Module description
This module focuses on the philosophical and ethical arguments underlying a range of controversial real-world debates. Each week we will focus on a specific debate and assess some of the strongest arguments put forward on either side.
Assessment details
2,000-word essay (40%) & 30-hour take home exam (60%)
Educational aims & objectives
The module aims to:
- Provide an in-depth knowledge of some of the main theoretical and ethical arguments behind a range of deeply contested issues in contemporary politics.
- Develop an ability to assess real-world problems from a philosophical and normative perspective.
- Develop a critical and reflective approach to the study of philosophical texts.
Teaching pattern
Lecture Schedule (provisional)
Week 1 Democracy vs. Epistocracy
Week 2 Freedom of Speech
Week 3 Human Rights
Week 4 Civil Disobedience
Week 5 Terrorism
Week 6 Reading week
Week 7 Reparations and Historic Injustice
Week 8 The Moral Limits to Markets
Week 9 Sex Work
Week 10 Abortion
Week 11 Political Realism
Suggested reading list
The following three volumes collect together important contributions on many of the topics covered, and will give you a sense of the debates that we will be examining. You are not required to purchase any books in advance.
- Andrew I. Cohen & Christopher Heath Wellman (eds.), Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics, 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013).
- Hugh LaFollette, Ethics in Practice: An Anthology, 4th ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).
- Mark Timmons, Disputed Moral Issues: A Reader, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).