Ethics Minor

Grapple with the ethical dimensions that shape societies and how people live.

Lehigh’s Ethics Minor grounds students in the ethical dimensions of life, from the individual to the global scale. Developing ethical knowledge and skills advances good decision-making but also enables students to think carefully and critically about real-world challenges.

This minor allows students to build the methodological and critical skills that are the core of ethical reasoning. While contextualizing these skills through primary historical and philosophical sources, the program teaches students how to apply them to understanding law, policy and social change.

Key Benefits

Disciplined Engagement: The ethics minor prepares students to engage with a wide variety of controversial issues, from the use of military drones and self-driving cars to the protection of our environment and personal data, human well-being and justice, and social problems of racism, sexism, and Islamophobia.
Universal Applicability: In today’s complex world, ethical reasoning is more important than ever. This program challenges students to engage with pressing moral issues, think critically about right and wrong, and apply ethical frameworks to real-world situations.

Coursework

Any undergraduate student at Lehigh University can declare this minor.

To minor in ethics, students take 16 credits, including a core course and electives, either offered by or cross-listed with the English Department. Each semester, the Center for Ethics posts a complete list of courses eligible for the Ethics minor on their website. Students considering minoring in ethics should consult with the Director of the Center for Ethics.