Bachelor of Arts in Moral Sciences
Moral Studies offer insight into ethical behaviour and thought in the broadest sense possible. This requires a thorough theoretical approach as well as an understanding of specific ethical ideas, reasoning and behaviour of individuals and groups.
What
The Moral Studies programme is built on the ambition to deal with moral issues in an integrated manner. Good conduct and all its concomitant questions should always take into account ethical insights as well as the specific circumstances in which that conduct takes place. With that in mind, we offer you a fundamental theoretical training: you study how philosophy in general, and ethics in particular approach moral thought. At the same time, you will also study such auxiliary disciplines as Economics, Sociology and Psychology. You will gain a specific understanding of how individuals and groups think, reason, and behave, and how this has evolved throughout history. These two cornerstones culminate in an integrated philosophical and empirical study of norms, values and ideologies. You achieve that level of integration by taking on course units on the basics of quantitative and qualitative research methods for Moral Studies. A Moral Studies graduate is equipped to become a critical citizen capable of providing a reasoned view of the complex problems of our society. This critical role is something that Philosophy and Moral Studies have in common. Moral Studies, however, is more application-oriented with a focus on specific empirical circumstances in which moral issues surface.
For whom
Do you have a special interest in ethical thinking? Do you often stop and think about the injustice in society around you? Do you ponder the notion of justice as a guideline for society, and how it should be shaped? Do you wonder what values such as ‘freedom’, ‘respect’, ‘diversity’, and ‘self-determination’ mean exactly? If the answer to all of these questions is a resounding ‘yes’, the Moral Studies programme might be the right choice for you. As a Moral Studies graduate, you provide the critical voice to personal and social choices that concern everyone. Throughout the programme you will learn to combine insights gained from moral philosophy with academic research methods in order to carefully unravel moral dilemmas and take up a substantiated position.
Structure
Bachelor
We offer a three-year Bachelor’s programme, which combines a broad, general training with gradual specialisation. The first year offers a broad introduction to the Humanities. Together with students from other study programmes, you will take on a number of general introductory course units in literature, and psychology, among others. You also take a basic training in philosophy. The emphasis, however, is always on specific Ethics course units in which we deal with contemporary theories extensively. From the second year onwards, you gain more in-depth knowledge of the first-year learning contents, and you study a number of so-called auxiliary sciences. This in-depth study and specialisation continues in the third year. Staggered over the second and the third year, you take on a number of ECTS credits of a minor of your choice, i.e. a coherent set of course units from one or more other discipline(s).The choice of minors offers an indispensable acquaintance with other disciplines. In some cases, it even facilitates a transition to another Master's programme. In the course of the three-year Bachelor’s curriculum you will also take on methodology course units, introducing you to general philosophical as well as more specific ethics-related research skills such as researching and assessing information, formulating research questions and critically reading texts relevant to your research question, elaborating and presenting your findings orally and in writing. In the third year, the skills that you have acquired throughout the Bachelor’s programme culminate in a Bachelor’s dissertation, an independent research assignment you conduct under the guidance of a supervisor.
Master
The Master’s programme contains the actual discipline-specific expertise. The focus is mainly on applied ethics and a thorough study of topical ethical issues. There is room for electives as well. As in other Master’s programmes, here too, the Master’s dissertation is your crowning achievement. Distinguished students of Philosophy or Moral Studies can also choose apply for the two-year interuniversity Philosophy Research Programme.
Labour Market
Our programme usually does not lead to a fixed or rigid career path. Career opportunities that are directly in line with the programme are all situated in the academic research and/or education sectors. Research has shown that our graduates also end up in government services, NGOs, at financial institutions or in the media world, the cultural and the IT sectors. As civic engagement is an important factor in their career choice, our graduates also often find their way to positions in the social and education sector.
Take a look at our website for a list of specific professions (in Dutch).
Quality Assurance
At Ghent University, we strive to educate people who dare to think about the challenges of tomorrow. For that purpose, we provide education that is embedded in six strategic objectives: Think Broadly, Keep Researching, Cultivate Talent, Contribute, Extend Horizons, Opt for Quality.
