Students

PHIX3041 – Ethical Perspectives on Social Issues

2023 – Session 1, Online-flexible

General Information

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Unit convenor and teaching staff Unit convenor and teaching staff
Wendy Lipworth
wendy.lipworth@mq.edu.au
Credit points Credit points
10
Prerequisites Prerequisites
130cp at 1000 level or above
Corequisites Corequisites
Co-badged status Co-badged status
Unit description Unit description

Humans are embedded in complex networks of social relations within which norms of practice arise, including ethical and political norms. Sometimes these are formalised (as in medicine and the military) and other times they are informal and part of interpersonal shared conventions (as in gender, race and identity relations). In both informal and formal contexts these norms continually undergo processes of validation, disruption, contestation, re-negotiation and renewal. This unit will apply ethical theory and analysis in exploring a range of contemporary and pressing social questions, each of which is undergoing some form of challenge to its existing and sometimes deeply entrenched norms and conventions. Topics will vary from year to year but include: reproduction, abortion, and ectogenesis; gender pronoun usage; cancel culture; civil disobedience and political protest; physician-assisted suicide and norms of medicine at the end-of-life; conflicts of interest and bias in healthcare contexts; and the justice and ethics of warfare and humanitarian intervention.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • ULO1: Outline key issues in the examined social contexts and institutions
  • ULO2: Deploy ethical concepts and theories to relevant contexts and case studies
  • ULO3: Critically evaluate the ethical arguments relating to key social issues
  • ULO4: Formulate and defend your own ideas with clarity and rigour
  • ULO5: Appeal to relevant concepts to clearly communicate arguments

General Assessment Information

Submission methods: Please submit all written assignment to the relevant TurnItIn submission link on the unit iLearn site, located under “Assessments and Guides”.

Late submissions policy:

Unless a Special Consideration request has been submitted and approved, a 5% penalty (of the total possible mark) will be applied each day a written assessment is not submitted, up until the 7th day (including weekends). After the 7th day, a mark of 0 (zero) will be awarded even if the assessment is submitted. Submission time for all written assessments is set at 11.55pm. A 1-hour grace period is provided to students who experience a technical issue. 

This late penalty will apply to non-time sensitive assessment (incl essays, reports, posters, portfolios, journals, recordings etc). Late submission of time sensitive tasks (such as tests/exams, performance assessments/presentations, scheduled practical assessments/labs etc) will only be addressed by the unit convenor in a Special consideration application. Special Consideration outcome may result in a new question or topic. 

For more detail on specific assessments, please see the relevant Task Description uploaded to iLearn.

Assessment Tasks

Name Weighting Hurdle Due
Reflective writing tasks 20% No 23:55 19/03/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 4)
Participation and engagement 25% No Ongoing
Essay Preparation 15% No 23:55 14/05/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 10)
Essay 40% No 23:55 04/06/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 13)

Reflective writing tasks

Assessment Type 1: Reflective Writing
Indicative Time on Task 2: 15 hours
Due: 23:55 19/03/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 4)
Weighting: 20%

Reflective writing tasks
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Outline key issues in the examined social contexts and institutions
  • Deploy ethical concepts and theories to relevant contexts and case studies
  • Critically evaluate the ethical arguments relating to key social issues
  • Formulate and defend your own ideas with clarity and rigour
  • Appeal to relevant concepts to clearly communicate arguments

Participation and engagement

Assessment Type 1: Participatory task
Indicative Time on Task 2: 20 hours
Due: Ongoing
Weighting: 25%

Active engagement in online discussion and related activities. Students are expected to be well-prepared and make a constructive contribution.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Outline key issues in the examined social contexts and institutions
  • Deploy ethical concepts and theories to relevant contexts and case studies
  • Critically evaluate the ethical arguments relating to key social issues
  • Formulate and defend your own ideas with clarity and rigour
  • Appeal to relevant concepts to clearly communicate arguments

Essay Preparation

Assessment Type 1: Plan
Indicative Time on Task 2: 10 hours
Due: 23:55 14/05/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 10)
Weighting: 15%

Essay Preparation
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Formulate and defend your own ideas with clarity and rigour
  • Appeal to relevant concepts to clearly communicate arguments

Essay

Assessment Type 1: Essay
Indicative Time on Task 2: 35 hours
Due: 23:55 04/06/2023 (Sunday at the end of Week 13)
Weighting: 40%

Students write an evaluative and independently researched essay on one of the topics provided.
On successful completion you will be able to:
  • Outline key issues in the examined social contexts and institutions
  • Deploy ethical concepts and theories to relevant contexts and case studies
  • Critically evaluate the ethical arguments relating to key social issues
  • Formulate and defend your own ideas with clarity and rigour
  • Appeal to relevant concepts to clearly communicate arguments

1 If you need help with your assignment, please contact:

  • the academic teaching staff in your unit for guidance in understanding or completing this type of assessment
  • the Writing Centre for academic skills support.

2 Indicative time-on-task is an estimate of the time required for completion of the assessment task and is subject to individual variation

Delivery and Resources

Technology used: You will require access to a computer and a good internet connection in order to participate in the unit effectively. The unit has an iLearn site where activities are set and unit materials distributed. Written tasks will be submitted via the plagiarism detection software turnitin.

Readings: Required readings are available for download from the library via Leganto. As well as the required reading, recommended additional readings for each topic might be listed on iLearn. You do not need to read these each week but they are highly recommended for a better understanding of the topics.

Lectures and tutorials: 

Each lecture will be recorded and divided roughly into two parts:

1. A more-or-less didactic overview of the topic. You can ask questions here, but we will leave back-and-forth discussion for Part 2 so that the recording is good quality for distance students

2. A second part where we can discuss issues raised in the lecture more freely (for online students, there will be a second discussion board each week for this purpose)

Readings will be accessible at least one week before the relevant lecture and tutorial.

For distance students, online discussions will be held each week from Weeks 2-12 inclusive. Discussion questions will be posted by 23:55 on the Sunday night before the relevant Monday lecture.

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au). Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Students seeking more policy resources can visit Student Policies (https://students.mq.edu.au/support/study/policies). It is your one-stop-shop for the key policies you need to know about throughout your undergraduate student journey.

To find other policies relating to Teaching and Learning, visit Policy Central (https://policies.mq.edu.au) and use the search tool.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/admin/other-resources/student-conduct

Results

Results published on platform other than eStudent, (eg. iLearn, Coursera etc.) or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au or if you are a Global MBA student contact globalmba.support@mq.edu.au

Academic Integrity

At Macquarie, we believe academic integrity – honesty, respect, trust, responsibility, fairness and courage – is at the core of learning, teaching and research. We recognise that meeting the expectations required to complete your assessments can be challenging. So, we offer you a range of resources and services to help you reach your potential, including free online writing and maths support, academic skills development and wellbeing consultations.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

The Writing Centre

The Writing Centre provides resources to develop your English language proficiency, academic writing, and communication skills.

The Library provides online and face to face support to help you find and use relevant information resources. 

Student Services and Support

Macquarie University offers a range of Student Support Services including:

Student Enquiries

Got a question? Ask us via AskMQ, or contact Service Connect.

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/. 

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Unit information based on version 2023.03 of the Handbook