PHIL10040 Introduction to Ethics

Academic Year 2021/2022

We all know what 'ethics' is. We have ethically blamed and praised others, we have felt the pressure of an ethical duty, we have been paralysed by ethical dilemmas, we have had irresolvable ethical disagreements with our peers, and we have felt the ethical emotions of pride, shame and guilt. Ethics (also known as moral philosophy) looks more closely at all these phenomena. Philosophers are particularly interested in the exact meaning of familiar but difficult concepts.
Ethics is a huge field, and so we will only be looking at three inter-related aspects of it, in order to go deeper. First, we will focus on friendship, and especially on how duties to friends might conflict with ethical duties to strangers. Second, we will look at some attempts to theorise about ethics, both within the context of friendship but also more broadly. An ethical theory should be able to tell us what to do when we are ethically perplexed. Third, we will look at the concept of need. What does it mean to recognise a need, in myself, in a friend, in a stranger? How should I respond to that need when it conflicts with my ethical principles, or when it conflicts with what the other persons says she wants?

This module is designed for people with no background in philosophy at all.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

This module will introduce students to philosophical approaches to ethics. It will provide students with the philosophical vocabulary to voice, clarify, and justify their own ethical positions while critically engaging with contrasting views.

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Tutorial

7
Autonomous Student Learning

94
Total

125
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The module will comprise lectures and small-group tutorials 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations
Learning Recommendations:

This module assumes no background knowledge of philosophy at all.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Essay: Essay 2 Week 10 n/a Graded No

33
Essay: Essay 1 Week 5 n/a Graded Yes

33
Assignment: Exam Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

34

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Remediation Type Remediation Timing
Repeat Within Two Trimesters
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Feedback will be given to students on each of the essays.

Name Role
Dr Christopher Cowley Lecturer / Co-Lecturer