Postgraduate Module Descriptor

PHLM006: Contemporary Ethics

This module descriptor refers to the 2019/0 academic year.

Module Aims

This module aims to give you a broad understanding of present-day discussions in philosophical ethics.

It covers metaethics on notions such as responsibility, meaningfulness, and self-understanding as a moral agent but also topical ethical problems such as violence, poverty, animal ethics, neuro-ethics, and genetics.

The aims of this module are twofold, to equip you with the philosophical knowledge to participate in ongoing debates and to advance your knowledge about current philosophy of human nature in relation to natural scientific approaches.

You will gain a good understanding of topical questions in philosophical ethics in theory and practice and experience with discussing current philosophy in small groups, practice in presenting arguments succinctly and in writing short analytic essays on individual themes.

You will be guided to write one article-length essay on a theme of your choice form the course

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

This module's assessment will evaluate your achievement of the ILOs listed here - you will see reference to these ILO numbers in the details of the assessment for this module.
On successfully completing the programme you will be able to:
Module-Specific Skills1. Demonstrate solid knowledge and understanding of current theories and problems in philosophical ethics
2. Demonstrate understanding of the methodological and conceptual problems of applied ethics
3. Present your own analyses of the implications of theories on pressing ethical debates of our time.
Discipline-Specific Skills4. Demonstrate a high level of knowledge about ethical theory and its application
5. Demonstrate sound knowledge of different types of philosophical ethics
Personal and Key Skills6. Demonstrate capacity to conduct research independently
7. Demonstrate aptitude for succinct oral presentations to groups
8. Write reflective academic review and research essays

Indicative Reading List

This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.

Readings will be part journal articles, book chapters and a few books and where possible available on a module online reading list on ELE.

 

Indicative Readings:

Jürgen Habermas: The Future of Human Nature, Polity Press 2003

S. Kagan, What's Wrong with Speciesism?, Journal of Applied Philosophy Vol 33 (1), 2016, 1–21

Angela Smith, Responsibility for Attitudes: Activity and Passivity in Mental Life, Ethics, 115:2, 2005

Judith Butler, Senses of the Subject, Fordham University Press 2015

Antti Kauppinen, "Meaningfulness", in Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Well-Being, ed. Guy Fletcher, Abingdon: Routledge 2015, 281-291.

Allan Gibbard (2012), Meaning and Normativity, Oxford University Press

Thomas Pogge, Real World Justice, The Journal of Ethics 9, Nos. 1-2 (2005), 29-53, 31

Seyla Benhabib, Dignity in Adversity. Human Rights in Troubled Times, Polity Press 2011