Advanced Topics

The remaining sections are optional extensions. They become much easier and more meaningful after you have finished the Core.

You can pick and choose among them based on what interests you most:

Foundations Supporting Ethics: Choose this if you want to understand the deeper philosophical questions about knowledge, free will, and responsibility that lie underneath ethics.
Moral Psychology and Agency: Pick this if you are curious about the human side: why people actually behave morally (or don’t), emotions, character, and blame.
Applied Ethics: Go here if you want to see how ethical theories apply to concrete real-world issues (medicine, environment, business).
Critical and Alternative Ethical Frameworks: Choose this track if you are interested in perspectives that challenge or expand the traditional Western approaches (care ethics, feminism, existentialism).
Interdisciplinary and Comparative Ethics: Select this if you care about the connection between ethics and politics, technology/AI, or non-Western moral traditions.

Foundations Supporting Ethics

Subject	Why study?	Book / Text	Online Course
Epistemology (Ethical Knowledge)	Clarifies moral knowledge, disagreement, and justification.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Moral Epistemology	Introduction to Philosophy (Edinburgh – Coursera) (free to audit; covers epistemology)
Metaphysics of Agency	Grounds responsibility, free will, and personal identity.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Free Will	Philosophy of Death (Yale Open Courses – selected lectures) (free; relevant to agency and mortality)

Subject	Why study?	Book / Text	Online Course
Moral Motivation & Emotion	Explains why people act morally or fail to do so.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Moral Psychology (empirical approaches)	Philosophy and the Science of Human Nature (Yale)
Responsibility and Character	Connects ethics to blame, praise, and self-formation.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Moral Responsibility	Philosophy of Death (Yale – selected lectures) (free; relevant to responsibility)

Subject	Why study?	Book / Text	Online Course
Bioethics	Applies theory to medicine and life sciences.	Georgetown Bioethics Materials (free resources)	Introduction to Bioethics (Georgetown – edX)
Environmental Ethics	Addresses obligations to nature and future generations.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Environmental Ethics	Environmental Management & Ethics (Coursera – DTU)
Business & Economic Ethics	Examines fairness, markets, and responsibility.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Business Ethics	Global Impact: Business Ethics (Coursera – UIUC)

Subject	Why study?	Book / Text	Online Course
Feminist Ethics & Ethics of Care	Challenges abstract moral theory and emphasizes relationships.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Feminist Ethics	Feminism and Social Justice (Coursera – UCSC)
Existentialist Ethics	Explores freedom, authenticity, and responsibility.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Existentialism	Introduction to Existentialism (Alison – free course) (fully free)

Subject	Why study?	Book / Text	Online Course
Political Philosophy and Justice	Connects ethics with institutions and social order.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Justice	Moral Foundations of Politics (Coursera – Yale)
Ethics of Technology and AI	Addresses emerging moral risks and governance.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Ethics of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics	Ethics of AI (University of Helsinki – free MOOC) (fully free)
Comparative Ethics (East–West)	Broadens moral understanding beyond Western frameworks.	Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Comparative Philosophy: Chinese and Western	Comparative Philosophy lectures (Yale – related content) (free; use related philosophy courses)