MA Applied Ethics
Health care professionals, educators, public policy makers,
lawyers, public servants, business people, scientists, researchers,
are increasingly required to make well-reasoned, informed and
publicly accountable judgments about issues that are essentially
ethical. Such judgments require ethical skills - one needs to be
able to recognise the factual and evaluative complexity of issues,
to evaluate competing ethical claims, and to reason soundly to
practical ethical conclusions. Yet the development of such skills
is not always included in the professional training of people who
are called to act as ethical decision-makers. The MA Applied Ethics
helps make good this lack.
The MA Applied Ethics may be directed towards professional
interests, or towards providing a sound background for postgraduate
research in applied ethics. The programme may be taken full-time (1
year) or part-time (2 years).
The aim of the MA (Applied Ethics) programme is to apply the
skills and insights derived from traditional mainstream philosophy
to major contemporary social problems which may not themselves
count as 'philosophical' in the narrow sense of the word. These
include such problems as: new developments in medicine and
biotechnology; the allocation of scarce medical resources;
toleration and the rights of minorities; family and personal
relationships; standards of morality in the conduct of the
professions, commerce, and politics; the challenges to democracy
posed by terrorism; environmental ethics; and the moral values
relevant to policy making.
All students write a dissertation on a topic of their choice and
take two core modules of seminars covering ethical theory and its
relevance to issues of practical concern, and the broad areas of
applied ethics, along with two optional modules. Options available
include:
- Values and the Environment
- Medical Ethics and Law
- Special Topic in Applied Ethics
- Philosophy of Law
- Research Ethics
Teaching Methods:
Two-hour weekly seminars in Semesters 1 and 2 in the core and
optional modules. Opportunity for directed study in an area of
special interest. Individual supervision in an area of special
interest, incorporating work towards the dissertation in Semesters
1, 2, and 3. Pro-rata arrangements over two years for part-time
students.
Students may, if they wish, select options and a dissertation so
as to specialise in a particular area of applied ethics. In
addition, candidates may attend selected lecture modules within the
department.
Those with a Bachelor's degree in any field or other
qualifications of comparable professional standing or attainment
are invited to apply to the course coordinator:
Dr. Suzanne Uniacke
Tel: +44 (0)1482 465184
E-mail: s.m.uniacke@hull.ac.uk