Applied Ethics

Overview

This module explores some of the major issues in contemporary applied ethics. The precise themes discussed may vary from year to year, but examples of topics which may be discussed include: the badness of death, the wrongness of killing, abortion, euthanasia, population ethics, genetic engineering, climate ethics, and intergenerational justice.

Learning Objectives

On completion of this module, students should have an understanding of some of the main arguments in contemporary applied ethics and their relation to normative theories, such as consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. They should also an appreciation of the bearing of such issues on current legal and social practice.

Skills

This module nurtures skills such as the careful reading of texts, the ability to explain and summarize the views of others, the ability to think dispassionately about issues on which one may already have preconceptions, the ability to develop (both orally and on paper) arguments of one's own, the willingness to engage in discussion with others in a tolerant and constructive manner.

Assessment

None