| Unit name | Virtue and Well-Being |
|---|---|
| Unit code | PHIL30126 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | H/6 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Dr. Alan Wilson |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
N/A |
| Co-requisites |
N/A |
| School/department | Department of Philosophy |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
What does it mean to be a good (or virtuous) person? Should we expect being a good person to make our lives go better? This unit focuses on these important ethical questions, seeking to address them by engaging with contemporary debates in virtue theory and the philosophy of well-being.
The unit has three sections. The first section aims to present and evaluate competing accounts of the nature of moral virtue. Specific questions include: Which features of agents are morally virtuous? Does being good require generating positive outcomes, or are good intentions enough? And what is the relationship (if any) between moral virtue and intellectual virtue?
The second section focuses on the extent to which people are (or can be) morally virtuous. Specific questions include: Do results from social psychology show that no-one is truly honest, compassionate, or just? And what can work at the intersection of philosophy and psychology tell us about how to develop virtuous traits?
The third section addresses the issue of whether being virtuous makes our lives go better. Competing theories of well-being will be considered, and we will ask whether, according to those theories, we should expect any connection between living virtuously and living well.
On successful completion of the unit students will be able to:
The unit will be taught by 2 x 1-hour lectures and 1-hour seminar per week.
There is no formative assessment for this unit.
Summative assessment for the unit will be as follows:
Essay (2,000 words) designed to test ILOs 1-6: 40% of assessment
Unseen Exam (2 questions in 2 hours) designed to test ILOs 1-6: 60% of assessment
