Exploring Ethical & Unethical Livelihoods, Jobs & Careers [P4C Philosophy Lesson - Ethics]

This ‘Fun Philosophy Lesson’ is focused on philosophical and ethical issues that relate to choosing careers and jobs. It’s ideal for students aged 8-16 and will help them to think deeply about what they should do with their lives and how to find a career that does good in the world!

This interactive multi-use learning session is useful as a part of your schools SMSC provision and is of particular interest to teachers of PSHE, Philosophy, Ethics, & Citizenship it focuses on a wide range of topics such as:

• The difference between ethical and unethical careers
• The nature of good and evil in relation to work
• The importance of choosing our employers carefully
   
  We’ve aimed to cover as many issues as possible when it comes to finding engaging philosophical and ethical issues for young learners to debate and discuss in relation to ethical and unethical livelihoods!

The big question asked in this session is “What are the most ethical (& least ethical) jobs one can do?”. Using a variety of engaging activities students will discuss and debate a wide range of other philosophical and ethical claims such as:

“We shouldn’t work for companies that test their products on animals”
“It’s better to get really rich and give lots of money to charity than work for a charity”
“There’s no such thing as a 100% ethical business”
“Our duty to provide for our families outweighs our duty to only do moral and ethical jobs”
“Working in the arms/weapons/ defence industry is good because it helps to win important conflicts”
 
Students will also analyse and evaluate an eclectic mix of philosophical and ethical questions such as:

What is the fundamental difference between an ethical livelihood and an unethical livelihood?
In your opinion, which company does the most good in the world?
Which industry does the most harm?
Why is it important to think deeply about whether or not our chosen careers are truly moral?
Which industries depend on harming the environment?
 
This session uses our unique format for philosophy teaching resources and features an integrated menu that allows teachers to select from a variety of starter, main, plenary, assessment and end-of-lesson reflection activities. With a massive selection of activities designed to trigger philosophical discussions, debates and reflections: you can re-use the resource numerous times with the same group. For teachers wishing to run ‘P4C’ (Philosophy for Children) sessions these resources are ideal!

The file is a non-editable 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!