Access the course community above. This is our place for communication, sharing, discussion and knowledge building.
Philosophy is the subject that specializes in exploring fundamental questions about the world and our place in it. For example: What is reality? What does it mean for me to ‘know’ something? What is reasoning? What is a Mind? Does God exist? How should I live, and who should decide? Philosophical discussion draws on imaginative speculation, scientific evidence, sustained reflection on lived experience, and the different histories, cultural perspectives and texts that shape current thought.
Ethics is essentially the exploration of right and wrong through the use of various ethical frameworks. This course aims to examine significant ethical issues that we face in the world today, to discuss them and to use an ethical lens to allow for some objective analysis. The students themselves determine the main issue we explore, although issues that work well include abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, and many others.
Philosophy cannot be done ‘solo’. In a philosophy course the participating students become a community with a shared interest in exploring and discussing ‘big’ questions. Anyone wanting to take this course will need to fully participate in ongoing online discussion, whether through social media type platforms or in the video conference. Discussion is a fundamental part of the course.
This is a multi-level course in which all students learn together. Students will be assessed at either L2 or L3 depending on what best meets their needs. The following religious studies standard is used to assess this course.
90826 Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue
As has been mentioned before this is a discussion based course that also places a high value on curiosity, exploration and team-work. In such an environment it is vital that everyone feels they can trust each other, are comfortable expressing themselves without judgement by others and are willing to work with, and off others. The following two weeks are designed to build a feeling of community
Work through the following tasks (generally in order of priority)
Objective: To explore key ethical questions through discussion / To learn to engage in online discussion effectively | Time: Two Weeks |
Ethics Discussion |
The next one to two weeks is entirely focused on discussion. I will post the following ‘big’ questions into the community as separate posts (more will follow). Each of you then participates in each of them in whatever order or whatever time you want. The key is participation across the board. It will also serve as a useful period for determining what ethical issues we will explore in more depth.
Also look to suggest new ethical issues by posting them in the community.
HAVE FUN WITH THIS EVERYONE. WHEN ELSE HAVE YOU HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEND THIS AMOUNT OF TIME JUST DISCUSSING THINGS. PARTICIPATE. YOU WILL GET A NUDGE FROM ME IF YOU ARE A LITTLE QUIET
Objective: To explore, analyse and draw conclusions on contemporary ethical issues | Time: 6-7 weeks |
Ethics Issues Overview |
Over the next 6-7 weeks we will be working on our final study for the year – an exploration and examination of two contemporary ethical issues as defined by the student group. A process of exploration, examination, and analysis will take place with each issue, leading the group to draw evaluative conclusions.
The first part of the process is to explore the issue
We will need a central place for everyone to contribute their research, ideas, perspectives etc. so we build a shared picture. This will allow everyone to have a thorough understanding of the cases studies / issues and aid in the next step – Philosophical Analysis. What we use for this central place will need to be discussed. Some students don’t want to use padlet anymore. Mention has been made of using google docs and/or the community. A combination of both may work.
The study of ethics in philosophy is not about discussing issues based on pre-existing ideas. It is about exploring these issues using philosophical theories and frameworks to guide us, which in turn allows us to bring objectivity to the situation. This then, means we can draw informed evaluative conclusions based on our analysis. This is the other major part of the study over the next few weeks. In order to do this we will need to do the following
We use Religious Studies Standard 90826 “Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue” (6 credits).
Students will be assessed on:
All three are assessed through the discussions that are set up to explore why these views are held. Which is where students will be using ethical theories and frameworks to analyse views and beliefs.
THERE IS NO SYNTHESIS OR INDIVIDUAL TASK ON TOP OF THIS. EVERYONE IS ASSESSED BASED ON THEIR CONTRIBUTION