BIH511: History of Moral Theories

The module History of Moral Theories, placed first in the introductory semester, constitutes the foundation for attending and understanding all subsequent modules. Its aim is to familiarise students with the most significant issues as well as the basic concepts used in moral reasoning. This module presents the main positions and arguments of the most important normative ethical theories so that students develop the theoretical background that will allow them to engage with the ethical problems in bioethics and applied ethics that they will encounter in subsequent modules. Fundamental problems relating to the definition of the good life (i.e. the life worth living), the determination of intrinsic goods, will be presented through the positions of philosophers of the classical period as well as the Hellenistic era. Issues concerning the objectivity of ethics will be highlighted through the study of various forms of sceptical approaches. With regard to attempts to find criteria for defining right action and virtuous character, we will draw on modern and contemporary normative theories (deontological, consequentialist, social contract theory, virtue ethics and feminist ethics).