Ethics I

Ethics is the science concerned with appropriate human behaviour. In a descriptive and prescriptive way, it studies motivation, methods, goals, and consequences, and its own ability to generalize both in an individual and communal sense. Immanuel Kant talks about the problem of “How should we act?” through the correlation of three questions: who is man, how do we know, and, what may we hope for? Thus the description of good behaviour can only be answered through the correlation of anthropology, epistemology and religious faith – rightly declared by moral philosophy. However, the source of Christian ethics is revelation. According to this, each act has the same motivation and measure: “that you may live a life worthy of the Lord” (Col 1:10). The aim of the subject is to make one aware that man, who simultaneously lives in the order of nature and grace, is basically a moral being. So long as he recognizes the good in God's revealed will and practises this in the community of his fellow man, he fulfils his mission, or on the contrary, he falls short of it.

Competences

Specific competences

Students becomes familiar with such basic ethical concepts as freedom, responsibility, conscience, norms, values, respect, autonomy, heteronomy, and human dignity and moreover with the different types of interpretation on morality, including Kant's ethics, utilitarianism, and contractualism, etc. Students will understand the common and differentiating traits of general morality and Christian ethics. During seminars, and based on acquired concepts and an ethical point of view, students will work with the key concepts of ethics, focusing on virtues, thus proving both their sensitivity to the problems, and their ability to apply their theoretical knowledge.

General competences

The course will help students to identify moral dilemmas and often contradictory moral requirements in different life circumstances, and on the basis of a certain value system, to recognize the true sense of classical and theological virtues (wisdom, courage, righteousness, self-control; faith, hope, and love), and through practising these to be the creator of true values.

Course structure

# Title
1 General ethics
2 Christian ethics
3 The contested freedom of the Christian man
4 Theological and/or philosophical ethics
5 Ethical models I
6 Ethical models II
7 Authority of the Bible in ethical questions and the autonomy of intellect
8 Church and morality in Protestantism
9 The Church and the public sphere
10 The Roman Catholic viewpoint
11 Norms and values
12 Religion – law – morality in the pluralistic society
13 Sermon on the Mount as the constitution of Christian ethics I
14 Sermon on the Mount as the constitution of Christian ethics II

Total estimated time

Classroom study Course Seminar Practice
2 hours/week 1 1 0
28 hours/semester 14 14 0
Individual study Hours/sem
Total estimated time 70
Studying course notes and bibliography 20
Further documentation in libraries, electronic platforms, or on the field 10
Preparing essays, papers, or documentation 10
Personal tutoring 2
Total individual study 42

Examination

1. Szóbeli vizsga az előadásokon készített jegyzetek és a kiadott anyag alapján - 50%
2. Írásbeli dolgozat a bemutatott szemináriumi témáról - 50%

Bibliography

Book