How to be good and do what is right: An Introduction to Ethics



Overview

Can you learn to tell right from wrong? Are moral principles more than cultural norms? Should you simply follow your desires, emotions or moral intuitions? Might reason help you find fundamental principles or ideas which enable you to confidently act well? 

Whose well-being or happiness you should be concerned with: Mainly your own? Or also that of your family or friends? Or should you go beyond this and be concerned about all of humanity? Furthermore, what is really best for a person – what constitutes a good, worthwhile, meaningful, purposeful life? Are we inevitably in conflict as we squabble over competitive goods or might we interact in a mutually beneficial way by focussing on shared goods? 

We will explore questions such as these through studying the most influential ethical theories in the history of western philosophy, such as: Egoism, Relativism, Hume’s Ethics, Social Contract Theory, Ross’s Intuitionism, Particularism, Virtue Ethics, Utilitarianism and Kantian Ethics. We discuss the arguments for and against each.

Programme details

Courses starts: 22 Apr 2026

Week 1:

  • Introduction to ethics and overview of the course.
  • A critique of moral relativism 

Week 2: 

  • Nihilism: Does anything matter? Are you merely a product of your genes and upbringing? When are you responsible for wrongdoing? Can you learn to be a better person? 

Week 3: 

  • Egoism. David Hume’s theory of moral judgements and the fact value distinction.
  • Social contract theories: Are moral principles based on mutually beneficial agreements between people?

Week 4: 

  • Can reflection on your experience, plus trial and error, plus testimony from and observation of others, enable you to find out how to be happy – given that what makes you happy depends upon the sort of person that you are?
  • In addition, we contrast Nel Nodding’s ethics of care with Ideal Observer theories.

Week 5: 

  • W.D. Ross’s intuitionism: We discuss the view that we should follow a range of moral principles which can come into conflict with each other. We ask what role our intuitions can play in identifying moral principles and resolving such conflicts.
  • Jonathan Dancy’s Moral Particularism: The view that we can act morally despite the absence of moral principles

Week 6: 

  • The ‘Golden Rule’: pros and cons.
  • We then examine Classical Utilitarianism. This is the view that we should maximize happiness summed over all people over all time. We look at the implications of classical utilitarianism along with common objections to it.
  • Various other versions of utilitarianism such as prioritarianism, sufficientarianism, average utilitarianism and rule utilitarianism are outlined and discussed.

Week 7:  

  • Long-termism – the view that maximising total happiness over all time and living a meaningful life requires ensuring that mankind survives as long as possible and ideally forever. What are the implications of this view?

Week 8: 

  • Aristotle on Virtue ethics and Moral emotions.
  • Mill’s distinction between higher and lower pleasures. Shaftesbury on Moral and Aesthetic creativity

Week 9: 

  • An introduction to Kantian ethics and a discussion of Kant’s Formula of Universal Law

Week 10:

  • We discuss Kant’s Formula of humanity, along with 'shared goods' and interacting in a mutually beneficial way.

Certification

Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS) Points

Only those who have registered for assessment and accreditation will be awarded CATS points for completing work to the required standard. Please note that assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail. Please follow this link for more information on Credit Accumulation Transfer Scheme (CATS) points

Digital Certificate of Completion 

Students who are registered for assessment and accreditation and pass their final assignment will also be eligible for a digital Certificate of Completion. Information on how to access the digital certificate will be emailed to you after the end of the course. The certificate will show your name, the course title and the dates of the course attended. You will be able to download the certificate and share it on social media if you choose to do so.

Please note students who do not register for assessment and accreditation during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun.

Fees

Description Costs
Course fee (with no assessment) £300.00
Assessment and Accreditation fee £60.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Mr Daniel Dennis

Dan Dennis is a knowledgeable and friendly tutor. He is adept at explaining difficult ideas and encourages students to ask questions when they do not understand something. He has taught for Oxford University for nearly twenty years.

Course aims

To teach students to employ philosophical ideas and arguments in thinking clearly and rationally about Ethics.

Course objectives:

1. To introduce participants to philosophical discussions of central issues concerning Ethics.

2. To teach participants to employ key philosophical ideas, arguments and distinctions concerning Ethics.

3. To help participants to question their current views, think rigorously, and discuss clearly about the issues in question, and to back up their claims with arguments.

Teaching methods

There will be a rigorous yet friendly co-operative investigation of the issues with which this course confronts us. Students will be presented with ideas, arguments, thought experiments and examples, which they will be encouraged to question, reflect on and explore. Students will have plenty of opportunity to discuss the issues raised and to ask questions about anything they do not understand. Students should be prepared to question their current opinions and ways of thinking, to think rigorously and rationally about the course content and to change their views if that is where reason leads them.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to:

1. Be able to understand and express a variety of key philosophical ideas and arguments pertaining to Ethics.

2. Have improved their skills in analysing and evaluating ideas and arguments.

3. Be able to think and argue clearly and rationally about issues dealt with in the course, and connect them with their own life and decision-making.

Assessment methods

These students submit an essay of 1500 words. Prior to this they may also submit an initial plan, or other formative piece of 500 words for guidance.

Only those students who have registered for assessment and accreditation will submit coursework.

 

 

 

Application

To be able to submit coursework and to earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £60 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. Please use the 'Book now' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an Enrolment form for short courses | Oxford University Department for Continuing Education

Students who do not register for assessment and credit during the enrolment process will not be able to do so after the course has begun. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Level and demands

The Department's Weekly Classes are taught at FHEQ Level 4, i.e. first year undergraduate level, and you will be expected to engage in some private study each week. This may take the form, for instance, of reading and reflecting on set texts, or responding to questions or tasks.

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support