MORAL PHILOSOPHY

The course is part of the course of study through critical confrontation with some of the fundamental issues and problems of moral philosophy, in relation to some of the crucial issues of the Western moral philosophical tradition and to the developments determined by the contemporary debate.

At the end of this course the students will be able to:

1) Identify, compare and critically analyze different ethical approaches;

2) Understand ethics’ place in relation to history, politics and culture;

3) Identify and describe the major features and the basic elements of western moral thought.

There are no specific prerequisites for course attendance.

The course will go through the history of moral philosophy by highlighting a fundamental turn, namely the transition from classical and medieval moral thought to modern and contemporary ethics. In this light, the course will be introduced by comparing the substantialist and functionalist perspectives of the human person. It will then go on to analyse the concepts of happiness, will power and free will from the perspective of classical and medieval ethics and some of its crucial variations in the transition to the Early Modern Age. In the second part of the course, Kantian ethics, Utilitarism and Communitarism will be addressed.

Lectures notes edited by the professor available on Moodle.
A selected anthology of texts on different topics addressed during the course available on Moodle.
M. Sandel, Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?, Penguin Books, London 2010.

Students are required to take a written exam which has to be completed in 2 hours in order to verify learning. The test is composed by three open-ended questions, which allow to give a free-form answer.

written

< 18 insufficient: Fragmentary and superficial content knowledge, errors in applying concepts, poor exposition
18 - 20: Sufficient but general content knowledge, simple exposition, uncertainties in applying theoretical concepts
21 - 23: Appropriate but not thorough content knowledge, ability to apply theoretical concepts, ability to present content simply
24 - 25: Appropriate and extensive content knowledge, fair ability to apply knowledge, ability to present content in an articulate manner.
26 - 27: Content knowledge accurate and complete, good ability to apply knowledge, ability to analyze, clear and correct exposition
28 - 29: Broad, complete and thorough content knowledge, good application of content, good ability to analyze and summarize, confident and correct exposition,
30-30 cum laude: Very broad, complete and in-depth content knowledge, well-established ability to apply content, excellent ability to analyze, synthesize and make interdisciplinary connections, mastery of exposition

Lectures with active participation strongly recommended.

Ca ’Foscari applies Italian law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) for the support and accommodation services available to students with disabilities or specific learning disabilities. If you have a motor, visual, hearing or other disability (Law 17/1999) or a specific learning disorder (Law 170/2010) and you require support (classroom assistance, technological aids for carrying out exams or exams individualized, accessible format material, note retrieval, specialist tutoring to support the study, interpreters or other) contact the Disability and DSA office disita@unive.it.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development