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On successful completion of the module, students should be able to:
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identify components of human action (motive, intention, act, consequences) and corresponding different theories of morality concerning the proper moral determinant (in virtue ethics, natural law theory, deontology, utilitarianism).
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engage in argument about issues of moral concern in society today, taking into consideration the complexity of our moral discourse.
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differentiate various meanings and uses for the concept of law, such as, the moral law, state law, household law, natural-scientific law, religious law.
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assess the purpose of state law, with reference to its role in morality and John Stuart Mill’s alternative ‘harm-to-others principle’ in On Liberty (1859) as the sole justification for state intervention in the lives of its citizens.
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distinguish the concept of punishment from its moral justification as elaborated in retributive, reformative, and deterrent theories of punishment.
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describe the main historical factors that influenced the development of the concept of rights: 13th-century Natural Law theory (Aquinas); 17th-century Social Contract theories (Hobbes and Locke); the 17th- and 18th-century English, American and French revolutions.
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recognise and evaluate different definitions for the meaning of the concept of a right used in contemporary moral discourse, such as, a liberty; a permission; a claim; a judicial remedy; a power; an interest; a relative duty.
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analyse and evaluate particular controversial rights, such as: the right to revolt, the right to peace, the right to life, the right to euthanasia, the right to marry, the right to divorce, animal rights, ecological rights.
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INTRODUCTION TO ETHICS
