Ethics of Life and Death – (M.A.)

Many people who believe that abortion is wrong believe that suicide is morally permissible. Many people who are in favour of mercy-killing for the terminally ill strongly oppose the death penalty for murderers. Can any, or some, or all of these positions be justified by acceptable moral principles? When, if ever, is it morally right to take a human life? Is it usually wrong to take life because life itself is valuable? If so, what makes life itself valuable? Does life have a meaning? Questions like these dominate The Ethics of Life and Death.

This MA introduces you to a flourishing branch of contemporary philosophy - applied ethics - and to some of the metaphysical theories relevant to this branch of the subject. The aims of the course are to bring ethical theories to bear on practices that make us think twice about the permissibility or impermissibility of killing; and to consider questions about the value, meaning and purpose of life.

All of the moral issues taken up in the course are controversial, and we know that many students will be coming to this MA with firm opinions about some of them. We hope that the arguments and theories expounded and discussed in the course will lead people to reappraise their views, even if they decide in the end that they were right. In discussing moral issues we have tried to give a balanced treatment of the arguments, but not by way of a mere inventory of different positions in a debate. Instead, those writing the course material have actually got involved in the debate, developing their own arguments or adapting those to be found in the literature. They have tried to give an impression of the weak points and obscurities in the positions they favour as well as the strengths of the views they oppose.

Thus, as you work through the course you should get some impression of how the debate might be continued and how the views endorsed by any of authors could be disputed. The crucial point is that argument is the medium of exchange in this MA. Authors of course material will not merely say how they feel about euthanasia or abortion, as if they were writing a letter to the editor of a newspaper; they will give reasons for the views they hold. They will make explicit the principles they accept and try to exhibit their consequences clearly. We expect students to try to do the same.

The MA is specifically designed to be taken on a part-time basis over a number of years. It is a distance learning degree scheme, largely based on material prepared by members of the Open University philosophy course team. There is no need for you to visit Lampeter at any stage in your study. However, you will always be very welcome to spend some time here if you would like a period of study in this beautiful part of the world with the full facilities of the university - including your tutors - to hand.

At each stage of the degree scheme you will have one or more tutors to whom you can turn for guidance whenever you feel the need. How much contact you have with your tutors is a matter of your personal choice. While we strongly recommend that you get some feedback on drafts of your essays for your first one or two modules and on draft sections of your dissertation, you may prefer, for the most part, to work through the course material with a minimum of external supervision. You may start individual modules at any time of the year, and may work through them at the pace that best suits your circumstances. Your tutor will arrange with you deadlines for submission of work.

The MA can be completed in just over two years of part-time study, and must be completed within five years of initial registration.