Welcome to Philosophy 350: Ethics, a senior-level, three-credit course that provides an in-depth and comprehensive overview of the major figures in the western tradition of ancient, modern, and contemporary thought on questions of moral theory and ethics. This overview comprises a combination of thematic and historical elements. Three distinct moral themes are studied: deontology, or the ethics of right and wrong; virtue ethics, or the ethics of honour and dishonour; and utilitarianism, or the ethics of pleasure and pain. Each theme is, in turn, played out historically according to the various figures who were associated with its development over time. The development of each theme is shaped by criticism coming from proponents of the other two themes as well as from within. Disagreement and debate arise over questions like: Is there only one way to live a moral life? If free will is an illusion, is morality also an illusion? Can you act in your own self-interest and act ethically at the same time? Is human reason nothing more than “the slave of the passions”? Is belief in a deity necessary for moral development? The result is a virtual moral dialogue which you are invited to join.
Outline
The course has an introductory chapter and the remaining nine units are divided into three parts, each of which is divided into three units.
Unit 1: Introduction to Ethics
Part One: Deontology - The Ethics of Right and Wrong
Unit 2: Plato (Antiquity) and St. Augustine (The Middle Ages)
Unit 3: Immanuel Kant (The Enlightenment)
Unit 4: C. A. Campbell, John Rawls, and Susan Moller Okin (The Twentieth Century)
Part Two: Virtue Ethics - The Ethics of Honour and Dishonour
Unit 5: Aristotle (Antiquity) and St. Thomas Aquinas (The Middle Ages)
Unit 6: David Hume and Mary Wollstonecraft (The Enlightenment)
Unit 7: Alasdair MacIntyre and Nel Noddings (Twentieth Century)
Part Three: Utilitarianism - The Ethics of Pleasure and Pain
Unit 8: Epicurus (Antiquity) and Thomas Hobbes (Early Modern)
Unit 9: John Stuart Mill (The Enlightenment)
Unit 10: G. E. Moore and R. M. Hare (Twentieth Century)
Evaluation
To receive credit for PHIL 350, you must complete all assignments and achieve a composite course grade of at least D (50 percent). The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:
Activity
Weight
Tutor-marked Exercise 1
20%
Tutor-marked Exercise 2
40%
Final Exam
40%
Total
100%
The final examination for this course must be requested in advance and written under the supervision of an AU-approved exam invigilator. Invigilators include either ProctorU or an approved in-person invigilation centre that can accommodate online exams. Students are responsible for payment of any invigilation fees. Information on exam request deadlines, invigilators, and other exam-related questions, can be found at the Exams and grades section of the Calendar.
To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University’s online Calendar.
Materials
Oliver A. Johnson and Andrews Reath, Ethics: selections from classical and contemporary writers, 11th edition Boston, MA:Wadsworth, 2012. (eText)
The challenge for credit process allows you to demonstrate that you have acquired a command of the general subject matter, knowledge, intellectual and/or other skills that would normally be found in a university-level course.
Full information about challenge for credit can be found in the Undergraduate Calendar.
Evaluation
To receive credit for the PHIL 350 challenge registration, you must achieve an overall grade of at least D (50 percent).
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized study counterparts.