Essentials of an Online Master’s Degree in Ethics

Looking to enhance your decision-making, communication, and critical thinking skills and apply them to real-world problems and issues? If so, you may want to consider earning an online master’s degree in ethics. Ethics is a sub-field in philosophy and, unfortunately, not all colleges offer a master’s degree in this area. However, as alternative, you can explore master of philosophy programs that focus specifically on ethics. The good news is there are a variety of specialty areas to consider in ethics, including business, peace and global affairs, bioethics, public policy, law, and healthcare. In case you’re wondering, master’s degrees generally take about 2 years to complete depending on the program and your level of educational attainment.

Potential Coursework Required to Earn an Online Master’s Degree in Philosophy & Ethics

It’s difficult to summarize the coursework for a typical master’s in ethics program because it will vary depending on the degree focus and the school. However, all master’s programs generally include some sort of thesis, or capstone project, as part of earning your degree. To give you a sense of topics you may learn about, let’s look at potential coursework for three different master’s degrees in ethics…

Master’s Degree in Business Ethics

This type of graduate degree program in ethics may focus on providing students with a comprehensive understanding of the role of business ethics in the behavior and decisions made by corporations. Students may also study strategies to help firms adopt ethical practices, reduce risk, and create relationships with communities, governments, and regulating bodies.

Some of the types of courses you may take in a master of science in business ethics program include:

  • Accounting ethics
  • International business ethics
  • Regulations and regulators
  • Corporate stakeholder relations
  • Culture of ethics

Master’s Degree in Applied Ethics

Master’s of applied ethics programs may be designed to help students build their critical thinking and moral reasoning skills so they can better identify, analyze, and find solutions for a variety of different ethical issues.

Some of the topics you may cover in this type of ethics graduate program include:

  • Philosophical methodology
  • Biomedical ethics
  • Research ethics
  • Environmental ethics
  • Philosophy of the mind

Master’s Degree in Peace and Global Affairs

A master’s degree program in ethics that focuses on peace and global affairs may help prepare students to apply ethical theory and policy analysis to global affairs issues of war, peace, and conflict resolution. The goal is generally to provide students with a solid grounding in the foundational concepts and issues of international affairs and philosophical ethics.

Some of the subject areas you may cover in your coursework include:

  • Global ethics
  • Human rights
  • Peacebuilding
  • Reconciliation and justice
  • Governance, democracy, and development

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