete. Live ones link straight to the short; the rest are on their way.

Unit 1

Moral Reasoning Foundations

001 Moral Claims Atom Soon
002 Descriptive Claims Atom Soon
003 The Fact-Verdict Confusion Atom Soon
004 The Reasons Requirement Atom Soon
005 The Feeling-as-Reason Error Atom Soon
006 The Minimum Conception of Morality Atom Soon
007 Impartiality Atom Soon
008 The Identical-Treatment Misreading Atom Soon
009 The Moral Community Atom Soon
011 Arguments Atom Soon
012 Factual Premises and Moral Premises Atom Soon
013 The Consistency Requirement Atom Soon
014 Special Pleading Atom Soon
015 Standard Form Procedure Soon
019 Two Sources of Moral Disagreement Atom Soon
020 The Disagreement Shortcut Atom Soon
021 Thought Experiments Atom Soon
026 Free Will Atom Soon
027 Determinism Atom Soon
028 Control and Blame Atom Soon
029 Compatibilism Atom Soon
030 Incompatibilism Atom Soon
031 The Universal Excuse Atom Soon
036 Locating a Disagreement Procedure Soon
Unit 2

Challenges: Relativism, Subjectivism, Religion

046 Cultural Relativism Atom Soon
047 The Cultural Differences Argument Atom Soon
048 Why the Argument Fails Atom Soon
049 No Criticizing Other Societies Atom Soon
050 No Criticizing Your Own Society Atom Soon
051 The Moral-Progress Problem Atom Soon
052 Belief Differences Beneath Value Differences Atom Soon
053 Values Every Society Shares Atom Soon
054 What Cultural Relativism Gets Right Atom Soon
056 Sorting Convention from Morality Procedure Soon
061 Simple Subjectivism Atom Soon
062 The Infallibility Problem Atom Soon
063 The Disagreement Problem Atom Soon
064 Emotivism Atom Soon
065 Expressing vs. Reporting Atom Soon
066 Emotivism's Reasons Problem Atom Soon
067 Proof in Ethics Atom Soon
069 The Is/Ought Gap Atom Soon
070 The Gap Misread as "Facts Don't Matter" Atom Soon
076 The Divine Command Theory Atom Soon
077 The Euthyphro Question Atom Soon
078 The Arbitrariness Horn Atom Soon
079 The Independent-Standard Horn Atom Soon
080 The Natural-Law Theory Atom Soon
081 Natural Law Meets the Gap Atom Soon
082 Scripture Still Needs Judgment Atom Soon
083 Morality on Shared Ground Atom Soon
086 Running the Euthyphro Test Procedure Soon
095 The Reformer's Case Capstone Soon
Unit 3

Egoism & the Social Contract

101 Psychological Egoism Atom Soon
102 The Reinterpretation Strategy Atom Soon
103 The Unfalsifiability Problem Atom Soon
104 The Want-Satisfaction Argument Atom Soon
105 Why Wants Don't Make It Selfish Atom Soon
106 The Good-Feelings Argument Atom Soon
107 The Byproduct Reply Atom Soon
108 Selfish vs. Self-Interested Atom Soon
113 Ethical Egoism Atom Soon
114 What Ethical Egoism Doesn't Say Atom Soon
115 Rand's Argument Atom Soon
116 The False-Dichotomy Reply Atom Soon
117 The Wickedness Objection Atom Soon
118 The Arbitrariness Objection Atom Soon
126 The State of Nature Atom Soon
127 Why the State of Nature Fails Atom Soon
128 The Social Contract Atom Soon
129 The Scope Objection Atom Soon
130 The Prisoner's Dilemma Atom Soon
131 Walking the Dilemma Procedure Soon
132 Enforcement Changes the Game Atom Soon
133 Locke's State of Nature Atom Soon
134 Rousseau's Social Contract Atom Soon
135 Civil Disobedience Atom Soon
136 Justice as Fairness Atom Soon
137 The Veil of Ignorance Atom Soon
138 Nozick's Entitlement Objection Atom Soon
145 The Free Rider Capstone Soon
Unit 4

Utilitarianism

151 Consequentialism Atom Soon
152 The Principle of Utility Atom Soon
153 Hedonism About Happiness Atom Soon
154 Epicurus: The Ancient Root Atom Soon
155 Bentham's Calculus Atom Soon
156 Everybody Counts for One Atom Soon
157 The Swine Objection Atom Soon
158 Mill's Quality Reply Atom Soon
159 Smith's Impartial Spectator Atom Soon
163 Act Utilitarianism Atom Soon
164 Rule Utilitarianism Atom Soon
165 The Ignorance Objection Atom Soon
166 The Expected-Utility Reply Atom Soon
171 The Justice Objection Atom Soon
172 The Rights Objection Atom Soon
173 The Backward-Looking-Reasons Objection Atom Soon
174 The Too-Demanding Objection Atom Soon
175 The Partiality Objection Atom Soon
176 First Defense: The Cases Are Rigged Atom Soon
177 Second Defense: Revise Common Sense Atom Soon
178 Third Defense: Move to Rules Atom Soon
179 The Collapse Problem Atom Soon
185 Running a Utility Audit Procedure Soon
191 The Transplant Surgeon Capstone Soon
Unit 5

