Moral philosophy and empirical ethics

6 ECTS credits
150 h study time

Offer 1 with catalog number 1020829BEW for working students in the 1st semester at a (B) Bachelor - advanced level.

Semester

1st semester

Enrollment based on exam contract

Possible

Grading method

Grading (scale from 0 to 20)

Can retake in second session

Yes

Enrollment Requirements

NOTE: registration for this course is only possible for working students. Day students can register for courses whose code ends with an R. At Inschrijven / studentenadministratie@vub.be you must be registered at the VUB as a working student for the current academic year.

Taught in

Dutch

Faculty

Faculty of Languages & Humanities

Department

Philosophy - Moral Sciences

Educational team

Dirk Lafaut (course titular)
Gily Coene

Activities and contact hours

18 contact hours Lecture
12 contact hours Seminar, Exercises or Practicals
130 contact hours Independent or External Form of Study

Course Content

This course introduces central concepts, theories, debates and methods of the moral sciences and empirical ethics. Students learn to reflect critically and to formulate a reasoned and context-sensitive perspective on a number of complex ethical issues and societal challenges. The course situates the added value of an integrated - empirical-normative - approach as well as the difficulties that this entails.

The first part introduces relevant moral philosophical approaches, debates and concepts and discusses the way in which morality is investigated and explained from different disciplines and perspectives. The philosophiical and sociological backgrounds of moral science(s) are explored as well as the more recent 'ethical turn' within various discplines, including the sociology of morality, moral developmental psychology, neuro-ethics, cultural anthropology, normative economics and critical psychiatry.

The last part of the course deals with recent debates on how to integrate normative ethics and social science research in various domains of practical or applied ethics, such as biomedical ethics. The course also provides a brief introduction to the use of some qualitative methods, such as Grounded Theory and Thematic Analysis.

Course material

Digital course material (Required) : Slides, syllabus en teksten, Canvas

Additional info

The course materials (slides, syllabus and texts) are provided via
Canvas.

Learning Outcomes

General competencies

1. To have knowledge of the central debates, the main concepts and developments in the field of moral sciences and empirical ethical research.

2. To have insight in different research paradigms, disciplines, theories, concepts and methods and being capable to connect them with research on specific questions.

3. To be able to analyze current ethical and social issues from an integrated contextual perspective.

4. To be able to elaborate an empirical-ethical research proposal, with a relevant research question and appropriate methodology.

Grading

The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Other determines 100% of the final mark.

Within the Other category, the following assignments need to be completed:

andere with a relative weight of 1 which comprises 100% of the final mark.

Additional info regarding evaluation

- Preparation and presentation of reading assigments (20%)

- Optional: research paper (30%)

- Oral final exam (60% or 80%)

Allowed unsatisfactory mark

The supplementary Teaching and Examination Regulations of your faculty stipulate whether an allowed unsatisfactory mark for this programme unit is permitted.

Academic context