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PHI-10026 - Module Specification
School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

For academic year: 2025/26 Last Updated: 04 December 2025

PHI-10026 - What does it mean to be good?
Coordinator: Jonathan Hughes Room: CBC2.004 Tel: +44 1782 7 34078
Lecture Time: See Timetable...
Level: Level 4
Credits: 30
Study Hours: 300
School Office:

Programme/Approved Electives for 2025/26

None

Available as a Free Standing Elective

No

Co-requisites

None

Prerequisites

None

Barred Combinations

None

Description for 2025/26

The module gives you the opportunity to develop your reflections on the ethical, practical concerns of philosophy, beginning from the ancient question, “how should we live?”
Religious belief and doubt usually have a role in these reflections, so this module makes an excellent link from Religious Studies, which you may have engaged in prior to university.
You will learn to engage critically with questions such as:
What kind of considerations should inform our moral choices? Is it enough to perform the the right action or should we also strive to be a certain kind of person, one that does not resent acting morally? What do we mean when we say that murder is wrong? Are we describing a property in the world (like being round or square) or are we expressing our outrage at such actions? Does genuine altruism exist? What is the relation between morality and religion and between religion and science? Should our religious beliefs be grounded in faith or can they have a rational basis? In this module you will learn how to navigate your way through topical contemporary debates as well acquire some interpretative skills.

Aims
The module aims to enable students to explore and critically to engage with a number of topics in Moral Philosophy and the Philosophy of Religion by addressing questions concerning the meaning of moral claims, the ground of moral obligation, the relation between morality and religion and that between morality, religion and science.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Map key positions in debates regarding the ethical and practical concerns of philosophy: 1,2
Develop their own informed views regarding certain fundamental questions and positions in moral philosophy: 1,2
Engage critically with key debates in moral philosophy.: 1,2
Reflect on and assess the relation between morality/religion and science: 1,2
Interpret key philosophical texts related to the issues covered in the module: 1,2

Study hours

Active learning hours: 30
10 two-hour hour lectures
10 one-hour seminars
Independent study hours: 270
150 hours preparation for seminars and lectures
60 hours preparation for first assessment (debate overview)
60 hours preparation for second assessment (critical text analysis)

School Rules

None

Description of Module Assessment

1: Essay weighted 50%
Debate overview
Students will be asked to submit a 1,400 word essay which explains and critically engages with a given debate in metaethics or normative ethical theory on any one of the topics covered.

2: Assignment weighted 50%
Critical text analysis
Students will be asked to submit a 1,400 word assignment demonstrating their abilities to analyse, interpret and critically assess a text on one of the issues covered in the module.

The University undertakes a continuous review of its teaching and research provision to ensure programmes are of a high quality and changes may be made to modules where it is necessary and reasonable to do so. Please be aware that minor changes to modules, such as a change to an individual assessment, can occur up until enrolment, although we endeavour to give you as much notice as possible of any changes. Details about the circumstance in which changes are made to programmes can be found in the Student Agreement, available at: https://www.keele.ac.uk/legalgovernancecompliance/governance/actcharterstatutesordinancesandregulations/studenttermsconditions/

Last Updated: 04 December 2025