PHIL20240 Applied Ethics

Academic Year 2020/2021

The twenty-first century is presenting us with some serious and urgent challenges, some of which require that we take individual and collective action. Yet the difficulty and complexity of the problems shows that action needs to be grounded on rigorous, clear and multi-faceted thinking. Among the difficulties we are facing are the rapid man-made changes to climate and the environment, resulting in declines in ecosystems, resources, and only partly foreseeable consequences for humans, other animals, and the planet as a whole; the wave of migration from countries plagued by poverty, dictatorship and war, with the corresponding rise of nationalist political discourse; and our changing relationship to nature on the one hand, and technological developments on the other. Through a series of lectures, tutorials, and engaged reading, we will consider different ways of thinking about these issues, both individually and collectively.

The module explores each of these problems through specific examples, while at the same time bringing out underlying concepts, assumptions, and values. Hence, two broad themes run through the module: ‘our place in the world’ and ‘what we owe one another’. The first theme considers how humans situate themselves in relation to the non-human, i.e. other animals, nature, as well as technology: the emergence of post-human discourse and the evident dependency on the natural world are calling for an imaginative and conceptual re-examination of what human beings are, how neat the human/non-human division is, and how humans relate to the rest of the world. The second theme considers how to relate to other people at a time when the boundaries between ‘us’ and ‘them’ are constantly shifting, not just between our species and others, but between countries, genders, religions, etc.

If you are taking this module as an elective - you may be interested in pursuing a Structured Elective programme in Philosophy (this will entail taking two more Philosophy electives). Your University Transcript could show that you have a Structured Elective in [Existential Philosophy & Critical Theory/Philosophy of Mind/History of Philosophy/ Ethics and Society] (as appropriate) See: https://www.ucd.ie/students/electives/structuredelectives.html