Applied Ethics - 1st semester
Objectives
The classes will be focused on the description, reflexion and eventual solution of ethical problems. Applied ethics require a theoretical framework, where such problems find their solution. In this sense students will be challenged to discuss some practical issues in ethics from different points of view. The methodological challenge will be to construct a comprehensive understanding of each problem, through the application of utilitarian, consequentialist or deontological (eventually other) perspectives. Some works of well-known authors (Philippa Foot, C. Korsgaard, T. Nagel, Peter Singer, Michael J. Sandel) in the field of contemporary ethics and applied ethics will be used.
General characterization
Code
711031067
Credits
6
Responsible teacher
Susana Cadilha
Hours
Weekly - 4
Total - Available soon
Teaching language
Portuguese
Prerequisites
Not applicable.
Bibliography
- Christine M. Korsgaard, Fellow Creatures Our Obligations to the Other Animals, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.
- Kant, Die Metaphysik der Sitten, Ak. Ausg., VIII. Trad. portuguesa de José Lamego, A Metafísica dos Costumes, Lisboa: Fundação Gulbenkian, 2005.
- James Rachels, Elementos de Filosofia Moral, Lisboa: Gradiva, 2004.
- Steven M. Cahn (ed.), Exploring Ethics; an introductory anthology, New York: Oxford University Press, 2017
Teaching method
Lectures; analysis and discussion of texts.
In class teaching
Evaluation method
Besides a final exam (50%), each student is required to write an essay that will be presented and discussed in class (50%).
Subject matter
The first part of the course aims to clarify the concept of ethical obligation, as it is applied in certain practical contexts. The contexts that will be analyzed are the obligations to self and others and the obligations that refer to the relationship with non-human beings. C.Korsgaard´s recent book - Fellow Creatures (2018) will be used to discuss situations in which the nature and origin of ethical obligation define the sphere of ethical action globally considered. It is within this scope that Kant´s texts of The Metaphysics of Morals will be discussed.
The second part of the course will deepen this exploration of the relationship between theory and practice, as far as ethics are concerned. Some of the concepts and principles that give substance to the ethical discussion (the problem of objectivity and moral deliberation, the role of reasoning and intuition) will be analyzed, in order to understand how they apply in the discussion about practical problems in the field of ethics.