Ethics
UndergraduateLTU-PHI2EPP2025
Course information for 2025 intake View information for 2024 course intake
- Study method
- 100% online
- Assessments
- 100% online
- Enrol by
- 20 July 2025
- Entry requirements
- Prior study needed
- Duration
- 12 weeks
- Price from
- $2,124
- Upfront cost
- $0
- Loan available
- HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP available
Ethics
About this subject
On successful completion you will be able to:
- Locate, review and analyse unfamiliar ideas and arguments using methods that take into account relevant cultural and other background assumptions.
- Identify and analyse the underlying issues and problems in contemporary debates about controversial social issues and assess strategies to resolve the problems.
- Develop a coherent and well-structured argument in relation to a complex philosophical claim concerning a contemporary social issue.
- Critically evaluate normative ethical theories in relation to complex local and global issues.
- Apply theoretical approaches to a range of issues to develop skills of ethical analysis that are adaptable and transferrable to emerging problems.
- Ethical Theories
- Human Rights and Capabilities
- Euthanasia
- Abortion
- Social Media and Ethics
- Global Justice
- Poverty and Inequality
Ethics concerns questions of how we should live, what is good in life, how we can tell right from wrong, or what we owe to each other. This subject will examine traditional and emerging ethical theories, and a range of applied ethical questions. Ethical theories to be examined will include consequentialism, deontology, virtue ethics and care ethics. Students will gain an understanding of these theoretical approaches and their main critiques, as well as links to moral concepts such as moral status, human rights, dignity, and autonomy. We will also apply the theories and concepts in different contexts by examining issues in applied ethics, drawing a selection of controversial topics from a number of areas. These may concern questions of life and death, such as abortion and euthanasia; ethical issues raised by new technologies, such as those relating to social media use, robotics, or artificial intelligence; and global issues, such as the international trade in organs and body parts, global poverty, and the ethics of climate change policy.
This is a level 2 subject. This subject includes live sessions with the expectation of student attendance and participation.
- Forum posts and replies to other students (750 words). 1 post will be counted as the early assessment and is worth 10%. (20%)
- Argumentative essay 1 (750 words). (20%)
- Argumentative Essay 2 (1000 words) (25%)
- Research essay 3 (1250 words) (35%)
For textbook details check your university's handbook, website or learning management system (LMS).
The third university established in Victoria, La Trobe University has a diverse community of more than 38,000 students and staff. Its commitment to excellence in teaching and research prepares students to make a bold and positive impact in today's global community. La Trobe provides Open Universities Australia with its core tenets, entrepreneurship and sustainability.
Learn more about La Trobe University.
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- QS Ranking 2024:
- 17
- Times Higher Education Ranking 2024:
- 18
Entry requirements
Others
Past La Trobe University students who have previously completed PHI2AET (Applied Ethics) are ineligible to enrol in this subject.
Additional requirements
No additional requirements
Study load
- 0.125 EFTSL
- This is in the range of 10 to 12 hours of study each week.
Equivalent full time study load (EFTSL) is one way to calculate your study load. One (1.0) EFTSL is equivalent to a full-time study load for one year.
Find out more information on Commonwealth Loans to understand what this means to your eligibility for financial support.
What to study next?
Once you’ve completed this subject it can be credited towards one of the following courses
Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Health Sciences
UndergraduateLAT-AHS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-ART-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-HSC-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-BUS-DEG
Bachelor of Information Technology
UndergraduateLAT-TEC-DEG
Bachelor of Psychological Science
UndergraduateLAT-PYS-DEG
UndergraduateLAT-CYS-DEG
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