Related Course/s:

A unit of study in the Journalism Major.

Aims & Objectives:

 The aim of this subject is to provide students with the means to understand ethical issues and dilemmas and what is involved in making judgments about how to live and how to act. It will introduce students to both modern and classical philosophies of ethics, their achievements and limitations, and recent efforts to revive classical philosophies to overcome the limitations of modernist philosophies. Much of the course will be devoted to applying such thinking to various practical domains, to everyday life, to business, to medical practice, to issues raised by computers the information society, to the environment, and in particular to journalism. The first eight weeks of this course will be the same as HAH244 Practical and Professional Ethics. The final four weeks are aimed specifically at journalists, and will introduce and critique the various ethical codes relevant to journalism in Australia.  

Teaching Methods:

Lectures (1 hour), Tutorials (2 hours)
The subject begins with formal lectures and discussions, and ends with a series of joint presentations by students examining particular ethical issues associated with particular professions.

Assessment:

Analysis of an ethical position (20%)

Attendance, participation and seminar presentation (30%)

Long Essay (50%)

Generic Skills Outcomes:

  As in all true philosophy subjects, the most important generic intellectual skills are cultivated in this subject. These include skills in

§         analysing concepts and theories;

§         constructing arguments which are logical and coherent;

§         adopting new, creative perspectives on problems;

§         analysing arguments;

§         thinking critically;

§         communicating ideas and theoretical information in a clear, concise, and coherent way - both orally and in writing;

§         participating in group discussion;

§         formulating appropriate questions.

Reading Materials:

Alasdair MacIntyre, A Short History of Ethics, London: Routlege, 1967.
James Rachels, The Elements of Moral Philosophy, 3rd edition, Boston: McGraw Hill, 1999.
Martin Hirst and Roger Patching Journalism Ethics – Arguments and Cases Oxford University Press 2005