PHIL2106 - 01 - Ethics

(ER) Ethical Reasoning (WI) Writing Intensive

This course addresses some fundamental questions about the "Good Life" and what makes life worth living. Students will explore questions about what makes an action "right" or "wrong," what makes us happy, what kinds of qualities a person should have, and how we should treat other people. The course will begin with an examination of various conceptions of the good life and what it means to be virtuous. This will be followed by a discussion of the central moral theories that continue to influence contemporary discussions about ethics: Aristotle's Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism, and Immanuel Kant's Deontology. Throughout the semester, we will also consider the ways in which feminist and non-Western perspectives both parallel and challenge some of the ideals of Western moral philosophy.