AMSTUD 135:
Deliberative Democracy and its Critics (COMM 135, COMM 235, COMM 335, POLISCI 234P, POLISCI 334P)
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.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
AMSTUD 137:
The Dialogue of Democracy (COMM 137W, COMM 237, POLISCI 232T, POLISCI 332T)
All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just campaigning or does it include deliberation? Small scale discussions or sound bites on television? Or social media? What is the role of technology in changing our democratic practices, to mobilize, to persuade, to solve public problems? This course will include readings from political theory about democratic ideals - from the American founders to J.S. Mill and the Progressives to Joseph Schumpeter and modern writers skeptical of the public will. It will also include contemporary examinations of the media and the internet to see how those practices are changing and how the ideals can or cannot be realized.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
ARCHLGY 143:
Classical Archaeology Today: Ethical Issues of Excavation, Ownership, and Display (CLASSART 143)
While Classical archaeology engages with material remains from the Greco-Roman past, it is embedded within and inseparable from contemporary practice. Through an examination of case studies, legal statutes, professional codes, and disciplinary practices, this seminar discusses ethical dilemmas raised by Classical archaeology in the 21st century. We will focus on broad issues ranging from ownership, looting, reconstruction, and collecting to nationalism, religion, tourism, and media, with an eye toward defining ethical ¿best practices¿ for Classical archaeology.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
BIOE 131:
Ethics in Bioengineering
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.
Terms: Win, Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
CLASSART 143:
Classical Archaeology Today: Ethical Issues of Excavation, Ownership, and Display (ARCHLGY 143)
While Classical archaeology engages with material remains from the Greco-Roman past, it is embedded within and inseparable from contemporary practice. Through an examination of case studies, legal statutes, professional codes, and disciplinary practices, this seminar discusses ethical dilemmas raised by Classical archaeology in the 21st century. We will focus on broad issues ranging from ownership, looting, reconstruction, and collecting to nationalism, religion, tourism, and media, with an eye toward defining ethical ¿best practices¿ for Classical archaeology.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
CLASSGEN 6N:
To Die For: Antigone and Political Dissent (TAPS 12N)
Preference to freshmen. Tensions inherent in the democracy of ancient Athens; how the character of Antigone emerges in later drama, film, and political thought as a figure of resistance against illegitimate authority; and her relevance to contemporary struggles for women's and workers' rights and national liberation. Readings and screenings include versions of Antigone by Sophocles, Anouilh, Brecht, Fugard/Kani/Ntshona, Paulin, Glowacki, Gurney, and von Trotta.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
CLASSGEN 116:
Ecology in Philosophy and Literature
The basic principles of ecological thinking, exploring the ways that different writers represent and relate to the natural world. Some key questions: What is nature, and where do humans fit in the natural world? How exactly do humans differ from other animals? Do these differences make us superior beings? What are our ethical responsibilities towards the earth and its inhabitants? In what ways have the technologies of writing, television, and computers affected humankind's relationship to the natural world?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CLASSHIS 133:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSHIS 333, PHIL 176A, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 330A)
Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMM 131:
Media Ethics and Responsibility (COMM 231)
