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Students can identify fundamental ethical issues and important ethical theories. Furthermore, they have an understanding of applied ethics as well as specific ethical areas. They are able to deal with an exemplary ethical question.

The question of what to do or not to do in certain situations affects psychotherapists, clients and patients, teachers and students, business executives and common workers. Every single day we all act in a socially relevant way and judge our actions, as well as those of others, by certain natural measures such as “good” or “evil”. We only start to question our ethical considerations when they no longer seem accurate, for example when a situation contradicts our principles. These attempts are based on reasonable reflections through which we try to obtain a reasonable and universal rule in order to judge actions. In this lecture we clarify the central terms, introduce the main ideas of significant ethical systems such as “hedonism”, “Christianity”, and “utilitarianism”, illustrate examples and critically look at their line of argumentation. Furthermore, we reflect on norms and values and their influence on pedagogical, psychotherapeutic, psychological and economical actions such as value pluralism problems, justice, normative regulations of health and disease, aim of therapeutic action, etc.

Lecture with possibilites for discussion.

Written exam.

Fenner, Dagmar (2008): Ethik. Tübingen[u.a.]: Francke. UTB 2989. Nida-Rümelin, Julian (2005)(Hrsg): Angewandte Ethik. Die Bereichsethiken und ihre theoretische Fundierung. 2. Aufl. Stuttgart: Kröner. Pieper, Annemarie (2007): Einführung in die Ethik. Tübingen: Francke Verlag. 6. Aufl. Spaemann, Robert (2001): Grenzen. Zur ethischen Dimension des Handelns. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta.