Foundations of Normative Ethics

A one-week intensive seminar for BA and MA students

Date: 27 October–1 November 2019
Place: Venice International University, Italy
Preparatory meeting at MKE on 21 October at 5.15 pm
Lead: PD Dr. Jan-Christoph Heilinger – with Dr. Christine Bratu and PD Dr. Verina Wild
Co-teachers: Jason Branford, Dr. Alexander Schulan, Christos Simis

The contemporary world abounds with complex moral challenges. Advancements in technology, communication and mobility as well as geopolitical, socioeconomic and environmental changes have generated new and urgent moral questions and challenges, calling for institutional and individual responses. Among the current moral problems are the following: What are my individual responsibilities in the face of a changing climate? What, if anything, do we owe people
in distant areas of the world, who live in conditions of extreme poverty? How can new technologies be used in a morally responsible way, for example to improve personal or population health? Discussing such practical questions of ‘applied ethics’ should make use of the best available theoretical knowledge from moral philosophy and proceed according to a systematic method for moral decision making.

In this one-week intensive seminar, participants will be acquainted with various moral theories and methodological approaches; we will discuss these different views and assess their respective advantages and limitations, particularly with regard to how they fare when employed to seek and identify solutions to concrete moral problems.
Students are invited to give one brief oral presentation in class. One afternoon session will be dedicated to academic writing and planning the seminar paper (of about 7.000 words, which will be due during the term break).

The class will be taught at Venice International University. It is open for advanced BA-students and MA-students. The seminar targets students in philosophy, but is open for students with different disciplinary backgrounds, as well. Travel and accommodation will be covered for all selected students from LMU.

Questions can be directed to Jan-Christoph Heilinger: heilinger@lmu.de.

If you are interested to attend, please apply by sending a short letter of motivation (max. 500
words) to mke@lmu.de no later than 20 July 2019.