Master’s Thesis in Ethics, Science, and Policy

Aim

On completion of the course, the students should on an advanced level be able to:

• critically analyse subfields within applied ethics, philosophy of science, and policy
• independently identify and formulate research questions relevant to policy work
• systematically and critically describe and integrate theoretical and empirical knowledge, and choose appropriate epistemological and normative perspectives
• plan, conduct, and present qualified independent work within given time and resource constraints
• describe research problems, orally and in writing, related to these areas and conduct argumentation from a scientific perspective
• critically review scientific research studies

Content

The course covers scientific and philosophical theories and scientific methods relevant to the field. Theories and methods are elaborated, applied, and discussed in connection with an independent work within the philosophy of policymaking. Issues in applied ethics, philosophy of science, and the development of policy proposals are addressed in the course. The course includes formulating a research question, conducting a normative study, and presenting the results in writing. The focus is on relevant previous research, normative and epistemological perspectives, theory and method selection, and written presentation. The course also includes an oral defense of one's own work and the review of another independent work.