PY408-5-AU-CO:
Ethics
2023/24
Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies (School of)
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 5
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
16 October 2023
Requisites for this module
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BA V500 Philosophy,
BA V501 Philosophy (Including Year Abroad),
BA V502 Philosophy (Including Foundation Year),
BA V503 Philosophy (including Placement Year),
BA V508 Philosophy (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
MPHIV599 Philosophy,
MPHIVA98 Philosophy (Including Placement Year),
MPHIVA99 Philosophy (Including Year Abroad),
BA V5M8 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year),
BA V5M9 Philosophy with Human Rights,
BA V5MX Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Year Abroad),
BA V6M9 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Placement Year),
BA VLM8 Philosophy with Human Rights (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA VV56 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics,
BA VV57 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Placement Year),
BA VV58 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV59 Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Foundation Year and Year Abroad),
BA VV5P Philosophy, Religion and Ethics (Including Year Abroad),
BA VV20 Philosophy with Business Management,
BA VV21 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV22 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Placement Year),
BA VV23 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Year Abroad),
BA V5L5 Philosophy, Ethics and Sustainability,
BA V5L6 Philosophy, Ethics and Sustainability (Including Foundation Year),
BA V5L7 Philosophy, Ethics and Sustainability (Including Placement Year),
BA V5L8 Philosophy, Ethics and Sustainability (Including Year Abroad)
This is a module in ethical theory rather than applied ethics – that is, it takes up theoretical questions about the status and justification of morality rather than addressing directly practical moral problems. The exact focus will vary from year-to-year. This year, we will investigate one of the most influential modern theories of ethics, Kant’s moral philosophy.
While students might have had a chance to study some aspects of Kant’s view before, this term will be devoted to a focused critical reading of Kant’s ethical theory. We will investigate Kant’s conception of morality, his attempt to derive morality from his conception of freedom, and his attempt to derive a system of property-based political rights from his conception of morality. Our texts will be Kant’s Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and portions of Kant’s Metaphysics of Morals.
No information available.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Explain some of the major aspects and approaches of Kantian ethical theory.
- Analyse critically the debates surrounding them.
Skills for your Professional Life (Transferable Skills)
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Define the task in which they are engaged and exclude what is irrelevant.
- Seek and organise the most relevant discussions and sources of information.
- Process a large volume of diverse and sometimes conflicting arguments.
- Compare and evaluate different arguments and assess the limitations of their own position or procedure.
- Write and present verbally a succinct and precise account of positions, arguments, and their presuppositions and implications.
- Be sensitive to the positions of others and communicate their own views in ways that are accessible to them.
- Think 'laterally' and creatively - see interesting connections and possibilities and present these clearly rather than as vague hunches.
- Maintain intellectual flexibility and revise their own position if shown wrong.
- Think critically and constructively.
Incoming Study Abroad students must have already taken an introductory module in Philosophy at their home institution.
This module will be delivered via:
- Weekly lectures and seminars.
There will also be a Reading Week when no teaching will take place, exact week to be confirmed.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
In class test |
|
40% |
| Coursework |
Essay Plan (with Presentation component) (500 words) |
|
20% |
| Coursework |
Essay (2000 words) |
|
40% |
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Prof Irene McMullin, email: i.mcmullin@essex.ac.uk.
PHAIS General Office - 6.130; pyugadmin@essex.ac.uk.
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dr Josiah Saunders
Durham University
Associate Professor
Available via Moodle
Of 33 hours, 18 (54.5%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
15 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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