MALS FND: Norms and Ethics

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

“Norms and Ethics,” as an MALS foundational course, is intended to “examine basic methods and issues around moral and ethical concerns and enduring challenges of the human pursuit of the good life across cultures” (as defined on the “Curriculum” webpage). The course aims to equip students with intellectual and critical skills utilized across the curriculum. This course examines ethics, human inquiry that investigates the nature of the moral life, norms of right and wrong individual behavior and institutional structures, and the nature of human goods. Most fundamentally, ethics is a way of life—disciplined inquiry into some of the most basic modes of thought and action. Ethics is not mere puritanical counting up “dos” and “don’ts” but about how we shape our actions and behaviors in light of our most basic values, hopes, and goods. We will focus on these issues through a historical and theoretical examination of the major developments in ethics in the Western tradition and by thinking about norms and ethics framed by various concepts (e.g. justice) and areas of application (e.g. political institutions). We will consider comparative analysis, both its possibilities and limits. Religious and philosophical sources will be explored. Coupled with our historical examination of the core ethical traditions, we will explore their application in contemporary situations—personal relationships and individual lives, the workplace, professional settings, healthcare and bio-ethics, the environment, the military, politics, and business.