(Graduate students register for COMM 231.) The development of professionalism among American journalists, emphasizing the emergence of objectivity as a professional and the epistemological norm. An applied ethics course where questions of power, freedom, and truth autonomy are treated normatively so as to foster critical thinking about the origins and implications of commonly accepted standards of responsible journalism.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-ER
COMM 135:
Deliberative Democracy and its Critics (AMSTUD 135, COMM 235, COMM 335, POLISCI 234P, POLISCI 334P)
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.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
COMM 137W:
The Dialogue of Democracy (AMSTUD 137, COMM 237, POLISCI 232T, POLISCI 332T)
All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just campaigning or does it include deliberation? Small scale discussions or sound bites on television? Or social media? What is the role of technology in changing our democratic practices, to mobilize, to persuade, to solve public problems? This course will include readings from political theory about democratic ideals - from the American founders to J.S. Mill and the Progressives to Joseph Schumpeter and modern writers skeptical of the public will. It will also include contemporary examinations of the media and the internet to see how those practices are changing and how the ideals can or cannot be realized.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
COMPLIT 171:
Ethics of Jihad
Why choose jihad? An introduction to Islamic ethics. Focus on ways in which people have chosen, rejected, or redefined jihad. Evaluation of the norms in moments of ethical and political choice. Topics include jihad in the age of 1001 Nights, jihad in the Arab Renaissance, jihad in Bin Laden's sermons, and the hashtag #MyJihad. All readings and discussion in English.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
COMPLIT 199:
Senior Seminar: J.R.R. Tolkien and Junot Diaz's Speculative Narratives
Major terms of speculative narratology; how different literary, cinematic, and popular culture narratives by (and about) Tolkien and Diaz raise issues of coloniality, power and race, stir public debates and contribute to understanding planetary literature. Readings include texts by Tolkien and Diaz, Frye, Fanon, Quijano, Mignolo, Jameson, Badiou, Butler, Moya, and Perez. Satisfies the capstone seminar requirement for the major tracks in Philosophy and Literature. CL Senior majors only and minors with permission.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
COMPLIT 229:
Literature of Global Health (FRENCH 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
CS 181:
Computers, Ethics, and Public Policy
(Formerly 201.) Primarily for majors entering computer-related fields. Ethical and social issues related to the development and use of computer technology. Ethical theory, and social, political, and legal considerations. Scenarios in problem areas: privacy, reliability and risks of complex systems, and responsibility of professionals for applications and consequences of their work. Prerequisite: 106B or X.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
CS 181W:
Computers, Ethics, and Public Policy (WIM)
Writing-intensive version of CS181. Satisfies the WIM requirement for Computer Science and Computer Systems Engineering undergraduates.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
CSRE 178:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
ENGLISH 103H:
The Active Life or the Contemplative Life?
Which is more valuable: knowledge or action? Which is the greater accomplishment: wisdom or material success? What kind of life is best to lead, an active life or a life of spiritual or intellectual contemplation? Are the two necessarily at odds, or can we achieve a balance between them?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ENGR 131:
Ethical Issues in Engineering
Moral rights and responsibilities of engineers in relation to society, employers, colleagues, and clients; cost-benefit-risk analysis, safety, and informed consent; the ethics of whistle blowing; ethical conflicts of engineers as expert witnesses, consultants, and managers; ethical issues in engineering design, manufacturing, and operations; ethical issues arising from engineering work in foreign countries; and ethical implications of the social and environmental contexts of contemporary engineering. Case studies, guest practitioners, and field research. Limited enrollment.
