AZA1371 Introduction to philosophy: Moral dilemmas and philosophy
Faculty of Arts
AZA1371 Introduction to philosophy: Moral dilemmas and philosophy is a level 1, 6-credit-point, undergraduate unit from the Faculty of Arts, offered in 2020 in Semester 1 at South Africa. It has no prerequisites.
- Credit points
- 6
- Offered in 2020
- Semester 1
- South Africa
- Workload
- 144 hours
- per semester
This is the 2020 handbook entry. See the 2021 entry.
Reviews
No reviews yetNo reviews yet. Be the first to review AZA1371.
Requisites
Before AZA1371
No prerequisites or corequisites besides the enrolment rules below.
After AZA1371
No unit lists AZA1371 as a prerequisite in the 2020 handbook.
Enrolment rules
Prohibition: ATS1371, ATS1834
Overview
The unit is an introduction to moral philosophy. The focus of the unit is the ethics of killing. The unit adopts a global perspective but looks at issues through a South African and African lens. We examine questions such as: When, if ever, is killing justified? Many of us think that killing is permissible in emergency rescue situations, or in self-defence. Is it possible to explain this in a way that is consistent with our more typical attitudes to killing? What about killing non-human animals for food? Like all philosophy units, this unit will also develop critical and analytic thinking skills. These issues are linked to the situation regarding life and death in South Africa and Africa in general, with particular reference to some of the ethical dilemmas (such as violent crime) encountered within this context.
Offerings in 2020
| Teaching period | Campus | Mode |
|---|---|---|
| First semester | South Africa | On campus |
Learning outcomes
When you finish this unit, you should be able to:
- 1On completing the unit, students will have an understanding of some central issues in applied ethics and of the role philosophy can play in clarifying the discussion of them. They will have acquired some understanding of the nature and methods of philosophical inquiry, and an enhanced capacity for critical reasoning and rigorous thought. Students will also be able to critically assess the situation in South Africa and its accompanying ethical dilemmas as it relates to the ethics of killing.
Workload and teaching
Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.
Contacts
- Chief Examiners
- Mr Laurence Caromba
- Unit Coordinators
- Dr Reza Hosseini
Common questions
What are the prerequisites for AZA1371?
AZA1371 has no prerequisites, but enrolment rules apply.
When is AZA1371 offered?
In 2020, AZA1371 runs in Semester 1 at South Africa.
How much work is AZA1371?
The handbook expects about 144 hours of study across the semester. No students have rated its difficulty yet.
More details
- Credit points
- 6
- Level
- 1
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Faculty
- Faculty of Arts
- Organisational unit
- South Africa School of Social Science
- Type
- Coursework
- EFTSL
- 0.125
- Student contribution
- SCA Band 1
- Study abroad
- Not available
- Handbook years
- 20202021