MORAL THEORIES AND APPLIED ETHICS

Academic Year 2023/2024 - Teacher: Rosa Loredana CARDULLO

Expected Learning Outcomes

The course in Moral Theories and Applied Ethics is divided into two distinct but interrelated parts: 1) the study of the history of moral philosophy, from its origins to the present day; 2) an examination of today's applied ethics, i.e., those philosophical disciplines that arise from the practical application of moral theories and principles in particular areas of human existence, especially in those relating to life (bios) and the living world in general. Particular attention is paid to the most current issues through participatory classroom discussion and working groups (flipped classroom, cooperative learning, focus groups, philosophy for community)
The course in its entirety aims to deepen the student's understanding of the moral aspect of philosophical reflection of all times, while also making him or her understand and verify the importance of the origins of such reflection, which constitute the roots and foundations of all contemporary reflection. In addition to historical-theoretical knowledge, the student will acquire a clear and firm awareness of the most problematic and crucial phenomena of our times, on which moral philosophy finds practical application today, from medical bioethics to business ethics, from gender ethics to ecology, from communication ethics to the ethics of care.

Course Structure

Lectures will be given by the chair lecturer on the topics of the first part of the program. Regarding the second part, lectures will be seminar and laboratory-based, with the support of PhD students

Required Prerequisites

No special prerequisites are required, except a good knowledge of the history of philosophy from its origins to the present day. Of each historical period, school or philosophical personality, only those aspects related to reflection of an ethical and moral nature will be explored in depth

Attendance of Lessons

La frequenza non è obbligatoria ma altamente consigliata soprattutto per chi volesse scegliere di sottoporsi alla prova in itinere

Detailed Course Content

From the text by Antonio Da Re, Moral Philosophy. History, Theories, Topics. 4th edition, Pearson 2023 the following topics will be explored:

The good life and the knowledge of the good. Happiness and virtue (from Socrates to Plotinus).

The good and the virtues. Freedom and will (from Augustine to Duns Scotus).

Ethics and politics (from Machiavelli to Thomas More).

Good and the highest good. The motive of moral action. Moral duty and the test of uiversalizability (Descartes to Mill).

The problem of moral autonomy (Hegel to Nietzsche).

Reason and feeling (from Moore to MacIntyre).

The ethics of responsibility (Weber to Jonas).

Applied ethics (Beauchamp and Childress, Naess, Jonas, Sen.

The section on applied ethics will cover the following topics:

Medical, environmental, animal bioethics; Care ethics; Virtue ethics; Gender ethics; Communication ethics; Ethics and disability; Immigration ethics.

Textbook Information

First part (historical-theoretical section)

- Antonio Da Re, Filosofia morale. Stori, teorie, argomenti. Quarta edizione. Pearson, Milano 2023

Parte II (approfondimento monografico)

Adriano Fabris, Etiche applicate. Una guida, Carocci, Roma 2017 (those who choose not to take the in itinere test will have to study it all; those who choose to take the in itinere test will choose one of the 5 parts into which the text is divided)

For the in itinere test, if any: a study of your choice from the following, plus one of the 5 parts into which Fabris is divided:

- Paolo Becchi, Che cos'è la bioetica? Temi e problemi, Giappichelli 2022

- Simone Pollo, Manifesto per un animalismo democratico, Carocci, Roma 2021

- Francesca Pongiglione, I diritti umani nel dibattito etico contemporaneo, Carocci, Roma 2019

- A. Fabris, Etica per le tecnologie dell'informazione e della comunicazione, Carocci, Roma 2020

- Flavia Monceri, Etica e disabilità, Morcelliana, Brescia 2017

- Caterina Botti, Cura e differenza. Ripensare l'etica, Led, Milano 2016

- Eva De Clercq, Etica del gender, Morcelliana, Brescia 2018

- Michela Marzano, Sii bella e stai zitta. Perché l'Italia di oggi offende le donne, Mondadori, Milano 2010

- Salvatore Natoli, Il posto dell'uomo nel mondo. Ordine naturale, disordine umano, Feltrinelli, Milano 2022

Learning Assessment

Learning Assessment Procedures

Verifications of learning will be carried out in itinere on the second part of the course, the part related to applied ethics and will consist of classroom presentation of individual or group work (power point, video realization or other modalities to be agreed with the lecturer) conducted with the aid of the indicated texts (in-depth part: Fabris).

The tests are not compulsory. A student who chooses not to take them may take the entire examination on appeal through an oral test.

The on-course test will be graded in thirtieths.

The final grade, in case the student chooses to take the on-course test, will consist of an arithmetic average of the scores obtained.

Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises

Questions will cover the entire syllabus (see "Course Content" section).

Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended because the questions will reflect the content of lectures and seminars given by PhD students in support of the teacher's lectures

Degree Course in

Pedagogical sciences and educational planning