Ethics and social norms [LPHIB204]

Learning outcomes

At the end of this teaching unit, the student will be able to produce a reflection on the role and place of ethics in the development of social norms, based on a concrete illustrative situation.

Objectives

Interpret concrete situations encountered in the context of our contemporary society in such a way as to bring out the normative dimension: from when, under what conditions, does a situation take on a normative dimension reminding certain actors of their duty, calling on them to register their action in a duty, or raising in them the question of what they should do?

These situations will arise from various fields of action specific to a Western democratic society, whether in the medical, ecological, economic or political fields.

The objective will be largely practical: to try to identify an interpretative method that can be applied to concrete lived situations posing problems (most often in the form of contradictions leading to indecision) to contemporary individuals.

Content

The course will offer, on the basis of texts and situations, a philosophical reflection as well as a methodological research on:

- the relationship between ethics and various types of social norms, in particular and particularly the law

- human rights, which today constitute a decisive criterion for assessing

- contemporary sciences and techniques, their ethical issues, and in particular the main principles with which they are confronted