UCSM Division of Religion & Philosophy

Ethics BA (Hons)

Available: Lancaster
Available as Single Honours, Major, Joint, Minor or Third Subject
Also available as DipHE subject
For further information, contact: Lancaster 01524 384200/300/400

How should I live? How should we live together? No subject is more important than Ethics.

All human activity involves judgements about what is good and what is right. For this reason, Ethics, as the critical study of ideas of the good and the right, is one academic subject that cannot be irrelevant to life.

All occupations involve questions of values. For this reason, Ethics is relevant to any career.

Ethics develops problem-solving, reasoning and other skills that employers seek.

Ethics provides an opportunity to study controversial personal and social issues. The course combines social, moral and political philosophy with sociology, social psychology, political theory and religious studies. It is taught by well-qualified staff, who provide a caring and supportive environment.

YEAR 1

In Year 1 you take three pairs of modules, normally from three subjects (although some subjects offer an additional pair of modules that can be taken instead of a third subject).

Ethics students take:

Contemporary Moral Issues and the Law
&
Ethics in Modern Western Society

These foundation modules introduce key ethical concepts, such as liberty, rights, justice, welfare and autonomy, and apply them to controversial contemporary social issues, including crime and punishment, drug laws, pornography, prostitution and animal rights.

Assessment: 75% coursework, 25% exam.

YEAR 2

In Year 2 assessment is at least 75%, and up to 100%, coursework. You choose from the following modules:

ETH 202 Visions of Utopia

The desire to depict the ideal society has often manifested itself in western literature. This course examines a number of examples of the utopian genre spanning over two thousand years and considers how successful they have been in articulating a credible vision of a better world.

ETH 204 Sexuality and Identity

Competing interpretations of the nature and function of human sexuality are introduced, including current theoretical developments in the psychological and cultural study of the sexual. Topics covered include sexuality and gender, feminist and post-feminist approaches to sexuality, eroticism and the body, Freud and Foucault, the sexual and the discourse of romantic love, and values, attitudes and sexual behaviour.

ETH 206 Racism and Racial Discrimination

Focuses on anti-black racism: biological, psychoanalytical, cultural, historical and social-structural perspectives on it; racial inequality in the media, health, and criminal justice system.

ETH 208 Medical Ethics

Difficult cases in medical ethics are always in the news: Should a terminally-ill woman be allowed to die? Should a couple be permitted to have a genetically selected child in order to help treat an existing child? In this module we look at real ethical issues using a range of theoretical tools, initially focusing on the professional/patient relationship, examining problems such as confidentiality, truth telling, informed consent, resource allocation, and medical research. The module then focuses on the beginning and end of life, examining abortion, surrogate motherhood, infertility treatment, genetics, euthanasia, organ transplantation, and criteria of death.

ETH 209 Business Ethics

Does business have social responsibility? If so, what are the responsibilities of business with respect to employees, consumers, investors, the environment, and in international business?

ETH 210 War and Peace

War is a persistent human phenomenon, while peace is a widespread human aspiration. This course primarily focuses on moral issues raised by war in the modern world (such as whether it can ever be justifiable to use nuclear weapons) while also examining some of the prescriptions for peace.

ETH 211 News Media Ethics

How do we arrive at an understanding of what is happening in the world? One sort of response to that question implicates the media, particularly the news media. A central concern of this module, therefore, involves an examination of how the news media seek to inform us. Particular attention is paid to such issues as the potential conflict between the right to privacy and the supposed public right to know, impartiality and bias, vested interests and power, propaganda and democracy, censorship and freedom of expression.

YEAR 3

In Year 3 assessment is at least 75%, and up to 100%, coursework. You choose from the following modules:

ETH 301 Western Ethical Traditions

This course examines the moral philosophies of a selection of western thinkers from Socrates to Sartre. It seeks both to understand them in their historical contexts and to consider the extent to which their views are still relevant and influential today.

RET 302 Faith, Health and Culture

Explores how health and healing are understood in different religions and cultural traditions, examines faith healing, prayer, circumcision, drug use, and blood transfusions.

RET 303 Death and Dying

It has been said that death is not something we experience in life. Nevertheless, death continues to fascinate and in this module we explore and reflect upon a diverse range of issues. Some of these are ethical and philosophical: we consider the Epicurean claim that it is not rational to fear death and we look at the ethical issues relating to euthanasia, organ transplantation and abortion. We also look at the evidence for 'life after death' through an exploration of such phenomena as reincarnation and the near-death experience.

ETH 304 Philosophical Issues: How Should I Live?

The meaning of life is one of those questions that often seem too big to answer. In this module we tackle it head on, beginning with an exploration of what it means to ask whether life has any meaning. Through reflection on the work of major philosophers in the Western tradition, including Aristotle, John Stuart Mill and Jean-Paul Sartre, we look at the role of purpose in human existence, the importance of happiness, the promise and problem of human freedom, as well as the significance of the social nature of humankind.

ETH 305 Who Am I? Philosophical Issues

Human Beings have minds and they have bodies. This is a straightforward observation, but one that has continued to perplex philosophers throughout the centuries. We look at some of the problems that have interested philosophers in this area, perhaps the most fundamental of these being the question of the relationship between mind and body: are these two very different things, and if so, how do we explain their apparent interaction? In addition we consider questions of personal identity and the problem of free will and determinism

ETH 306 Freedom and Equality: Ideas of the Just Society

Studies the leading theories of social justice in contemporary political philosophy - utilitarianism, egalitarian liberalism, and libertarianism.

