Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with how human beings interact, and with exploring questions about how we ought to behave with each other. When people live in a community, they live in an ethical environment. Some actions are considered praiseworthy, and others are thought to be wrong.

The study of ethics has important practical consequences. It deals with questions such as the following:

1. What makes a good person good?

2. When is it permissible not to tell the truth?

3. When is it right (if ever) to kill another person?

4. What is the difference between public ethics, and personal, or private, morality?

5. What do we owe (if anything) to people less fortunate than ourselves?

6. How do we know what moral rules apply when a military conflict turns into chaos?

Students who take this course can expect to work out for themselves informed answers to these questions.

Ethics also has a theoretical framework, which deals with questions about where ethics comes from, the roles of thinking and of feeling in ethical decisions, how authority interacts with ethics, and whether or not people are fundamentally benevolent and altruistic, or selfish and egotistical.

In the first three weeks of the course, we will discuss the nature of philosophy, look at some prominent philosophers who made major contributions to ethics, and develop the broad outlines of an ethical theory.

Students will write a short essay (1,000 words), a major essay (2,000 words), and a final exam. They will also do one class presentation.

Please note: the time of the class has been changed to Tuesday at 9:30-10:50am and Thursday at 3:10-4:30pm