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The Ethics of Decision-Making

Module description

This module investigates what is needed for reasoned decision-making, compares diverse approaches to decision-making, and gives you the opportunity to practice scenario-based reasoning. In your essay, you may choose either an explicitly theological route (with a focus on Thomas Aquinas’s ethical naturalism and theory of human nature and action, including the intellect, will and passions) or a non-religious route (e.g., neo-Aristotelianism, neo-Kantian deontology using Onora O’Neill, secular casuistry). No prerequisites or co-requisite modules are required and this module should interest anyone wanting to investigate decision-making in the history of ideas, and/or some of the Western world’s finest thinking on goodness, badness, and human agency.  

Module aims - intentions of the module

Successful completion should equip you either to:

• understand and explain, analyse and critique Thomas Aquinas’ anthropology and account of human acts – including the structure of judgement, i.e., what is required for a human being to arrive at a decision oriented toward action
• apply the above constructively to present day, scenario-based decision-making

or to:

• understand and explain, analyse and critique a non-religious alternative, e.g., neo-Aristotelianism, neo-Kantianism, secular casuistry, or other (chosen in dialogue with the module leader);
• apply the above constructively to present day, scenario-based decision-making.

Careful exploration of a selected approach to the intellectual structure of decision-making should equip you for present day decision-making in professional and other contexts.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Engage in an informed, critical and constructive manner with either Thomas Aquinas’ anthropology, account of the structure of human acts, decision-making, etc., or a non-religious alternative, e.g., from Aristotle or Immanuel Kant.
• 2. Develop the ability to generate examples of scenario-based decision-making, using the above.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 3. Engage independently and critically in theological and philosophical analysis.
• 4. Argue convincingly about the implications of some aspects of classic theologico-philosophical thought for current debates about moral reasoning.

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, and communicate conclusions clearly.
• 6. Link intellectual and practical discussions of decision-making, e.g., using workplace scenarios.
• 7. Apply the above linking of intellectual and practical discussions to the present day by developing a toolkit and/or case-studies to assist scenario-based decision-making.
• 8. Engage respectfully with views and beliefs which may be contrary to your own views.

Syllabus plan

The module journeys from (i) Thomas Aquinas’ anthropology through (ii) his account of human acts to (iii) contemporary attempts to make sense of and apply his approach to decision-making.

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment. 

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 50%. 

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

• Aquinas, Thomas, Summa Theologiae I-II (selected texts)
• Aquinas, Thomas, De Malo (selected texts)
• Fischhoff, Baruch, and Stephen B Broomell. “Judgment and Decision Making.” Annual Review of Psychology 71, no. 1 (2020): 331–355.
• McCluskey, Colleen, Thomas Aquinas on Moral Wrongdoing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2017).
• O’Neill, Onora, Acting on Principle: An Essay on Kantian Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2nd edition, 2013)
• Segvic, Heda, ‘Aristotle’s Metaphysics of Action’, History of Philosophy & Logical Analysis 5 (1) (2002): 23-53.
• Westberg, Daniel, Right Practical Reason: Aristotle, Action, and Prudence in Aquinas (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008)

Key words search

Ethics, Decision-making, Virtue, Casuistry, Aquinas, Kant