NORTH SOUTH UNIVERSITY

Department of History and Philosophy

Semester: Spring 2021

Course code: PHI 104 Section: 2 Class time: ST 11.20AM - 12.50 PM

Course title: Introduction to Ethics Class room: NAC 619
Course Teacher: Rashida A. Khanum Office time: 9.40 AM - 11.10 AM
Email: rashida.khanum@northsouth.edu Office room: NAC 1042
Class code: ceo6s74
Course Description
The aim of this course is to clarify ethical concepts and ethical theories. Traditional ethical theories
such as Perfectionism, Deontology, Hedonism, Utilitarianism and new ethical theories such as
environmental ethics and eco feminism, animal rights are discussed in this course. Besides ethical
theories ethical problems, such as, absolutism and relativism are included in this course. Theories of
punishment, Rawlsian justice and virtue ethics are parts of this course.
Course Objectives
1. Learn key terms concerning ethics or morality.
2. Explain various approaches to the study of ethics.
3. Understand what morality is and how it differs from religion, law and psychology.
Course Outcomes
1. Ability to understand to whom morality applies.
2. Ability to know why human beings should be moral.
3. Ability to identify and analyze moral problems.
4. Ability to present and justify some dominant ethical theories.
5. Ability to apply ethical reasoning in solving ethical conflicts regarding duties and
responsibilities.
Text Books
1. Lillie, W., An Introduction to Ethics, London: Mathuen, 1966.
2. Thiroux, J. P., Ethics: Theory and Practice, London: Collier MacMillan, 1980.

Reference Books
1. Frankena, W. K., Ethics, New Delhi: Prentice-Hall, 1995.
2. Singer, P., Practical Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.
3. Jardins, J. R. D., Environmental Ethics, Australia: Wadsworth, 2001.
4. Khanum, R. A., Russell’s Early Ethics with a Special Reference to G. E. Moore, Dhaka: Jatiya
Sahitya Prakash, 2018.
5. Khanum, R. A., Contemporary Gender Issues, Dhaka: A. H. Development Publishing, 2012.
6. Warburton, N., Philosophy: The Classics, New York: Routledge, 2006.
7. Satris, S., ed., Taking Sides, Guilford, USA, The Dushkin Publishing, 1990.

Evaluation
1. Mid-term exam 25%
2. Quiz (10+10) 20%
3. Presentation 15%
4. Class attendance 5%
5. Viva 10%
6. Final exam 25%

Exam Policy
1. Exams policy will be announced later on considering NSU rules and regulations in the present
corona pandemic situation.
 2

Code of Conduct
Class attendance: Attendance in the class is compulsory for the students and is strongly
recommended.
Cheating: Cheating in examination or copying may result in obtaining F grade in the course.
Advice: Students are advised to read university policies carefully regarding examinations and
academic honesty.
Lecture Schedule
Class Lecture topic
1. 3 definitions of ethics
Meaning of normative science, conduct- voluntary, involuntary; moral philosophy, moral
problems, moral judgments.
2. Differences between ethics and morality.
Four branches of ethics → normative, descriptive, meta-ethics and practical ethics.
The purpose of ethics.
3. Ethics compared with religion, law and psychology
4. Kant’s notion of imperative - categorical and hypothetical imperatives, two maxims of
categorical imperative.
5 & 6. Hedonism, psychological and ethical hedonism. Egoistic ethical hedonism and altruistic
ethical hedonism.
Three forms of utilitarianism → quantitative utilitarianism of Bentham, qualitative
utilitarianism of Mill and negative utilitarianism of Singer.
7. Perfectionism → self-realization, realization of the potentialities of the individual by himself.
Hegel’s two maxims → die to live, be a person.
8. Relativism, absolutism, ethical and cultural relativism.
9. Rawls’ theory of justice → liberty principle, the principle of just distribution of goods: the
fair equality of opportunity principle and the difference principle.
Rawls’ methodology: the original position and the veil of ignorance.
10 &11. Environmental ethical theories → anthropocentrism,
→ non-anthropocentrism and holism.
12. Biocentrism - Taylor and Attfield.
Class 13. Mid-term Exam
14. Eco-feminism: connection between the exploitation and degradation of the natural
world, and the subordination and oppression of women.
Conceptual framework and oppressive conceptual framework.
15 . Animal rights → Cartesian view, Kantian view and Singer’s view.
16. Bio-medical and research ethics. Principles of bio-medical ethics.
17. Euthanasia: types of euthanasia related theories with criticisms.
Bangladesh case of euthanasia - a moral assessment.
18. Differences between crime, sin and error.
Theories of punishment → deterrent theory, reformative theory, retributive theory.
19. Moral reasoning of covid-19. Importance of masks from ethical perspective.
Why ethics is so important in science education.
20, 21 & 22 Presentations.
23 &24. Viva.
Quiz 1: after the 6th class, Quiz 2: after the 12th class, Quiz 3: after the 18th class.
Final exam: as per the schedule of NSU administration.