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Undergraduate ethics courses usually just go over the big historically-important ethical analysis systems (utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, veil of ignorance
by ahelwer 10y ago
Undergraduate ethics courses usually just go over the big historically-important ethical analysis systems (utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, veil of ignorance, social contract, etc.) Unlikely to touch on trickier issues such as why you ought to act ethically at all, or even what it means to act ethically - why, for instance, are you so certain writing backdoors for the NSA is unethical? This is certainly something which can be argued.
- nitemice 10y agoEven worse though, is that these sorts of courses are almost always derided by the majority of the student base as a waste of time, and "common sense stuff". I actually really enjoyed the one I did, although it had just gone through a major rewrite to improve it a lot. And yet, I don't think I ever heard any of my peers mention the course with anything but contempt.
- judahmeek 10y agoThat's because a course on ethics doesn't provide students with greater ethical reasoning or values. Such courses simply provide information and test whether students were listening to the lectures or not.