Content

What is the good? Why should we act according to it? How do we determine what is ethically good? This unit introduces students to the foundations of ethics by a study of the major approaches to ethics in the Western philosophical tradition – including Socratic ethics, virtue ethics, deontology and utilitarianism. It also studies natural law theory by introducing the natural law positions of Thomas Aquinas. By drawing on key texts from both ancient and contemporary thinkers, the unit gives a foundation for understanding basic ethical concepts such as virtue, conscience, moral responsibility, moral norms, and the common good. It provides a solid grounding for advanced studies in ethics and moral theology.

Unit code: AP8200C

Unit status: Approved (Minor revision)

Points: 24.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Foundational

Unit discipline: Philosophy

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Critically expound the meaning of key ethical and natural-law concepts;

2.

Critically explain and analyse the distinguishing features of major conceptions of the good and of natural law in the Western tradition

3.

Develop and critically defend a view on the strengths and weaknesses of the most important ethical approaches in the Western tradition, especially the classical accounts of natural law

4.

Critically analyse Thomas Aquinas' natural law theory with a view to its philosophical presuppositions

5.

Define, plan and undertake a topic of research in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner

Pedagogy

Lectures, seminars and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

  • Aquinas, St. Thomas. Summa Theologica.
  • Aristotle. Nicomachean Ethics. Translation and Historical Introduction by Christopher Rowe. Philosophical Introduction and Commentary by Sarah Broadie. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
  • Cunningham, Stanley B. Reclaiming Moral Agency: The Moral Philosophy of Albert the Great. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2008.
  • Deigh, John. An Introduction to Ethics. Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010.
  • Epicurus. Letter to Menoeceus.
  • ———. Principal Doctrines.
  • Irwin, Terence. The Development of Ethics. Vols. 1–3. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007–2009.
  • Kant, Immanuel. Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals. In Practical Philosophy. Translated and edited by Mary J. Gregor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
  • Mill, John S. Utilitarianism.
  • Singer, Peter. How are We to Live? Ethics in an Age of Self-Interest. Melbourne: Text, 1993.
  • Uleman, Jennifer K. An Introduction to Kant's Moral Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)

Variant 1

Essay

1,000-word short paper

1000 20.0
Essay

3,000-word essay

3000 50.0
Written Examination

2-hour written examination (2,000 words)

2000 30.0

Variant 2

Essay

2,000-word essay

2000 40.0
Essay

4,000-word essay

4000 60.0

Variant 3

Essay

1,000-word short paper

1000 20.0
Essay

3,000-word essay.

3000 50.0
Report

The report will comprise various parts answering questions provided during week 14 of the unit. It is an asynchronous, online substitute for a written two-hour examination

2000 30.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Prof Albert Haddad on 13 Sep, 2022

Unit record last updated: 2022-09-13 12:17:03 +1000