I do think some ethics is a must, not necessarily to be prescriptive, but to challenge people’s views and introduce alternatives so they don’t get stuck with something they would not endorse if they knew more. Some topics I’d recommend:
Population axiology: total utilitarianism, the repugnant conclusion (and other similar results), person-affecting views, negative utilitarianism, average utilitarianism, prioritarianism, egalitarianism, lives vs headaches, dust specks vs torture. Hilary Greaves wrote a survey on population axiology.
Welfare/​wellbeing: hedonistic, desire-based, objective list theory. Symmetric vs asymmetric/​antifrustrationist/​negative/​suffering-focused views. See the SEP article.
Impartiality, just and unjust discrimination, equal consideration of interests, speciesism. Moral subjects/​patients vs moral agents, sentience/​consciousness.
Free will, personal identity, death, moral luck, moral responsibility.
Objections and alternatives to consequentialism.
Metaethics, realism vs anti-realism, moral uncertainty.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles are usually good, and sometimes the Wikipedia articles are, too.
I do think some ethics is a must, not necessarily to be prescriptive, but to challenge people’s views and introduce alternatives so they don’t get stuck with something they would not endorse if they knew more. Some topics I’d recommend:
Population axiology: total utilitarianism, the repugnant conclusion (and other similar results), person-affecting views, negative utilitarianism, average utilitarianism, prioritarianism, egalitarianism, lives vs headaches, dust specks vs torture. Hilary Greaves wrote a survey on population axiology.
Welfare/​wellbeing: hedonistic, desire-based, objective list theory. Symmetric vs asymmetric/​antifrustrationist/​negative/​suffering-focused views. See the SEP article.
Impartiality, just and unjust discrimination, equal consideration of interests, speciesism. Moral subjects/​patients vs moral agents, sentience/​consciousness.
Free will, personal identity, death, moral luck, moral responsibility.
Objections and alternatives to consequentialism.
Metaethics, realism vs anti-realism, moral uncertainty.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy articles are usually good, and sometimes the Wikipedia articles are, too.