PHIL104 - Introduction to Ethics

Year

Credit points

Campus offering

Prerequisites

Incompatible

PHCC104 Ethics and the Good Life

Teaching organisation

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, and will be offered in both semester attendance mode, and intensive mode.->This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, and will be offered in both semesters in attendance mode, and intensive mode.

Unit rationale, description and aim

The question of ethics - thinking deeply about the theory and practice of moral action - is a deeply human preoccupation, and major focus of the discipline of philosophy. This unit introduces students to philosophical reflection concerning some fundamental questions in ethics. Students explore a selection of key issues in metaethics concerning the nature of the good, the concept of moral responsibility, and problems in moral psychology concerning freedom, emotion, conscience, and intentions. Theories of normative ethics are also introduced, such as those based on duty, consequences, virtue, and natural law. Finally, students engage in philosophical exploration of practical moral problems drawn from fields such as business and professional ethics, environmental ethics, bioethics, the ethics of war, and/or issues in interpersonal relationships. Through reading some key historical and contemporary texts in moral philosophy, students are encouraged to identify, articulate and think through their own positions concerning the nature and complexities of the moral life, and to engage with the views of others. The unit also aims to enhance students' skills in critical reflection on experience, the analysis of arguments, and the formulation and communication of coherent positions of their own.

Learning outcomes

To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.

Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.

Explore the graduate capabilities.

Content

Topics will include:

• problems in metaethics such as the nature of moral responsibility, the possibility of moral knowledge, the notion of moral luck, and problems in moral psychology concerning freedom, emotion, conscience and intentions;  
• theories of normative ethics such as deontological, utilitarian, virtue-based, and natural law approaches; 
• selected issues in applied ethics drawn from fields such as business and professional ethics, environmental ethics, bioethics, the ethics of war, issues in interpersonal relationships, the ethics of the treatment of animals, and/or other areas of practical concern. 

Learning and teaching strategy and rationale

This unit involves 150 hours of focused learning, and will be offered in a range of delivery modes.

The unit employs a project-based learning approach, combined with some direct instruction to ensure that unfamiliar concepts and theories are understood. The direct instruction, combined with class discussion, are important to ensure that the central philosophical problems explored in the unit are clearly identified for and with students, without which the concepts, theories, and debates will make little sense (LO1). The project-based aspect relates to the first two structured written tasks, culminating in the final research essay. The first two structured written tasks pave the way for students to develop the requisite analytical skills for addressing a philosophical topic in some depth (LO1 and LO2). The research project enables students to further develop their own reasoned response or position on these matters (LO2). The research project also facilitates the development of students' nascent skills in philosophical research, including the location and use of library resources (LO3) and the strengthening of their skills in producing coherent, well-structured and purposeful written and oral English expression (LO4).

Assessment strategy and rationale

The assessment strategy for this introductory unit in philosophy is designed to facilitate broad engagement with what for many students will be a new field of study, while also making possible deeper engagement with one of the unit topics.

The first structured written task serves to examine and consolidate understanding of the selected major philosophical problems under investigation (LO1), and to build skills needed for effective communication in a philosophical context (LO4). Accordingly, students are required to describe the problem/s as such, making appropriate use of the key relevant terminology.

Including but extending beyond understanding of the philosophical problem itself (LO1), the second structured written task is designed to allow students to demonstrate achievements in the analysis of issues arising from the problem under consideration, and key debates about how best to respond to these issues. This task also examines the development of a reasoned response and coherent position on the students' part (LO2). Further, they examine and facilitate nascent skills in accessing suitable philosophical resources (LO3) and the presentation of arguments in dialogue with others (LO4).

The research essay task provides students with the opportunity to undertake further, more focused philosophical reading and research, culminating in an extended piece of writing that develops a coherent central argument. This task not only requires students to work from a sound understanding of the philosophical problem being discussed (LO1), but also to demonstrate beginning skills in philosophical analysis and the development of a coherent position of the issue under investigation (LO2). Research library skills (LO3) and communication skills (LO4) are also examined (and further developed) by this task.

Overview of assessments

Semester attendance mode:

Intensive mode:

Representative texts and references

Aristotle. (2002). Nicomachean Ethics. (C. Rowe and S. Brodie, trans). New York: Oxford University Press. 

Carr, D. (2017) Varieties of Virtue Ethics. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Copp, D (ed). (2007). The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. New York: Oxford University Press.

Hinman, L.M. (2013). Ethics: A Pluralistic Approach to Moral Theory.  5th ed. Boston: Wadsworth.

Kirchin, S. (2012). Metaethics. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. 

Frey, R.G. (ed). (2007). A Companion to Applied Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell. 

Miller, A. (2013). Contemporary Metaethics: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Cambridge UK: Polity. 

Ozolins, J. and Grainger, J (eds). (2015). Foundations of Healthcare Ethics: Theory to Practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Rachels, J. (2012). The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Trigg, R. (2005). Morality Matters. Malden MA: Blackwell.