Lecture/Seminar: 4 hours per week
The course may employ a number of instructional methods to meet its objectives, including lectures, seminars, group discussion and activities, and audio/visual materials.
PHIL 4706 is restricted to students in the Therapeutic Recreation degree programme.
The course may include the following topics:
1. An introduction to reasoning and philosophical practice, including some consideration of the basic features of argumentation and critical thinking.
2. An introduction to the foundations of ethics: the distinction between normative ethics, value theory, and metaethics; the scope and nature of morality; moral skepticism; ethical relativism; moral objectivity; the is/ought distinction. An introduction to different ethical theories, for example: altruism, egoism, virtue ethics, deontology, utilitarianism, social contract theory, and the ethics of care.
3. A consideration of moral ideas and concepts such as: character, virtues, the mean, well-being, compassion, beneficence, self-sacrifice, self-love, selfishness, enlightened self-interest, pleasure, means and ends, intrinsic and extrinsic worth, duty, motive and intention, universalizability, obligation, rational freedom, conscience, autonomy and agency, principle, ideals, rights, public welfare, happiness, consequences, maximization, equality, paternalism, and responsibility.
4. The application of moral reasoning to ethical issues in Therapeutic Recreation and Health Promotion. For example:
- competing notions of well-being
- individual benefits and public costs
- the scope of caring: client involvement
- fair treatment and social justice
- client autonomy and paternalism
- honesty, integrity, whistle-blowing
- private moral values and objective ethical principles
5. Professional Ethical Conduct
- ethical codes and their scope
- client rights, informed consent, confidentiality
- ethical review committees and professional regulation
- collegiality and peer relationships: the working environment
- ethical conduct and legal liability
At the conclusion of the course, the successful student should be able to:
- Demonstrate an ability to use reasoned argument in support of a conclusion, as well as recognize the role of inference and evidence in argument.
- Explain and in other ways demonstrate an understanding of the main ethical theories covered in the course.
- Express an understanding of the relationship between notions such as ethical principle, virtue, moral right, social utility and moral deliberation, and the professional activities of therapeutic practice and the goal of promoting health.
- Apply basic reasoning skills to the topics covered in the course, including the ability to reason from general ethical principles to their application to concrete situations characterized by the main ethical issues in therapeutic recreation, such as honesty, paternalism, personal beliefs, codes of conduct, professional distance, client autonomy, and public welfare.
- Explain the moral reasoning involved behind moral principles and/or values that directly or indirectly oppose one another, including the source of the conflict and the structure of any possible resolution.
- Develop a coherent ethical worldview, recognizing the importance of morality in both public and private life, including the role of ethics in professions and social institutions.
- Critically analyze case-studies that pertain to ethical theory and issues arising from the practice of therapeutic recreation; in particular, the ability to articulate objective criteria employed in the justification of ethical decisions.
Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with the Douglas College Evaluation Policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria for assessment during the first week of classes.
Evaluation can be any possible combination of the following which equals 100%:
| In-class tests, quizzes, short written assignments | 20% - 40% |
| Written class presentation, essays, final exam | 40% - 100% |
| Instructor's general evaluation (may include attendance, class participation, group work, homework, etc.) |
0% - 20% |
A list of required textbooks and materials, including instructor Course Packs if used, will be given to students at the beginning of the semester. Additional online resources may also be assigned.
Textbooks will be the most recent available edition; examples of appropriate textbooks include the following:
Shafer-Landau, Russ. The Fundamentals of Ethics. (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2020)
Martin, Mike. Meaningful Work: Rethinking Professional Ethics. (London: Oxford University Press, 2000)
Parson, Richard. The Ethics of Professional Practice. (Toronto: Allyn & Bacon, 2001)
Oakley, Justin and Dean Cocking. Virtue Ethics and Professional Roles. (NY: Cambridge University Press, 2006)
Pritchard, Michael. Professional Integrity: Thinking Ethically. (Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2006)
Rowson, Richard. Working Ethics. (London: Jessica Kingsley, 2006)
Corey C., Corey, G., and Corey, M. Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions. (California: Cengage Learning, 2023)