Results for ETHICSOC

What should I do with my life? What kind of person should I be? How should we treat others? What makes actions right or wrong? What is good and what is bad? What should we value? How should we organize society? Is there any reason to be moral? Is morality relative or subjective? How, if at all, can such questions be answered? Intensive introduction to theories and techniques in contemporary moral philosophy.

Important works from the Western tradition will be used to construct and explore some basic frameworks for ethical thinking. Students will gain a familiarity with some canonical texts and develop skills of close-reading and group discussion when it comes to ethical inquiry. Course texts can vary by quarter and year but will include a mix of canonical philosophical, religious, and literary texts. NOTE: Former SLE students should sign up for the ETHICSOC 22A/ ETHICSOC 22B listings. SLE 22A/SLE 22B are courses in ethics for high school students, taught primarily through an history based humanities curriculum. Stanford Student's participation in this course will include classroom experience with the high school students, as well as time with the course instructors to discuss, evaluate, and reflect on the course design. Please contact the instructor if you'd like to learn more: gwatkins@stanford.edu

Important works from the Western tradition will be used to construct and explore some basic frameworks for ethical thinking. Students will gain a familiarity with some canonical texts and develop skills of close-reading and group discussion when it comes to ethical inquiry. Course texts can vary by quarter and year but will include a mix of canonical philosophical, religious, and literary texts. NOTE: Former SLE students should sign up for the ETHICSOC 22A/ ETHICSOC 22B listings. SLE 22A/SLE 22B are courses in ethics for high school students, taught primarily through an history based humanities curriculum. Stanford Student's participation in this course will include classroom experience with the high school students, as well as time with the course instructors to discuss, evaluate, and reflect on the course design. Please contact the instructor if you'd like to learn more: gwatkins@stanford.edu

The Deliberative Discussions Course was initiated by the ASSU Undergraduate Senate in 2019 as an opportunity for students of different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences to meet and share in a process of mutual dialogue across difference. Students will engage in meaningful dialogue and respectful discourse about difficult campus and global topics. The program strives to reduce social distance and enable students to try out new ideas. Participants will learn about and from one another as they acquire skills and tools that will help them to transform contentious debates into meaningful exchange. Students will lead their own peer-to-peer conversations about topics of their choice throughout the quarter. Lunch is provided for all participants.

Ideas matter. Concepts such as progress, technology, and sex, have inspired social movements, shaped political systems, and dramatically influenced the lives of individuals. Others, like cultural relativism and historical memory, play an important role in contemporary debates in the United States. All of these ideas are contested, and they have a real power to change lives, for better and for worse. In this one-unit class we will examine these "dangerous" ideas. Each week, a faculty member from a different department in the humanities and arts will explore a concept that has shaped human experience across time and space.

This course explores ethical questions that arise in public service work, as well as leadership theory and skills relevant to public service work. Through readings, discussions, in-class activities, assignments, and guest lectures, students will develop a foundation and vision for a future of ethical and effective service leadership. This course serves as a gateway for interested students to participate in the Haas Center's Public Service Leadership Program.

Focuses on equipping students with critical thinking, analysis, and independent learning skills on topics within tech ethics and policy to prepare them for summer internship placements. Other tech industry, government, and civil society leaders will participate as appropriate. All students requesting admission to this course must be previously selected Tech Ethics and Policy Fellows. Visit https://solo.stanford.edu/apply/F2Q4 for more about this work/study program.

How do we feed a growing population in the face of climate change? Will Impossible Burgers become the new norm? Are you curious to learn about a frontier in bio- and chemical-engineering? Are you passionate about animal rights, human health, and sustainable agriculture? Learn about the environmental, ethical, and economic drivers behind the market for meat replacements. We'll take a deep dive into the science and technology used to develop emerging plant, fermentation and cell-based meat alternatives and explore the political challenges and behavioral adaptation needed to decrease meat consumption. Hear from entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovative startups developing sustainable and marketable alternative proteins through weekly guest lectures from industry leaders.

