1. Handbook
  2. Subjects
  3. Ethical Theory

Ethical Theory (PHIL20008)

Undergraduate level 2Points: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)

You’re viewing the 2018 Handbook:
Or view archived Handbooks
You’re currently viewing the 2018 version of this subject

Overview

Availability
Semester 2
FeesLook up fees

This subject critically studies the three classical approaches to moral philosophy: Aristotle 'virtue ethics, Immanuel Kant' deontology, and John Stuart Mill's Utilitarianism. As well as examining works by these great thinkers, we look at debates among the contemporary heirs to the traditions they started.

 

Intended learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this subject will:



  • understand the main approaches to the nature of morality, including understanding the historical antecedents to important contemporary approaches to the nature of morality;
  • be able to charitably reconstruct arguments from classic philosophical texts and evalutate their strengths and weaknesses;
  • become more able to defend, and not just coherently state, one's own position with regard to controversial questions in normative ethics;
  • have acquired a background for one'w own further philosophical reflection on morality;
  • work individually, and in groups, to create and test arguments.

Last updated: 14 March 2025