Theories of Ethics and Implications for Contemporary Christians
Unit Overview
Ethics is the task of moral reasoning. The goal of ethics is to work out the best ways to live. Throughout human history, people have had different approaches to ethics and different ideas about the best ways to live.
This advanced unit looks in-depth at various secular ethical theories and approaches as well as the ethical approaches and principles of the Bible. The aim of this unit is to help you develop an integrated methodology or way of thinking as you approach ethical issues.
In this unit we will do two main things:
- Identify the main ethical approaches or frameworks, looking at types of ethical theories and the main questions in ethics.
- Work through the Bible chronologically, looking at what the Bible says about the best ways to live, and using this to evaluate the main ethical frameworks.
We hope that by the end of this unit you will be able to integrate different ethical theories and apply a mixed model of ethics which will give you a moral framework you can apply in your own life, work and ministry contexts, particularly in regard to the challenges of living as a Christian in a pluralistic late-modern society.
Unit Details
| Mode |
Online |
On-campus |
| Workload |
12 cps |
12 cps |
| Status |
Advanced elective |
Advanced elective |
| Unit Code |
PE021 |
PE021 |
| Prerequisites |
level 8, 48 cps |
level 8, 48 cps |
| Teacher |
Scott Harrower |
Scott Harrower |
Unit Content
- Introduction to Ethics
- Introducing Deontology
- Old Testament Ethics 1
- Old Testament Ethics 2
- Reviewing Deontology; The Ethics of Jesus 1
- The Ethics of Jesus 2
- Virtue Ethics
- Ethics of Paul
- Mixed Ethical Theories\
- Life and Abortion
- Death and Euthanasia
- Just War and Summary
Study Expectations
You should allow 10-12 hours of study time per week for this advanced unit. In the online version of this unit you should expect to watch pre-recorded video content and participate in regular online forums. Reading (critically) will form a significant part of your learning in this unit. In addition to the set reading for this unit we expect you will read more widely, particularly in researching for assignments.
