The information and reading needed for this assignment is to be drawn from the first 6 chapters of : Thiroux, J. P. and Krasemann, K.W. (2012) Ethics Theory and Practice 11th Ed
School of Social Sciences and Psychology
London, England: Pearson International Edition. This paper is to be presented as a series of short paragraphs (1500 words) defining each of the following terms:
Consequentialist and Nonconsequentalist ethics
Virtue Ethics- confucian and Nicomacean
Absolutism and Relativism
Freedom and Determinism
ASSESSMENT TWO
Where appropriate explain the differences, strengths and weaknesses of each with a short example which
demonstrates your understanding. It does not require an introduction or conclusion.
In your paragraphs you will need to clarify how you understand the terms and provide an example which
illustrates each term. It is not adequate to simply restate the definitions from the text books. The length of
the essay will be approximately 1500 words (maximum 1650 words). The essay will relate to the material
covered in lectures slides weeks 1-4 and chapter 1-6 of the text book. No library research is required for this essay; only
material from the texts,and lectures need be utilised.
I understand that the word count is difficult to adhere to. This paper is an exercise in being concise – write it as if you have to get straight to the point. If that means one sentence definitions, and one sentence examples, so be it. It might seem like there isn’t much substance to it but by providing concise answers you are demonstrating that you have a strong grasp of their meaning.
Another issue seems to be what theories you need to cover in the assignment. Please read the following carefully:
You must cover Universal Ethical Egoism, Act and Rule Utilitarianism, Intuitionism, Divine Command Theory, Kant’s Duty Ethics, Moral/Cultural Absolutism and Relativism, Freedom, the Determinism theories and Soft Determinism.These theories are integral to your final assignment so you need to address them in this assignment.
If you have the word count to do so, you can also cover Care Ethics, Prima Facie Duties, Individual and personal ethical egoism, Psychological egoism, Propositions, Indeterminism, Fatalism, Existentialism etc but please remember this is not necessary. You will find that you probably won’t be able to cover them, so do not worry about it. However, if you have some leftover space, I recommend you cover Care Ethics and Prima Facie Duties as they may provide useful perspectives for your case study. The remaining theories are not concepts that will be helpful with your final assignment so they can be avoided.