Prospectus

nl en

Contemporary Moral Issues

Course
2010-2011

Admission requirements

Good English will be required.

Description

In this course we will discuss a number of issues in contemporary applied ethics, such as torture, abortion, euthanasia, and poverty. We will look at the ongoing debates surrounding these problems and the positions being held on either side. This will involve an analysis of the ways these issues are approached by the main ethical theories; consequentialism, deontology, and character ethics. In doing so we will compare the justifications for the answers each approach gives, discuss the presuppositions that each theory has and what they are committed to. Students will learn which theories underlie some of the main responses to these issues, and what commitments these responses entail for their proponents.

Course objectives

Course objectives will be posted on Blackboard by the start of the course.

Timetable

See Rooster BA Wijsbegeerte 2010-2011

Mode of instruction

Seminar

Assessment method

Essay, and oral presentation.

Blackboard

-

Required reading

A reader of course materials will be made available on Blackboard by the start of the course.

Registration

Please register for this course on U-twist. See registration procedure

Contact information

T.E. Bates, MA: t.e.bates@phil.leidenuniv.nl

Remarks

Specialisation: Ethics and Political Philosophy