Two Consecutive Weekend Course: Community Organizing makes a difference in addressing major public challenges that demand full engagement of the citizenry, especially those whose voices are marginalized. In this course you will learn and practice the leadership skills needed to mobilize your communities for positive social change. We identify leadership as accepting responsibility to enable others to achieve shared purpose in the face of uncertainty. As organizers you will learn how to develop capacity within your community and analyze power dynamics to develop a strategic plan. By the end of this course, you will create an organizing campaign that builds power rooted in the resources of your community. The class will be an intensive held the first two weekends of winter quarter, Jan 12-14 and Jan 19-21, 2024. Class begins on Friday in the afternoon and runs through early Sunday evening. There will also be one follow-up, all class session Week 9 of the quarter, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, March 7, from 4-5:50 PM

Community Organizing makes a difference in addressing major public challenges that demand full engagement of the citizenry, especially those whose voices are marginalized. In this course you will learn and practice the leadership skills of campaign coaching in order to facilitate others to mobilize their communities for positive social change. Enrollment by consent of instructor.

In this course, students will learn and engage with the core debates that have animated political theory in modern times. What is the proper relationship between the individual, the community, and the state? Are liberty and equality in conflict, and, if so, which should take priority? What does justice mean in a large and diverse modern society? The title of the course, borrowed from a book by Michael Sandel, is 'Liberalism and its Critics' because the questions we discuss in this class center on the meaning of, and alternatives to, the liberal ideas that the basic goal of society should be the protection of individual rights and that some form of an egalitarian democracy is the best way to achieve this goal. The course is structured around two historical phenomena: one the one hand, liberal answers to these key questions have at times seemed politically and socially triumphant, but on the other hand, this ascendency has always been challenged and contested. At least one prior class in political theory, such as Justice (PS 103), Citizenship in the 21st Century (College 102), or Democratic Theory (PS 234) is recommended but not required.

Political philosophy in classical antiquity, centered on reading canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle against other texts and against the political and historical background. Topics include: interdependence, legitimacy, justice; political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; law, civic strife, and constitutional change.

This course is an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth century through the nineteenth century. We will consider the secularization of politics, the changing relationship between the individual and society, the rise of consent-based forms of political authority, and the development and critiques of liberal conceptions of property. We will cover the following thinkers: Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Wollstonecraft, Mill, and Marx.

Bioengineering focuses on the development and application of new technologies in the biology and medicine. These technologies often have powerful effects on living systems at the microscopic and macroscopic level. They can provide great benefit to society, but they also can be used in dangerous or damaging ways. These effects may be positive or negative, and so it is critical that bioengineers understand the basic principles of ethics when thinking about how the technologies they develop can and should be applied. On a personal level, every bioengineer should understand the basic principles of ethical behavior in the professional setting. This course will involve substantial writing, and will use case-study methodology to introduce both societal and personal ethical principles, with a focus on practical applications

Activists devote sustained effort and attention toward achieving particular goals of social and political change. Do we have an ethical obligation to be activists? And how should those who do choose to be activists (for whatever reason) understand the ethics of that role? Questions discussed in this course may include: When is civil disobedience appropriate, and what does it entail? Should activists feel constrained by obligations of fairness, honesty, or civility toward those with whom we disagree? Are there special ethical considerations in activism on behalf of those who cannot advocate for themselves? What is solidarity and what does it require of us? Students in this course will develop skills in analyzing, evaluating, and constructing logical arguments about ethical concerns related to activism, but class discussions will also address the potential limitations of logical argument in ethical and political reasoning.

This course examines the theory and practice of deliberative democracy and engages both in a dialogue with critics. Can a democracy which emphasizes people thinking and talking together on the basis of good information be made practical in the modern age? What kinds of distortions arise when people try to discuss politics or policy together? The course draws on ideas of deliberation from Madison and Mill to Rawls and Habermas as well as criticisms from the jury literature, from the psychology of group processes and from the most recent normative and empirical literature on deliberative forums. Deliberative Polling, its applications, defenders and critics, both normative and empirical, will provide a key case for discussion.

