Undergraduate Module Descriptor

PHL1013: Philosophy of Morality

This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.

Module Aims

The course introduces students to basic principles of the main contending moral theories and seeks to show how these are involved in assessing moral justifiability and obligation. It will also draw attention to the complex relation between moral theory and moral judgment on the one hand, and the factual status of the phenomena and situations to which moral reasoning and principles are applied on the other.

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 Skills	1. competently understand some of the main ethical theories; 2. evaluate practical areas of ethical controversy in the light of these theories
Discipline-Specific Skills	3. reflect on and identify issues of fundamental ethical significance; 4. relate these issues to social, historical and material features of the cultural environment
Personal and Key Skills	5. reflect on, and examine critically, taken-for-granted beliefs and values; 6. analyze and communicate, clearly and directly, arguments and positions (both one's own and well-established ones.

Module Content

Syllabus Plan

The module is divided into three parts. In the first part (weeks 1 and 2) we will look at the nature of morality and the objects and methods of moral philosophy: what counts as moral, what we need moral philosophy for, and similar questions. The second part (weeks 3-5) will introduce a variety of moral theories with particular emphasis on Utilitarianism, Kantianism, and Virtue Ethics. The third part (6-10) is dedicated to the study of particular moral problems which we will try to solve with the help of the ethical theories discussed in part two. Possible topics for discussion will be the moral status of animals, of human embryos, and the dead; torture and the death penalty; world poverty; euthanasia and assisted suicide; and sexual morality.

Learning and Teaching

This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:

Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities	Guided independent study	Placement / study abroad
27.5	122.5	0

...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:

Category	Hours of study time	Description
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	11	Weekly 60 minute lectures
Scheduled Learning and Teaching activity	16.5	Weekly seminars 90 minute
Guided Independent study	122.5	A variety of private study activities guided by your module leader.

Online Resources

This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).