ETH 307 Ideas of the Just Society: Continuing Debates

Investigates current issues in social justice theory: liberalism and religious and cultural pluralism; social justice and personal conduct; just international relations; global distributive justice; the just economy.

ETH 309 Environmental Ethics

Concern for the environment has been a significant development in recent decades. This course examines some of the important philosophical issues that have emerged from this concern, such as the moral status of the natural world and our responsibilities to future generations.

ETH 312 & 313 Independent Study/ Dissertation

An independently researched Independent Study (Year 2 or Year 3) or Independent Dissertation (double module, Year 3 only), with tutorial supervision, on a topic of your choice (subject to approval).

ETH 202	Visions of Utopia
The desire to depict the ideal society has often manifested itself in western literature. This course examines a number of examples of the utopian genre spanning over two thousand years and considers how successful they have been in articulating a credible vision of a better world.
ETH 204	Sexuality and Identity
Competing interpretations of the nature and function of human sexuality are introduced, including current theoretical developments in the psychological and cultural study of the sexual. Topics covered include sexuality and gender, feminist and post-feminist approaches to sexuality, eroticism and the body, Freud and Foucault, the sexual and the discourse of romantic love, and values, attitudes and sexual behaviour.
ETH 206	Racism and Racial Discrimination
Focuses on anti-black racism: biological, psychoanalytical, cultural, historical and social-structural perspectives on it; racial inequality in the media, health, and criminal justice system.
ETH 208	Medical Ethics
Difficult cases in medical ethics are always in the news: Should a terminally-ill woman be allowed to die? Should a couple be permitted to have a genetically selected child in order to help treat an existing child? In this module we look at real ethical issues using a range of theoretical tools, initially focusing on the professional/patient relationship, examining problems such as confidentiality, truth telling, informed consent, resource allocation, and medical research. The module then focuses on the beginning and end of life, examining abortion, surrogate motherhood, infertility treatment, genetics, euthanasia, organ transplantation, and criteria of death.
ETH 209	Business Ethics
Does business have social responsibility? If so, what are the responsibilities of business with respect to employees, consumers, investors, the environment, and in international business?
ETH 210	War and Peace
War is a persistent human phenomenon, while peace is a widespread human aspiration. This course primarily focuses on moral issues raised by war in the modern world (such as whether it can ever be justifiable to use nuclear weapons) while also examining some of the prescriptions for peace.
ETH 211	News Media Ethics
How do we arrive at an understanding of what is happening in the world? One sort of response to that question implicates the media, particularly the news media. A central concern of this module, therefore, involves an examination of how the news media seek to inform us. Particular attention is paid to such issues as the potential conflict between the right to privacy and the supposed public right to know, impartiality and bias, vested interests and power, propaganda and democracy, censorship and freedom of expression.

ETH 301	Western Ethical Traditions
This course examines the moral philosophies of a selection of western thinkers from Socrates to Sartre. It seeks both to understand them in their historical contexts and to consider the extent to which their views are still relevant and influential today.
RET 302	Faith, Health and Culture
Explores how health and healing are understood in different religions and cultural traditions, examines faith healing, prayer, circumcision, drug use, and blood transfusions.
RET 303	Death and Dying
It has been said that death is not something we experience in life. Nevertheless, death continues to fascinate and in this module we explore and reflect upon a diverse range of issues. Some of these are ethical and philosophical: we consider the Epicurean claim that it is not rational to fear death and we look at the ethical issues relating to euthanasia, organ transplantation and abortion. We also look at the evidence for 'life after death' through an exploration of such phenomena as reincarnation and the near-death experience.
ETH 304	Philosophical Issues: How Should I Live?
The meaning of life is one of those questions that often seem too big to answer. In this module we tackle it head on, beginning with an exploration of what it means to ask whether life has any meaning. Through reflection on the work of major philosophers in the Western tradition, including Aristotle, John Stuart Mill and Jean-Paul Sartre, we look at the role of purpose in human existence, the importance of happiness, the promise and problem of human freedom, as well as the significance of the social nature of humankind.
ETH 305	Who Am I? Philosophical Issues
Human Beings have minds and they have bodies. This is a straightforward observation, but one that has continued to perplex philosophers throughout the centuries. We look at some of the problems that have interested philosophers in this area, perhaps the most fundamental of these being the question of the relationship between mind and body: are these two very different things, and if so, how do we explain their apparent interaction? In addition we consider questions of personal identity and the problem of free will and determinism
ETH 306	Freedom and Equality: Ideas of the Just Society
Studies the leading theories of social justice in contemporary political philosophy - utilitarianism, egalitarian liberalism, and libertarianism.
ETH 307	Ideas of the Just Society: Continuing Debates
Investigates current issues in social justice theory: liberalism and religious and cultural pluralism; social justice and personal conduct; just international relations; global distributive justice; the just economy.
ETH 309	Environmental Ethics
Concern for the environment has been a significant development in recent decades. This course examines some of the important philosophical issues that have emerged from this concern, such as the moral status of the natural world and our responsibilities to future generations.
ETH 312 & 313	Independent Study/ Dissertation
An independently researched Independent Study (Year 2 or Year 3) or Independent Dissertation (double module, Year 3 only), with tutorial supervision, on a topic of your choice (subject to approval).