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5710735: FU_Contemporary ethical debates

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Semester:SS 24
Type:Seminar
Language:English
ECTS-Credits:3.0
Semester Hours per Week / Contact Hours:30.0 L / 22.5 h
Self-directed study time:67.5 h

Module coordination/Lecturers

Curricula

Bachelor's degree programme in Business Administration (01.09.2012)
Cross faculty elective subjects (01.09.2014)
Master's degree programme in Information Systems (01.09.2015)
Master's degree programme in Finance (01.09.2015)
Master's degree programme in Information Systems (01.09.2019)
Bachelor's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2019)
Master's degree programme in Architecture (01.09.2019)
Master's degree programme in Entrepreneurship and Management (01.09.2020)
Master's degree programme in Finance (01.09.2020)
Bachelor's degree programme in Business Administration (01.09.2021)

Description

To practice philosophy means to engage with fundamental and complex issues about human life and society at large. This course will be looking into three contemporary issues discussed among ethicists and political philosophers: animal experimentation, immigration, and world poverty.
- Animal experimentation: Should experiments be practiced on animals? What are the philosophical positions regarding this issue? How are those positions justified?
- Immigration: how to understand the issue of immigration in the context of sovereignty of states and freedom of movement of individuals? On which arguments are based the positions on open and/or closed borders?
- World poverty: How to understand world poverty in the context of global justice? Is world poverty a consequence of unjust distribution? Do wealthy people have obligations to assist the poor?

Lecture Goals

Participants will be able to:

  • Familiarize with the philosophical methods and approaches to deal with these complex issues.
  • Relate the theoretical standpoints to practical issues.
  • Understand the questions raised by these issues of concrete life-situations.
  • Develop critical thinking.
  • Formulate personal positions and arguments supporting it.

Qualifications

Lectures Method

Presentations, reading assignments, discussions and a written examination

Admission Requirements

No prior knowledge on philosophy is required. But participants should have a genuine interest in these four issues.

Literature

Simon Blackburn, Ethics: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: OUP, 2001).

Andrew I. Cohen, Christopher H. Wellman, Eds. Contemporary Debates in Applied Ethics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005).

Peter Singer, Practical Ethics, 3rd Ed. (Cambridge: CUP, 2011).

Recommended literature:
Relevant Web-resources and academic articles (for each topic) will be available on Moodle.

Exam Modalities

Parts of assessment
A: (25%) - attendance and active participation (working groups during class)
B: (35%) - individual assignment: submission of a written commentary on one of the texts chosen by the lecturer
C: (40%) - Group presentations

Attendance of minimum 80% is mandatory.

Assessment

Grading

Comments

Fakultätsübergreifendes Wahlfach:
Es gelten spezielle Anmeldemodalitäten.

Dates

DatumZeitRaum
17.02.202408:30 - 14:00H2
24.02.202408:30 - 14:00H2
02.03.202408:30 - 14:00H2
20.04.202408:30 - 14:00H2
27.04.202408:30 - 14:00H2