Ghent University continuously focuses on quality assurance and quality culture. The Ghent University's quality assurance system offers information on each study programme’s unique selling points, and on its strengths and weaknesses with regard to quality assurance.
More information:
Unique Selling Points
- Multiperspectivism: the Ethics programme at Ghent University is unique in Flanders and abroad. There are no comparable programmes in which students learn to study ethical and philosophical phenomena by means of such an interdisciplinary and critical approach. Our programme consists of three components: Philosophy and Ethics, branches of Humanities, and Social Sciences research methods.
- Social involvement: we train our students to think about topical social issues in a nuanced manner, and we challenge them to take up well-reasoned positions. Our students learn how to deal with a diversity of values and presuppositions. Above all, they acquire knowledge and insights that are directly relevant to the way in which today’s society deals with issues related to norms and values.
- Talent development: an important part of the Ethics toolbox consists of argumentation and communication skills. Throughout the programme we train our students in analysing and formulating arguments by means of numerous and diverse writing assignments. By writing a Bachelor’s dissertation, our students prove that they are capable of independent ethical reflection. A unique aspect of the Ethics programme at Ghent University is the fact that students acquire Social Sciences research methods (quantitative as well as qualitative research). Later on, the Master’s dissertation offers an opportunity for independent empirical research.
- Research-based: throughout the study programme, our students gain insight into important concepts and theories from various sub-domains of philosophy (with a focus on ethics), and learn to use these concepts in an adequate manner. In addition, our students gain knowledge about humankind and society by studying different branches of Humanities. This allows them to acquire thorough insight in ethical reasoning and the opinions and behaviour of individuals and groups. In addition to the broad training we offer, our students can opt for an in-depth study of a branch of Humanities in the form of a minor.
- Upon graduation: Ethics graduates have an explicitly interdisciplinary profile. They are capable of merging abstract reflection with specific academic research, they quickly see the strengths and weaknesses of proposed arguments on ethical and philosophical phenomena, and they can integrate information of different kinds in a creative manner. Our graduates readily adopt other ways of thinking, work independently on Humanities-related topics, and understand the importance of presuppositions in the confrontation between different perspectives. In short, Ethics graduates are very well-placed to participate in various social debates.
Strengths
- Dare to think differently: our programme feedback shows that students appreciate our varied offer of course units from different angels and disciplines.
- Dare to think in an original and innovative way: our lecturers’ research output is high and internationally oriented. This contributes to a teaching practice that is strongly research-based. Our students also appreciate the wide range of acquired (research) competencies. This results, among other things, in high-quality Master’s dissertations.
- Dare to think critically: our study programme feedback shows that students strongly appreciate our wayward yet critical way of thinking.
- Dare to think together: our students appreciate our lecturers’ approachability, an aspect that regularly scores highly in our programme feedback. Contact between lecturers and students is low-threshold.
- Dare to question yourself: Ghent University’s Education Quality Board (EQB) is highly appreciative of our self-critical attitude. It came to the conclusion that “the study programme is clearly able to detect weaknesses and remedy them accordingly.”
Challenges
- We are working on strengthening our alumni contacts and our contacts with the broader professional field. In so doing, we want to introduce a structural external perspective on the organisation and content of our study programme.
- We will highlight the international dimension of our study programme by investing in study abroad initiatives.
- A series of curricular revisions over the past few years has helped us to bring the uniqueness of our study programme into better focus. Together with the students, we are working to enhance our study programme’s unique selling points further.
This study programme is accredited by the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (Dutch: NVAO). Accreditation was extended following the positive outcome of the institutional review in 2022. Programme quality was validated by a quality review, i.e. a screening of the Education Monitor by the Education Quality Board. The Quality Assurance Resolution (in Dutch) can be found here.
This information was last updated on 01/02/2023.
In case of questions or suggestions with regard to the publicly available information, please contact the study programme.