As we live in a globalized world, our lives are interconnected with many other people within and beyond the state borders. Currently, we face urgent problems of global justice, such as climate change, economic inequality, immigration, and health disparities, and how to address these issues is a crucial question for all of us. This course introduces students to normative inquiries into issues of global justice and offers an opportunity to integrate theories and practices by engaging with essential and timely questions. What normative demands does justice impose on individuals and institutions in a global world? Do people in affluent countries bear the responsibility for the suffering of those who live in other countries? Should relatively developed countries open their borders to those from developing countries? How should we allocate responsibilities for reducing global injustice, such as health disparities? How does injustice with historical roots, such as colonialism, further complicate the picture of normative demands? While there are no easy answers to these questions, throughout this course, students will be exposed to interdisciplinary approaches (including philosophy, political theory, gender studies, etc.), learn to critically analyze various theoretical approaches, and use them as frameworks to develop their views on issues of global justice. This class meets on Tuesdays & Thursdays from 9:30-11AM. Please note that in addition to the listed lecture time, students must sign up for a 45-min discussion session. The schedule of the discussion session will be arranged and announced during the first week of the quarter.

What role do science and technology play in the creation of a just society? How do we confront and redress the impact of racism and bias within the history, theory, and practice of these disciplines? This course invites students to grapple with the complex intersections between race, inequality, justice, and the STEM fields. We orient to these questions from an artistically-informed position, asking how we can rally the embodied practices of artists to address how we think, make, and respond to each other. Combining readings from the history of science, technology, and medicine, ethics and pedagogy, as well as the fine and performing arts, we will embark together on understanding how our STEM practices have emerged, how we participate today, and what we can imagine for them in the future. The course will involve workshops, field trips (as possible), and invited guests. All students, from any discipline, field, interest, and background, are welcome! This course does build upon the STS 51 series from 2020-21, though it is not a prerequisite for this course. Please contact the professor if you have any questions!

(Taylor's version) In this iteration of the course we will discuss ethical dimensions of personal identity, integrity, friendship, sex, love, commitment, trust, care, childhood, death, and the afterlife. Substantial background in moral philosophy will be assumed (students should have completed Philosophy 2 or its equivalent; if you have questions, please contact the instructor).

Justice, as we use the term in this class, is a question about social cooperation. People can produce much more cooperatively than the sum of what they could produce as individuals, and these gains from cooperation are what makes civilization possible. But on what terms should we cooperate? How should we divide, as the philosopher John Rawls puts it, "the benefits and burdens of social cooperation"? Working primarily within the Anglo-American philosophical tradition, we'll discuss different answers to this big question as a way to bring together some of the most prominent debates in modern political philosophy. We'll study theories including utilitarianism, libertarianism, classical liberalism, and egalitarian liberalism, and we'll take on complex current issues like reparations for racial injustice, the gender pay gap, and responses to climate change. This class is meant to be an accessible entry point to political philosophy. No experience with political science or philosophy is required or assumed, and we will spend time on the strategy of philosophy as well: understanding how our authors make their arguments to better respond to them and make our own.

A critical exploration of some main forms of systematic moral theorizing in Western philosophy from Hobbes onward and their roots in ancient, medieval, and earlier modern ethical thought. Prerequistes are some prior familiarity with utilitarianism and Kantian ethics and a demonstrated interest in philosophy. Grads enroll in 272.

This course will explore foundational issues about the nature of law and its relation to morality, and about legal responsibility and criminal punishment. Toward the end we will turn to issues about the criminal culpability of children. Prerequisite: Philosophy 80

In this course, we will examine some of the central questions in philosophy of law, including: What is law? How do we determine the content of laws? Do laws have moral content? What is authority? What gives law its authority? Must we obey the law? If so, why? How can we justify the law? How should we understand and respond to unjust laws? What is punishment? What is punishment for? What, if anything, justifies punishment by the state? What is enough punishment? What is too much punishment? What does justice require under nonideal conditions? Prerequisite: one prior course in Philosophy.

(Graduate students register for 276.) What makes political institutions legitimate? What makes them just? When do citizens have a right to revolt against those who rule over them? Which of our fellow citizens must we tolerate?Surprisingly, the answers given by some of the most prominent modern philosophers turn on the idea of a social contract. We will focus on the work of Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Rawls.

How should human beings interact with the natural world? Do we have moral obligations toward non-human animals and other parts of nature? And what do we owe to other human beings, including future generations, with respect to the environment? In this course, we will tackle ethical questions that confront us in our dealings with the natural world, looking at subjects such as: animal rights; conservation; economic approaches to the environment; access to and control over natural resources; environmental justice and pollution; climate change; technology and the environment; and environmental activism. We will frame our inquiry with leading ethical theories and divide our approach to these topics by ecosystem, dedicating time to each unique environment and its specific nuances: aquatic, desert/tundra, forest/grassland, and the increasingly recognized environment of Space.

