Fundamental Morals
Module Code: 506TFM Credits: 10 Contact Hours: 30 Level: 5 Lecturer: Don Miller OFM
Syllabus
(To make good use of a very short period of time, the students may want to familiarize themselves with some of the course materials prior to beginning classes. This will facilitate better discussion and allow the lectures to synthesize and highlight keys concepts more easily and afford more time for brief applications of the principles to exemplify the methodologies.)
Sound moral reasoning is based on principles and methodologies. As Christian Catholics we derive those principles from philosophical reasoning, Scripture, and Tradition and we apply them using various methodologies. Knowing how to make a sound moral decision is a learned skill which allows one to move beyond ‘I think’ or ‘I feel’ statements.
This course is geared toward helping the students learn the basic skills of sound moral reasoning while respecting personal and cultural factors in discerning various approaches to complicated moral issues.
Aims
- to introduce the students to the basic principles and methodologies of moral decision making in the Roman Catholic Tradition.
- to assist the students to examine how their personal experience corresponds to and/or differs from those principles and methodologies.
- to help the students apply those principles and methodologies to practical situations.
Assessment
A 3,000 word essay
Knowledge and Understanding
By the end of this module students should have:
- a basic familiarity with the principles and methodologies of moral decision making in the Roman Catholic tradition
- a basic understanding and appreciation of the relationship between objective morality (moral norms) and subjective moral responsibility
- a deepening of the students’ appreciation of the Roman Catholic moral tradition
Transferable Skills
By the end of this module students will:
- have acquired an ability to apply objective moral norms to personal and cultural situations.
- a preliminary ability and comfort with speaking about the Roman Catholic moral tradition.
- be able to communicate the subject matter of the module to groups, parishes in discussion of moral issues in the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.
- be able to form independent opinions and demonstrate an ability to use evidence appropriately to support conclusions
- be able to situate their argument in the light of contemporary scholarship.
- contribute confidently to group/class discussions
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