This interdisciplinary minor, housed in the Department of Philosophy, is designed to provide students with training in ethical reasoning, frameworks, and methods, as well as offer the opportunity to work in various fields of applied ethics. In addition to the requirements for the student’s major department the minor consists of 18 credits selected from a wide range of disciplines (e.g., philosophy, communication, engineering, law, psychology, sociology, anthropology, public policy, international studies, and environmental studies). Courses deal with ethics from various perspectives, for example research ethics, media ethics, environmental ethics, bioethics, and business ethics.
Students in the minor will choose from a broad range of 0-, 100-, and 400-level ethics-related courses offered in the Philosophy Department, and will have the chance to take up to two ethics-related courses outside the department. Some Philosophy ethics-related courses cover prominent and powerful historical and contemporary approaches to ethical decision-making and leadership; others cover specific problems in ethical thinking or applications to concrete areas of life. The minor will be suitable for students in almost any major, especially students going on to further academic work or careers in medicine, teaching and education, communication, business, law, the health or life sciences, health administration, public policy, politics, computer science, or engineering.
For more information, please contact an adviser in the Philosophy Department:
Mia Parise (Undergraduate Advisor) or Christopher Moore (Director of Undergraduate Studies)
Minor Requirements
18 credits, at least 6 of which must be at the 400 level, and at least 12 of which must be in PHIL, and no more than 6 of which may be from the 0-level. See the University Bulletin page for more details.
Relevant PHIL 0-level courses
Individuals in Society  | ||
| Ethical Life | ||
| Gender Matters | ||
| Race, Racism, and Diversity | ||
| Love and Sex |
Relevant PHIL 100-level courses
| Ethics | ||
| Ethics | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Business Ethics | ||
| Social and Political Philosophy | ||
| Social and Political Philosophy | ||
| Philosophy and Education | ||
| Environmental Philosophy | ||
| Ethical Leadership | ||
| Knowing Right from Wrong | ||
| Media Ethics | ||
| Bioethics | ||
| Ethics of Climate Change | ||
PHIL 134 | Food Ethics | |
| Ethics in Jewish Tradition and Thought | ||
| Happiness and Well-Being |
Relevant PHIL 400-level courses
| Environmental Ethics | ||
| Philosophy of Law | ||
| Business Ethics | ||
| Technology and Human Values | ||
| Social and Political Philosophy | ||
| Ethics | ||
| Topics in Ethical Theory | ||
| Medical and Health Care Ethics | ||
| African American Philosophy | ||
| Ethics After the Holocaust |
Relevant non-PHIL courses
| Racism and Sexism | ||
| Racial and Ethnic Inequality in America | ||
| Politics of Affirmative Action | ||
| Introduction into Ethics and Issues in Agriculture | ||
| Cultural Diversity: A Global Perspective | ||
| Language Rights, Policy, and Planning | ||
| Living in an Increasingly Diverse Society | ||
| Confucius and the Great Books of China | ||
| Social and Ethical Environment of Business | ||
| Social, Legal, and Ethical Environment of Business | ||
| Socially Responsible, Sustainable and Ethical Business Practice | ||
| Values and Ethics in Biobehavioral Health Research and Practice | ||
| Power, Conflict, and Community Decision Making | ||
| Banned Books: International and Comparative Perspectives | ||
| Human Rights and World Literature | ||
| Ethics, Justice, and Rights in World Literature | ||
| Ethical, Legal, and Professional Issues in Counseling | ||
| Gender, Diversity and the Media | ||
| Social Justice and the Image | ||
| News Media Ethics | ||
| Ethics and Regulation in Advertising and Public Relations | ||
| Media Law and Ethics | ||
| Telecommunications Ethics | ||
| Race, Crime, and Justice | ||
| Ethics in Criminal Justice | ||
| Competing Rights: Issues in American Education | ||
| Education, Schooling, and Values | ||
| Diversity and Cultural Awareness Practices in the K-12 Classroom | ||
| Alternative Voices in American Literature | ||
| Sports, Ethics, and Literature | ||
| Inequality: Economics, Philosophy, Literature | ||
| Food, Values, and Health | ||
| Arguing about Food | ||
| Financial Ethics | ||
| Environment, Power, and Justice | ||
| Geographies of Justice | ||
| Art and Science of Human Flourishing | ||
| Values and Ethics in Health and Human Development Professions | ||
| Family and Sex Roles in Modern History | ||
| Antisemitisms | ||
| Meaning, Ethics, and Movement | ||
| Ethics in Sport and Sport Management | ||
| Philosophy and Sport | ||
| Ethics in the Workplace | ||
| Business, Ethics, and Society | ||
| Leadership and Ethics | ||
| Professional Role Development II: Ethics, Legal and Genetic Issues | ||
| Ethical Challenges in Healthcare Informatics | ||
| Introduction to Political Theory | ||
| Ethics in Citizenship, Politics, and Government | ||
| Selected Works in the History of Political Theory | ||
| Ancient, Medieval, and Renaissance Political Theories | ||
| Modern and Contemporary Political Theories | ||
| Foundations of American Political Theory | ||
| Sex, Race, & Justice: The U.S. Supreme Court and Equality | ||
| Introduction to Well-being and Positive Psychology | ||
| The Psychology of Evil | ||
| The Ethics of Western Religion | ||
| Justice and the Environment | ||
| Sexualities, Gender and Power: Feminist Thought and Politics | ||
| Debates in Contemporary Feminism |
How to Declare
You can declare the minor in ethics through your Student Center in Lion PATH. Please make sure you meet with an adviser to ensure appropriate course selection.
For more information about ethics, please visit the Rock Ethics Institute’s website: http://rockethics.psu.edu/