PY2903
Matters of Life and Death
2017-2018
20
10
SCQF level 8
2
Academic year(s): 2017-2018
SCOTCAT credits : 20
ECTS credits : 10
Level : SCQF level 8
Semester: 2
Availability restrictions: Available only to students on the Evening Degree Programme
Planned timetable:
How should we think about moral problems concerning life and death? Choices about whose life to save, and whom to allow to die, must be made all the time, in the health service and elsewhere. How should these choices be made? Some actions that aim at good ends will endanger lives. Are such actions permissible? This module, rather than focusing on specific 'moral problems' (such as euthanasia, abortion, etc), deals with general questions concerning life and death, such as: Is death bad? In virtue of what is life good? Is there a morally significant difference between killing and letting die, or between intending someone's death and merely foreseeing it? On what principles would one choose between lives, when the choice is forced?
Pre-requisite(s): Before taking this module you must pass PY1901
Weekly contact: 1 x 2.5-hour session: lectures and tutorials
Scheduled learning hours: 35
Guided independent study hours: 165
As used by St Andrews: Coursework = 100%
As defined by QAA
Written examinations : 0%
Practical examinations : 0%
Coursework: 100%
Re-assessment: 1 or more essays totaling no more than 6,000 words