General education courses in this area focus on the exploration of the nature and demands of ethical reasoning about right and wrong human conduct and/or the ways in which individuals and communities articulate and embody their values. Students will learn how to think critically about and to evaluate individual, social, and cultural judgments of good and bad, right and wrong, justice and injustice, and to apply these ethical concepts to historical debates and contemporary dilemmas in areas such as politics, medicine, business, gender, ethnicity, the environment, culture, and religion. Upon completing a course in this category, students should be able to do at least three of the following:
- Interpret, explain, and compare significant systems and theories of human ethics and/or values.
- Examine ways in which ethical values change over time and/or differ across cultures and historical periods.
- Analyze ethical debates in terms of their underlying assumptions and implications.
- Recognize the ethical values at stake in practical, concrete, and/or everyday situations.
- Apply ethical reasoning toward solving practical problems.
- Formulate, communicate, and evaluate effective ethical arguments.