Ethics as applied to law

ldroi1309  2020-2021  Louvain-la-Neuve

Ethics as applied to law
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information below is subject to change, in particular that concerning the teaching mode (presential, distance or in a comodal or hybrid format).
3 credits
30.0 h
Q1
Teacher(s)
Lazaro Christophe;
Language
French
Main themes
The objective of this course is to provide students with a critical understanding of the complex entanglements between ethics, law, and political institutions within contemporary liberal societies. It aims at introducing students to the methodology, concepts and specific issues of applied ethics as a subfield of legal studies.
The main goal of the course is to familiarize students with the key ethical theories that law practitioners mobilize either explicitly or implicitly in contemporary legal debates and procedures. It will provide students with the main tools of ethical inquiry and will help them to think critically and independently about norms and values. To this end, the course will develop a problem-oriented approach based on the analysis of concrete case studies, drawn from case law and/or legislation. This practical approach will give students the opportunity to deepen and master the tools, the concepts and theories of applied ethics.
The case studies tackled during the course encompass a variety of themes such as: body, technologies and health, environmental protection, animal welfare, social justice, equality and non-discrimination, etc. 
Aims

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

1 After having successfully completed the course the student is expected to be able to:
-       Distinguish different types of arguments (empirical, ontological, normative, etc.).
-       Master the categories of ethical thinking, the conceptual tools and the key theories (utilitarianism, deontologism, virtue ethics, etc.).
-       Tackle legal issues from a larger social and normative perspective.
-       Develop autonomous and critical thinking on ethical issues inherent to legal practices.
 
Content
The objective of this course consists in providing students with a critical understanding of the complex entanglements between ethics, law, and political institutions within contemporary liberal societies. It aims at introducing students to the methodology, concepts and specific issues raised by ethics in various legal fields.
The course aims at familiarizing student with the key ethical theories that law practitioners mobilize either explicitly or implicitly in contemporary legal debates and procedures. It will provide students with the main tools of ethical inquiry and will enable them to develop an autonomous reflection regarding norms and values. To this end, the course will develop a problem-oriented approach based on the analysis of concrete case studies, drawn from case law and/or legislation. This practical approach will give students the opportunity to deepen and master the tools, the concepts and theories of applied ethics to law.
This year the case studies will be related to the Covid-19 pandemic and encompass a variety of themes: triage and withdrawal of life support decisions, health and equality, tracking and algorithmic regulation, medicine and ethics of care, vaccines and enhancement technologies, fake news and "infodemic" management, animals and Anthropocene, etc. 
Teaching methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

The teaching method of the course combines lectures with moments of interaction with students (brainstorming, Q/R, discussion, etc.), in order to make them familiar with ethical argumentation on controversial topics in various legal fields.
The course is designed to foster active participation of students on the basis of compulsory readings (articles, court decisions, legislations). The links to these documents are to be found on Moodle. 
Evaluation methods

Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the information in this section is particularly likely to change.

The final evaluation will take the form of a written exam. The exam will focus on the compulsory readings as well as on the materials presented in class. 
Online resources
Moodle
Faculty or entity
BUDR
Force majeure
Teaching methods
Depending on the evolution of the sanitary crisis, teachning modalities will be hybrid ("comodal") or online


Programmes / formations proposant cette unité d'enseignement (UE)

Title of the programme
Sigle
Credits
Prerequisites
Aims
Master [120] in Anthropology

Certificat d'université en éthique économique et sociale

Bachelor in Law