Applied Ethics & Moral Issues in the Modern World: Philosophy Lesson for Students Aged 8-16 [P4C]

This thought-provoking philosophy teaching resource focuses on applied ethics and explores some of the most important moral issues of our time. Applied ethics refers to the practical application of moral considerations. It is ethics with respect to real-world actions and their moral considerations in the areas of private and public life, the professions, health, technology, law, and leadership.

(Disclaimer: this session does not discuss abortion or matters relating to sexual ethics, reproductive ethics and/or relationship ethics (which will be covered in separate sessions). We have tried to create a resource that allows young learners to explore applied ethics in an age-appropriate fashion; nonetheless, the session explores controversial issues and should be thoroughly vetted by individual teachers before using it with their students to check that it is suitable for their classes.)

This session is ideal for teachers who want to explore moral decision making with students and is of particular value to teachers who want to nurture the moral development of their students (perhaps in an SMSC or PSHE context) and trigger deeper reflections on the fundamental nature of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ and how we can apply these reflections to our own lives; we’ve carefully selected the most significant moral issues and ethical challenges of our age so that young learners can engage in fun philosophical discussions and debates. This session explores topics such as:

• The rights of animals
• Moral challenges presented by new technologies
• Moral and immoral uses of the internet
• Ethical & unethical career choices
• Medical ethics and moral challenges presented medical technologies
• Artificial Intelligence

The big question asked in this session is “What is the most important moral issue in the world right now?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical questions such as:

• To what extent is testing new cosmetics and medicines on animals morally acceptable?
• To what extent it is morally preferable to use drone weaponry on the battlefield over human beings?
• What are our moral duties and obligations to future generations?
• When, if ever, is taking a human life the most moral course of action?

This resource is suitable for students aged 8-16; due to the flexible nature of the sessions design it can be used for multiple hour-long sessions or as a short stimulating tutor-group activity.

The file is a PowerPoint Show: no planning or preparation is required, just run the file and the intuitive menu system will make delivering a powerful philosophy session very easy!