In this course, we will discuss the body as a site of moral and political conflict. Here are a few of the questions that will be explored: People are encouraged to become kidney donors, but we still don't have enough kidneys for everybody who needs one. Should you be allowed to sell a kidney? Suppose Robert is dying of a rare disease and the only thing that could save his life is a bone marrow transplant from his cousin David, but David doesn't want to donate. Should we force him to "donate"? Some people say a woman should be free to make abortion decisions on whatever grounds she wants, including prenatal genetic testing for conditions like Down syndrome; others condemn such selective abortion as an unacceptable form of eugenics. What genetic testing information, if any, should be allowed to influence a woman's decision about whether to terminate a pregnancy? In addition to these normative questions, we will also study related questions in constitutional law. When the Supreme Court decided that abortion was a constitutional right in Roe v. Wade, on what legal reasoning did they base their decision? When they decided to overturn Roe in the recent Dobbs v. Jackson, what legal reasoning did they use then? How will Dobbs affect other (current) constitutional rights?

For Ethics in Society honors students. Methods of research. Students present issues of public and personal morality; topics chosen with advice of instructor.

Workshop for Ethics in Society seniors completing their honors thesis.

May be repeated for credit.

Limited to Ethics in Society (EiS) honors students. EiS honors students must enroll in 200A in the fall quarter, 200B in the winter quarter, and 200C in the spring quarter of their senior year. Students enrolling in 200A for less than 3 units must get approval from the faculty director.

Limited to Ethics in Society honors students, who must enroll once in 200A, once in 200B, and once in 200C in their senior year. Students enrolling in 200B for less than 3 units must get approval from the faculty director.

Limited to Ethics in Society honors students, who must enroll once in 200A, once in 200B, and once in 200C in their senior year. Students enrolling in 200C for less than 3 units must get approval from the faculty director.

How to think philosophically about educational problems. Recent influential scholarship in philosophy of education. No previous study in philosophy required.

This course teaches students how to pursue social change through philanthropy with a focus on sustainable development. Students learn about the approaches, history, and key debates in philanthropy, and apply their knowledge by collaboratively making a substantial class contribution to one or more select nonprofit organizations. This class responds to the reality confronting all philanthropists: There are many ways in which we can change the world for the better, but our money and time is finite. How then can we best use our limited resources to accomplish change? And how will we know we've been successful? By the end of the course, students will understand the fundamentals of effective philanthropy, including how to define problems, develop a theory of change, evaluate outcomes, and reduce unintended harm. Students of all levels of familiarity with philanthropy are welcome to join and no discipline is privileged in the class.

Most people agree that democracy is a good thing, but do we agree on what democracy is? This course will examine the concept of democracy in political philosophy. We will address the following questions: What reason(s), if any, do we have for valuing democracy? What does it mean to treat people as political equals? When does a group of individuals constitute "a people," and how can a people make genuinely collective decisions? Can democracy really be compatible with social inequality? With an entrenched constitution? With representation?

(Formerly IPS 280) Historical backdrop of the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals. The creation and operation of the Yugoslav and Rwanda Tribunals (ICTY and ICTR). The development of hybrid tribunals in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia, including evaluation of their success in addressing perceived shortcomings of the ICTY and ICTR. Examination of the role of the International Criminal Court and the extent to which it will succeed in supplanting all other ad hoc international justice mechanisms and fulfill its goals. Analysis focuses on the politics of creating such courts, their interaction with the states in which the conflicts took place, the process of establishing prosecutorial priorities, the body of law they have produced, and their effectiveness in addressing the needs of victims in post-conflict societies.

Focuses on equipping students with critical thinking, analysis, and independent learning skills on topics within tech ethics and policy to prepare them for summer internship placements. Other tech industry, government, and civil society leaders will participate as appropriate. All students requesting admission to this course must be previously selected Tech Ethics and Policy Fellows. Visit https://solo.stanford.edu/apply/F2Q4 for more about this work/study program.