General Ethics
Main language of instruction: Catalan
Other languages of instruction: English, Spanish
If the student is enrolled for the English track then classes for that subject will be taught in the same language.
Head instructor
Dra. Magdalena BOSCH - mbosch@uic.es
Office hours
Please make an appointment by e-mail
Professional activity, like our personal life, involves morality and personal responsibility. Ethics seeks to reflect on this by providing concepts and a framework for moral behaviour. Formally, ethics is the branch of philosophy that considers what is good and bad in human life and which actions are right or wrong. In a more general sense, ethics tries to determine how we ought to live.
In this course we will firstly explore the history of ethical thought. Secondly, we will discuss some key ethical concepts and issues that can help to shape sound moral reasoning and correct behaviour in professional life. Thirdly, we will study a branch of ethics termed “areteology”, in which the central claim is that certain traits of character (virtues) are essential for good behaviour. We also discuss how character has an influence on business leadership.
There are no previous requirements.
1) To provide students with theoretical tools for analysing human behaviour.
2) To introduce students to the use of the basic elements of moral thought and the main concepts in ethics.
Students who take this course will learn ethical concepts, increase their sensitivity to the role of moral character in professional activity, and develop their capacity to identify values and ethical issues, and to exercise ethical judgements in particular situations.
Syllabus
Theme 1. Introduction. What is Ethics?
Theme 2. Historical refences
Theme 3. The Meaning of live. Ultimate end.
Theme 4. Happiness
Theme 5. Virtue
Theme 6. Freedom. Voluntary actions. Choice
Theme 7. Prudence
Theme 8. Justice
Theme 9. Fortitude and Temperance
Theme 10. Intellectual Virtues and Decision making
Theme 11. Self-control and compulsive behaviour
Theme 12. Friendship: conditions and qualities
ARENDT, H., The human condition, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1998
ARISTÓTELES, Ética a Nicómaco. Ed. bilingüe, Instituto de Estudios Políticos, Madrid, 1970.
BASTONS, M.; La toma de decisiones en la organización, Ariel, Barcelona 2000
BOSCH, M.; La ética amable, EUNSA, Pamplona 2015
CICERO, On Dities; On friendship; On old age
GRISEZ, G., y SHAW, R., Ser persona. Curso de Ética, Rialp, Madrid, 1993.
LLANO, A.; La vida lograda, Ariel, Barcelona 2006
MACINTYRE, A., After Virtue. A study in moral theory. Notre Dame University Press, Nostre Dame (Indiana) 3rd edition 2007
MARÍAS, J. La felicidad humana, Alianza, Madrid, 1989.
MENSCH, J., Ethics and Selfhood. Alterity and the Phenomenology of Obligation, State University of New York Press, NY, 2003.
PIEPER, J. The four cardinal virtues, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, 2014
RODRÍGUEZ LUÑO, A. Ética, Eunsa, Pamplona, 1986.
SENECA, Sobre la felicidad, Alianza, Madrid 1997
SPAEMANN, R., Happines and benevolence, University of Notre Dame Press, Nostre Dame 2000
TAYLOR, Ch.; La ética de la autenticidad, Paidós, Barcelona 1994
TRIGO, T.; En busca de una ética universal: un nuevo modo de ver la ley natural. Eunsa. Pamplona 2011
YEPES STORK, R. Fundamentos de antropología. Un ideal de la existencia humana. Eunsa. Pamplona. 1996.