Ethics Minor

Minor in Ethics

Ethics is the area of philosophy that studies the nature and content of morality. Are there moral truths? What is the nature of right and wrong? What ethical rules apply to the practice of medicine? What is the moral status of non-human life? What kind of value does the environment have? What makes for a good life? What does it mean to be a good person?

Students in the Ethics Minor reflect on all of these questions and more. Along the way, students will study critical and moral reasoning, become familiar with various schools of moral thought, and engage in sustained reflection on important moral issues central to our society. Students will be encouraged to interrogate and explore their understanding of the shape and nature of morality by evaluating different theories about the nature and content of morality proposed by various philosophers through the ages. Students have the option of applying one ethics related course outside the philosophy program toward the minor.

The Ethics Minor consists in six courses (18 credit hours). There are three required courses for the minor:

  • PHIL 2301 – Critical Thinking
  • PHIL 2306 – Contemporary Moral Issues
  • PHIL 4363 – Ethical Theories

Students completing the minor must also take three elective courses (9 credit hours) that contain substantive moral content. contain substantive moral content. The list of philosophy courses students may choose from to satisfy this requirement are the following:

  • PHIL 3373 – American Philosophy
  • PHIL 4333 – Bioethics
  • PHIL 4334 – Environmental Ethics
  • PHIL 4336 – Philosophy of Law
  • PHIL 4371 – Death and Dying
  • PHIL 4374 – Philosophy of Crime & Justice
  • PHIL 4375 – Feminist Philosophies
  • PHIL 4377 – Philosophy of Race

Students have the option of applying (at most) one non-philosophy course from the following list toward the elective component of the minor:

  • GEOG 3350 – Cultural Geography
  • GEOG 4331 – Conservation of Natural Resources
  • HIST 3322 – Black Civil Rights Movement
  • HIST 3323 – History of American Slavery
  • HIST 3373 – Topics in the History of Science and Medicine
  • LALS 3340 – Latin American and Latinx Gender Studies
  • POLS 3372 – Contemporary Political Theory
  • POLS 3377 – Survey of Political Theory
  • POLS 4383 – International Human Rights
  • SOCI 3324 – Social Inequality
  • SOCI 3325 – Gender and Inequality
  • SOCI 3354 – Sociology of the Life
  • SOCI 3355 – Racial and Ethnic Inequality
  • SOCI 4337 – Environmental and Society

With approval of the Philosophy Program Coordinator, students may apply one non-PHIL course with substantive ethics content that is not on this list to the elective component of the minor.

If you have any questions about the Ethics Minor, reach out to Dr. Zachary Bachman zcb006@shsu.edu).