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Religious Studies/Philosophy: Meta-Ethics – How To Decide When It Is Morally Acceptable To Cheat With Dr Maria Serban From University of East Anglia
6th March 2023 @ 11:15 - 12:00
In this Religious Studies/Philosophy session, we will be joined by Dr Maria Serban, a leading academic from the School of Politics, Philosophy, Language and Communication Studies at University of East Anglia, who will run an interactive skills and insight workshop for students on Meta-ethics – How to decide when it is morally acceptable to cheat.
You might think cheating is typically wrong, but still wonder whether it may sometimes be right.
What sort of thing are we asking when we ask if cheating is ever right? Is it even the kind of question that has a true or false answer? Do our feelings on the matter make a difference in justifying the answer? Does it matter who asks the question in the first place?
These are all so-called meta-ethical questions which try to establish the nature and status of moral judgments and decisions.
Our task will be to examine more closely three positions and think about their merits and limitations: (1) moral nihilism (roughly: the view that there is no such thing as morality), (2) moral relativism (roughly: the view that moral claims are true only relative to the conventions or standards of a given group), and (3) moral expressivism (roughly: the view that moral claims do not assert anything about the world, but rather serve to express the speaker’s feelings and decisions).
Lecturer Profile (Please Click): Dr Maria Serban
Our events are designed so that a group of students can take part from a classroom or students and teachers can take part as individuals, either from school or from home. This means that sessions will continue irrespective of possible school closures.
As a live, participative event, this session will not be recorded but slides and other resources will be shared after the event, where available.
Suitable for: Year 12 & 13 students (and equivalent) studying, or with a possible interest in studying, Religious Studies/Philosophy and related disciplines.
Preparation/Pre-Reading: Students may wish to consider the topic in advance, with respect to challenges they may face or questions they have. Students can also think about questions they have about studying Religious Studies/Philosophy at university level.
The IT Setup: The event will be run on Bluejeans (similar to Zoom) and participants will be able to join using laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. If you are joining as a school group, we recommend connecting with one device and projecting on to a whiteboard. You will be able to interact with the university via a microphone and/or typed comments and questions. Full details will be sent to those who have registered (see below) prior to the event.
Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you would like to take part in this event, please register your interest using the link to the registration form below: