Course Description
The major philosophical positions concerning right and wrong, ethical values, and moral responsibility. The relevance of moral philosophy to current issues of personal and social ethics.
Athena Title
Introduction to Ethics
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in PHIL 2030, PHIL 2030H
Non-Traditional Format
This course will be taught 95% or more online.
Semester Course Offered
Offered summer semester every year.
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will develop the skills and language needed to think and reason clearly about moral matters. Students will be able to engage in clear, self-reflective thought about how to live their lives, how to engage with others, and the philosophical grounding behind these ideas. Students will develop a working knowledge of the basics of theories of the good life, such as hedonism and desire satisfaction theory. Students will be able to reason about and discuss many of the major normative ethical theories within ethics, such as virtue ethics, Kant, consequentialism, and feminist ethics. Students will understand and be able to reason through the basics of metaethical debates surrounding moral objectivity, skepticism, and nihilism.
Topical Outline
i. Values and Theories of the Good Life ii. Normative Ethical Theories iii. Metaethics
General Education Core
CORE V: Social SciencesSyllabus