Introduction to Ethics

By Dr. Vivek Kumar Pandey | Banaras Hindu University

Learners enrolled: 76

ABOUT THE COURSE:

Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behaviour is morely right .Its main branches include normative ethics , applied ethics and metaethics . Normative ethics aims to find general principle to govern how people should act influential normative theories are concequentialism ,deontology ,and virtue ethics . Applied ethics , examine concreate ethical problems in real life situation . Metaethics explore the underlying assumption and concept of ethics it asks whether there are objective moral facts ,how moral knowledge is possible , and how moral judgments motivate people . Ethics is closely connected to value theory .

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Undergraduate and Post Graduate students

PREREQUISITES: 10+2 in any stream

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Industry wants business ethics, Medical Ethics

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	Hindi
Duration :	8 weeks
Category :	Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit Points :	2
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	18 Aug 2025
End Date :	10 Oct 2025
Enrollment Ends :	18 Aug 2025
Exam Registration Ends :	29 Aug 2025
Exam Date :	24 Oct 2025 IST
NCrF Level	5.5

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Nature and Scope of Ethics, The Methods of Ethics, Ethics and Sociology, Ethics and Politics, Ethics and Meta-ethics.The Psychological Basis of Ethics, Moral and Non - moral Action.

Week 2: Moral Concepts, Subjective and Objective Rightness, Moral Judgement, Hedonism, Egoism and Altruism.

Week 3: Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill, Henry Sidgwick. Self-perfectionism: T.H. Green, H.F. Bradley.

Week 4: Intuitionism: Introduction, Butler’s Theory of Conscience, Rational Intuitionism: Cudworth and Samuel Clarke,The Aesthetic Sense Theory: Shaftsbury and Hutcheson, Neo-intuitionism: Moore, Prichard, Ross.

Week 5: Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative and its Formulation, Good Will, Duty for Dutysake, Postulates of Morality.

Week 6: Theory of Punishment, Freedom of Will and Moral Responsibility, Determinism, Indeterminism, Fatalism. The Relation between the Individual and Society.

Week 7: Meta-ethics: Naturalism, Subjectivism, Objectivism, Emotivism: A.J. Ayer, Rudolf Carnap, C.L. Stevenson, Prescriptivism: R.M. Hare, Navel Smith.

Week 8: Development of Indian Ethics, Ethical Philosophy of Bhagvad Gita, Concept of Purushartha, Varna and Ashram Vyavastha, Rit and Rina.

Books and references

William Lillie, An Introduction to Ethics, London, 2020.
G. C. Field, Moral Theory: An Introduction to Ethics, London, 2020.
W.K. Frankena, Ethics, Pearson, India, 2015.
J.S. Mackenzie, A Manual of Ethics, New York, 2004.
J. Sinha, A Manual of Ethics, London, 2016.
V.P. Verma, Neetishasthra Ke Mool Sidhanta, New Delhi,1996.

Instructor bio

Dr. Vivek Kumar Pandey

Banaras Hindu University

Dr. Vivek Kumar Pandey is working as An assistant professor, stage II, Department of Philosophy & Religion, MMV,BHU, Varanasi , India. Prior to this , he was worked as Guest faculty at the Department of Philosophy, M.G.K.V.P Varanasi, and the University of Allahabad, Pryagaraj. He has obtained his bachelor's, Master's (all in first class), and D.Phil Degrees in Philosophy From the University of Allahabad. He has qualified NET/JRF exam. He is active in research and published about 30 research papers. He participated and presented a research paper in XXV World Congress of Philosophy, Rome, Italy,2024. He has taught a variety of courses in philosophy at UG and PG levels. He has three project funded by ICPR, HRDC, NEW Delhi , IoE, SRICC, BHU. He has also delivered many invited lectures at various universities, Colleges & Academic institutions in India. Four theses have been awarded under the supervision of Dr. Pandey.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: 24 October 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 6 assignments out of the total 8 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup. It will have the logos of INI and BHU.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- INI team

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