FVP:UVSRPCK030 Ethics - Course Information

UVSRPCK030 Ethics

Extent and Intensity

0/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).

Teacher(s)

PhDr. Jiří Sedláček (lecturer)
Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D. (lecturer)

Guaranteed by

Mgr. Petr Slováček, Ph.D.
Institute of Public Administration and Social Policy – Faculty of Public Policies in Opava

Course Enrolment Limitations

The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.

fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with

• Public Administration and Social Politics (programme FVP, B6731-SPSP)

Course objectives

The aim of the course is to acquaint students with ethics as a way of questioning the possible stereotypes in the civil society. This approach assumes a threefold teaching method: a) to analyse the basic outlines of the development of ethical issues in order to show that in ethics, the enlightenment presupposition of automatic progress does not apply. In other words, the first task of the course is to acquaint the students with the fact that the requisites of good life, as articulated already in ancient philosophy (ethics), is still valid and modern philosophy (ethics) always returns to it (1 2). At the same time, the good life momentum is the central concept of public administration and it is to this fact that students will be gradually introduced; b) to present to the students contact points between ethics and other fields, such as law, economics, and sociology to comprise ethically relevant changes which have occurred especially in the modern thought, i.e. primarily the separation of legality from legitimacy, the establishment of performance as the supreme criterion or subjecting social institutions as instruments to criteria other than good life (3 6); (c)) to present to the students some of the specific application spheres of ethics (7 12). Study Outcomes: The students will know the basic definition of ethics in relation to philosophy, sciences which are not ethically irrelevant, and to economic practice. Moreover, students will be able to define the areas where overlaps and overhangs with ethics occur, they can clearly articulate ethically relevant questions potentially associated with the specific economic, legal or sociological issues. In this context, then, they will be able to analyse potential ethical dilemmas and to bring them into broader contexts. In addition, students will be familiarized with possible current approaches at the intersection of philosophy and ethics to some of the fundamental issues of civic society. Professional Knowledge: Students can especially identify the ethically relevant dimensions in the fields of human knowledge and activity which are intrinsically controlled by other than ethical criteria. They will also be able to view the identified ethical dilemmas from perspectives offered by the Western philosophical tradition, which will enable them to face challenges with the necessary degree of expertise and competence. Professional Skills: Students will be able to define the position of ethics in relation to philosophy and other more specific sciences. They can also identify the ethically relevant aspects of the main issues of the contemporary world. In this broader context, then, they will be able to classify dilemmas and issues from the field of social work, giving their decisions of the necessary degree of competence and responsibility. Competences: After finishing the course, students will understand and comprehend the position of ethics in the present general, not only philosophical discourse. Ethics will be shown as a relevant topic of modern thought. The basic competences will then also include the ability to navigate ethical codes and human rights documents.

Syllabus

• 1. Ethics and the philosophy position of ethics in the philosophical framework, its relationship to philosophy, basic ethical terms and the changes in their foundation (explanation);
  2. Ethics and its forms normative and descriptive ethics, meta-ethics, applied ethics, ethics and religion;
  3. Ethics and law from natural law to spontaneous order, positive law, and procedural legitimation, the relation between legality and legitimacy;
  4. Ethics and economics possible consequences of utilitarian and positivist paradigm for the evaluation of the course of society; the original and still the modern concept of good life; the question of the relevance of social justice, performance as evaluation criterion in a market economy.
  5. Ethics and social institutions, social institutions (formalized social units) and their ethical relevance; justice and its forms, justice as an ethical criterion of institutions;
  6. Democracy and its crisis ethical relevance of civic engagement, the return of the traditional concept of good life into the political-philosophical discussions;
  7. Ethics in social work position of social work and its core values, goals of social work and their ethical relevance, resources of social work and their ethical relevance (see 8-12);
  8. Multiculturalism the limits of cultural relativism and Eurocentric tendencies, institutional and cultural values as a counterbalance to the excessive demands of multiculturalism;
  9. Feminist Ethics the status of women in society and its changes;
  10. Environmental ethics utilitarian and non-utilitarian approach to nature and the environment as ethically relevant spaces;
  11. Professional ethics professional self-regulation, professional values, professional codes of ethics.
  12. Ethical issues of information and media age, media globalization and the objectivity of the information.
  

Literature

required literature
• RICH, A. Etika hospodářství I. Praha: OIKOYMENH. ISBN 80-85241-61-7. info
• HRUBEC, M. a kol. Kritická teorie společnosti. Praha, 2013. ISBN 978-80-7007-403-9. info
• THOMPSON, M. Přehled etiky. Praha: Portál, 2004. ISBN 80-7178-606-6. info

recommended literature
• ROVENSKÝ, J. a kol. Krize a politické křižovatky. Praha, 2012. ISBN 978-80-7007-370-4. info
• HRUBEC, M. Od zneuznání ke spravedlnosti. Praha, 2011. ISBN 978-80-7007-362-9. info
• FISCHER, O., MILFAIT, R. Etika pro sociální práci. Praha: JABOK, 2008. ISBN 978-80-904137-3-3. info
• ANZENBACHER, A. Úvod do etiky. Praha: Academia, 2001. ISBN 80-200-0917-5. info

Language of instruction

Czech

Further comments (probably available only in Czech)

The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: Přednáška 9 HOD/SEM.

Teacher's information

The elaboration of a selected topic in the range of 6 to 7 pages.
The instructor will notify the students on the topics that have not been fully lectured for them to seek in the compulsory literature or at the e-learning site.

• Enrolment Statistics (Winter 2014, recent)
  
• Permalink: https://is.slu.cz/course/fvp/winter2014/UVSRPCK030