Course Objectives:
- familiarize you with major traditional theories, thinkers, and concepts in ethics;
- build your skills in analyzing and solving ethical problems, and defending your views both orally and in writing;
- enable you to understand, criticize, and construct philosophical arguments;
- assist your development of creative problem-solving techniques;
- help you improve your writing through blog posts, critical reviews and paper assignments.
Possible Topics Include:
Politics/Ethics – Dirty hands – Responsibility – Legitimacy/Legality
Deontology – Categorical imperative – Obedience – Responsibility – Autonomy
Refugees – Immigration – Borders – Europe
Justice – Liberalism – Veil of ignorance – Moral arbitrariness – Affirmative action – Overlapping consensus – Universalism/relativism
Equality – Recognition – Multiculturalism – Discrimination – Sexual orientation
Utilitarianism – Pleasure/pain – Sacrifice – Harm principle – Poverty
Equality – Recognition – Multiculturalism – Discrimination
Inclusion – Exclusion – Racism – Radicalisation
Public/private sphere – Religious arguments – Emancipation – Secularization/Laïcité
Human Rights
War – Torture – Violence – Just war – Emergency ethics – Dirty hands – Terrorism
Abortion - Euthanasia – Death penalty – Lethal harm – Killing/Letting die
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Today we are faced with many complex problems. This course will introduce you to philosophical ethics – questions about right and wrong and good and evil that have puzzled and provoked thinkers for hundreds of years. We will read and discuss major ethical theories and important moral philosophers, and will also debate controversial moral dilemmas such as poverty, sexism, animal rights, racism and climate change. This course is thus a practical overview of key issues, questions and concepts in ethics with emphases on the historical development of ethical thinking, a variety of ethical approaches and on multicultural aspects. The course will begin with a brief overview of the major ethical theories of today. Then each week a different ethical problem of the contemporary world will be examined. Students will also examine a variety of personal, social, and professional ethical issues and problems and learn methods of resolving them through the use of critical thinking skills, sound ethical reasoning and professional codes. Students are provided an active learning experience, increased student interaction and opportunities for independent research into ethical issues of personal interest. Your work on these topics will help develop your capacity to analyze texts and issues, to criticize and construct philosophical arguments, to present your thoughts in clear written form, and to become a more creative problem-solver. When you complete the course, you should be better prepared to recognize, confront, and think critically about difficult ethical questions that we all encounter in our daily lives.
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