Kantian Ethics & Absolute Rules

201 Absolute Moral Rules Atom Soon
202 Hypothetical Imperatives Atom Soon
203 The Categorical Imperative Atom Soon
204 Maxims Atom Soon
205 The Universal-Law Formulation Atom Soon
206 The Lying Promise Fails the Test Atom Soon
207 The Golden-Rule Misreading Atom Soon
208 Perfect and Imperfect Duties Atom Soon
211 The Humanity Formulation Atom Soon
212 Merely as a Means Atom Soon
213 Dignity and Price Atom Soon
214 The Utilitarian Theory of Punishment Atom Soon
215 Retributivism Atom Soon
216 Autonomy Atom Soon
221 The Inquiring Murderer Atom Soon
222 The Conflicting-Rules Objection Atom Soon
223 Kant's Responsibility Reply Atom Soon
224 Rules Without Exceptions, Almost Atom Soon
231 Running the Universalization Test Procedure Soon
232 The Maxim-Description Problem Atom Soon
241 The Whistleblower's Promise Capstone Soon
Unit 6

Virtue Ethics & the Ethics of Care

251 Virtue Ethics Atom Soon
252 What a Virtue Is Atom Soon
253 Eudaimonia Atom Soon
254 Virtue by Habituation Atom Soon
255 The Doctrine of the Mean Atom Soon
256 The Moderation Misreading Atom Soon
257 Courage Between Two Failures Atom Soon
258 Practical Wisdom Atom Soon
259 Socrates: The Examined Life Atom Soon
260 The Ring of Gyges Atom Soon
261 Epictetus: The Dichotomy of Control Atom Soon
266 The Guidance Objection Atom Soon
267 The V-Rules Reply Atom Soon
268 The Conflict Problem Atom Soon
269 The Local-Virtues Worry Atom Soon
270 The Human-Needs Reply Atom Soon
274 The Ethics of Care Atom Soon
275 Gilligan's Different Voice Atom Soon
276 Noddings: The Caring Relation Atom Soon
277 Partiality Reclaimed Atom Soon
278 The Strangers Problem Atom Soon
279 Care and Justice Together Atom Soon
287 The Virtue-and-Care Check Procedure Soon
295 The Friend's Reference Capstone Soon
Unit 7

Value Theory

301 Intrinsic and Instrumental Value Atom Soon
302 The Miser's Mistake Atom Soon
303 The Regress Argument Atom Soon
304 Well-Being Atom Soon
305 Values vs. Preferences Atom Soon
306 The Good Life and the Moral Life Atom Soon
311 Hedonism About Well-Being Atom Soon
312 The Experience Machine Atom Soon
313 The Evil-Pleasures Objection Atom Soon
319 The Desire Theory Atom Soon
320 The Base-Desires Objection Atom Soon
321 The Unknown-Satisfaction Objection Atom Soon
322 The Informed-Desire Repair Atom Soon
323 Objective-List Theories Atom Soon
327 Value Pluralism Atom Soon
328 Hard Choices Atom Soon
329 Ranking Without a Ruler Procedure Soon
335 The Two Offers Capstone Soon
Unit 8

Applied Ethics

341 The Applied Turn Atom Soon
342 The Strongest-Version Rule Atom Soon
345 Euthanasia: The Kinds Atom Soon
346 The Argument from Mercy Atom Soon
347 The Argument from Autonomy Atom Soon
348 The Sanctity Argument Atom Soon
349 The Slippery-Slope Argument Atom Soon
350 The Bare-Difference Argument Atom Soon
355 The Drowning Child Atom Soon
356 The Rescue Principle Atom Soon
357 The Demandingness Reply Atom Soon
358 The Entitlement Reply Atom Soon
359 The Difference Principle Atom Soon
364 The Equality Premise Atom Soon
365 Just and Unjust Laws Atom Soon
366 The Legality Defense Atom Soon
367 The Four Steps Atom Soon
368 The Rule-of-Law Objection Atom Soon
373 The Question of Punishment Atom Soon
374 The Deterrence Case Atom Soon
375 The Desert Case Atom Soon
376 The Rehabilitation Ideal Atom Soon
377 The Innocence Constraint Atom Soon
381 Pacifism Atom Soon
382 Just War: Going to War Atom Soon
383 Just War: Fighting Justly Atom Soon
384 Realism About War Atom Soon
389 Informed Consent Atom Soon
390 Research and the Mere-Means Line Atom Soon
391 Paternalism Atom Soon
396 The Responsibility Gap Atom Soon
397 Algorithmic Fairness Atom Soon
398 The Opacity Problem Atom Soon
402 Running a Case File Procedure Soon
406 The Last Ventilator Capstone Soon
Unit 9

Capstone Synthesis

411 The Toolkit Procedure Soon
415 The Deathbed Promise Capstone Soon
419 The Town That Voted Wrong Capstone Soon
423 The Ten-Percent Question Capstone Soon
427 The Sentencing Algorithm Capstone Soon
431 When Morality and the Good Life Collide Capstone Soon
435 What a Satisfactory Theory Keeps Capstone Soon

The receipts

Check my work.

Behind the course sits a reference document in which every theory, objection, and reply is traced to its source — the primary texts (Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Bentham, Mill, Rawls, Nozick, Gilligan, Noddings) and the standard texts where interpretation matters. Where traditions genuinely differ, the course states which one it follows and why, so it reads as a decision rather than an error. I taught Introduction to Ethics and Values for six years as an adjunct professor — and the receipts are still right there to catch me with. I’d rather be corrected than comfortable.

Spot an error? Tell me the video number and the claim — corrections get made in the open.

Follow along

New videos daily.

The course releases in order on YouTube — one idea at a time until all 210 are live. Subscribe to catch each one, or leave your email for an occasional note when a course finishes.