Assessment

Continuous Assessment: 100%

Module Aims

This module explores the human experience of good and evil. Drawing on insights from different disciplines, including theology, law, philosophy, and classics the module considers what we mean by good and evil, how these categories have shaped our understanding of human realities from war to drugs, and how they open up the question of God. Particular attention is paid to how these concepts pervade everyday life and experience.

Indicative Syllabus

Learning Outcomes

• — Apply the concepts of good and evil to different life contexts
• — Articulate how concrete historical and sociological events have affected our understanding and use of the concepts of good and evil
• — Assess the moral value of an action according to different criteria
• — Pinpoint and analyse contemporary challenges to the ‘good life’

Bibliography

• — Augustine, Enchiridion on Faith, Hope and Love.
• — Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics. Book 1.
• — Conner, Paul. ‘Human Dignity. Universal Standard of Good and Evil.’ National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Summer 2004: 265-73.
• — Green, Brian Patrick. ‘Artificial Intelligence and Ethics. Sixteen Challenges and Opportunities’. Published by Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics.
• — Holmes, Arthur F. (ed.). War and Christian Ethics: Classic and Contemporary Readings on the Morality of War, 2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2005.
• — Houser, Kimberly. ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Struggle between Good and Evil.’ Washburn Law Journal Vol. 60, 2021. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3795427
• — Lebech, Mette. ‘What is Human Dignity?’ in Maynooth Philosophical Papers, edited by Mette Lebech, 59-69. Maynooth: 2004. Available at https://mural.maynoothuniversity.ie/392/1/Human_Dignity.pdf
• — Plato, Dialogues (Phaedo, Symposium, Republic).
• — Raine, Adrian. The Anatomy of Violence: The Biological Roots of Crime. New York: Vintage Books, 2013.
• — Taylor, Charles. The Ethics of Authenticity. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992.