units

ATS2875

Faculty of Arts

18 September 2017 26 April 2024
Monash University

Undergraduate - Unit

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2014 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

print version

6 points, SCA Band 1, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered, or view unit timetables.

LevelUndergraduate
FacultyFaculty of Arts
Organisational UnitCentre for Human Bioethics
OfferedClayton Second semester 2014 (Day)
Coordinator(s)Associate Professor Justin Oakley

Synopsis

This unit investigates the nature of evil, in light of psychological and other factors that enable people to commit acts of great evil. Questions discussed include: If an evildoer suffered serious childhood abuse, should this influence our moral judgements of them? Are we all capable of great evil, if placed in certain circumstances? Could there be 'bad seeds'? Can moral judgements be justifiably made of those with evil thoughts and desires that they never act on? How should we determine the appropriateness of medical treatment of evildoers? How do different accounts of evil bear on contemporary ethical theories? Current empirical research will also be used in addressing these questions.

Outcomes

On successfully completing this unit, students will have:

  1. an understanding of leading contemporary philosophical theories of evil;
  2. familiarity with key psychological explanations of evildoing;
  3. skills enabling them to critically analyse these theories and explanations
  4. the ability to make informed judgements about what sorts of responses to evildoing are morally appropriate.

Assessment

Essay 1000 words (20%)
Essay 2000 words (40%)+ Examination 2 hours (40%)

Chief examiner(s)

Associate Professor Justin Oakley

This unit applies to the following area(s) of study

Behavioural studies
Bioethics
Holocaust and genocide studies
Philosophy

Prerequisites

Two gateway units in Philosophy or Bioethics

Prohibitions

ATS3875