Terms: Aut, Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
ESF 1:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Active, Inquiring, Beautiful Life
Moving through history from the Rome of the Emperor Hadrian, to the city-states of Renaissance Italy, to the 18th century republic of the United States, we will examine how self-made men fashioned themselves and their surroundings by educating themselves broadly. We will ask how a liberal education made their active careers richer and more transformational. We will also take up the great debate on whether a liberal education or vocational training is the surest path to advancement. We will engage this debate through the works of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington but consider today's struggle over the same issues ¿ a struggle that engrosses both highly industrialized and developing societies.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 1A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Active, Inquiring, Beautiful Life
Moving through history from the Rome of the Emperor Hadrian, to the city-states of Renaissance Italy, to the 18th century republic of the United States, we will examine how self-made men fashioned themselves and their surroundings by educating themselves broadly. We will ask how a liberal education made their active careers richer and more transformational. We will also take up the great debate on whether a liberal education or vocational training is the surest path to advancement. We will engage this debate through the works of W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington but consider today's struggle over the same issues ¿ a struggle that engrosses both highly industrialized and developing societies.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 4:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Learning to Change
Does education entail changing the self? How much? Why should I change my life? How do I discover that I need to change? Who can rightly tell me how to change? What difference does it make? These and related questions have been around for a long time, yet that makes them no easier to answer today than 2500 years ago. In the 5th century BCE, Socrates found that his answers--based on his own will to change--proved troublesome, and ultimately fatal. His follower, the philosopher Plato, transformed the Socratic exploration into idiosyncratic utopian visions that sought to change the conditions of life--and so make Socrates' fate unrepeatable. Plato's own followers, from Aristotle onward, found new ways to explain, enact, or evade change. Not until the end of antiquity, however, do we find, in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), someone as explicitly and passionately committed to personal change as the early Greek thinker. Bookended by the major figures of the Athenian seeker and the North African, this course will lead students to analyze and compare their own tentative answers with the ideas on self-fashioning that can be found in a range of ancient texts. Students will demonstrate their grasp of the material through a variety of exercises, including a research paper, discourse analyses, and responses in persona.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 4A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Learning to Change
Does education entail changing the self? How much? Why should I change my life? How do I discover that I need to change? Who can rightly tell me how to change? What difference does it make? These and related questions have been around for a long time, yet that makes them no easier to answer today than 2500 years ago. In the 5th century BCE, Socrates found that his answers--based on his own will to change--proved troublesome, and ultimately fatal. His follower, the philosopher Plato, transformed the Socratic exploration into idiosyncratic utopian visions that sought to change the conditions of life--and so make Socrates' fate unrepeatable. Plato's own followers, from Aristotle onward, found new ways to explain, enact, or evade change. Not until the end of antiquity, however, do we find, in Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE), someone as explicitly and passionately committed to personal change as the early Greek thinker. Bookended by the major figures of the Athenian seeker and the North African, this course will lead students to analyze and compare their own tentative answers with the ideas on self-fashioning that can be found in a range of ancient texts. Students will demonstrate their grasp of the material through a variety of exercises, including a research paper, discourse analyses, and responses in persona.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 5:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Thinking Like a Philosopher
The Ancient Greek aphorism ¿Know thyself¿ is a centerpiece of wisdom. But knowing one¿s own mind is not easy, in part because it is not a matter of simply looking inward to find one¿s proclivities and beliefs; it seems one must look outward to the issues and questions the world presents, and know what one thinks about them. Knowing oneself is in part a matter of knowing one¿s way around as a thinker, where that is a matter of knowing how to think about issues, when to trust one¿s judgment and when to withhold it. Fashioning or making oneself into a better (more acute, more sensitive, more judicious) reasoner is something philosophy as a discipline holds out as a promise. In this course, we will take up the first task of becoming better reasoners about a select handful of persistent problems; we will at the same time reflect on what it is that philosophical thinking is, and how it might shape us as thinkers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 5A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: Thinking Like a Philosopher
The Ancient Greek aphorism ¿Know thyself¿ is a centerpiece of wisdom. But knowing one¿s own mind is not easy, in part because it is not a matter of simply looking inward to find one¿s proclivities and beliefs; it seems one must look outward to the issues and questions the world presents, and know what one thinks about them. Knowing oneself is in part a matter of knowing one¿s way around as a thinker, where that is a matter of knowing how to think about issues, when to trust one¿s judgment and when to withhold it. Fashioning or making oneself into a better (more acute, more sensitive, more judicious) reasoner is something philosophy as a discipline holds out as a promise. In this course, we will take up the first task of becoming better reasoners about a select handful of persistent problems; we will at the same time reflect on what it is that philosophical thinking is, and how it might shape us as thinkers.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 6:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ESF 6A:
Education as Self-Fashioning: The Wind of Freedom
Stanford's unofficial motto, "the wind of freedom blows," engraved in German on the university seal, invites us the ponder freedom in the context of education. What is the relation between freedom and the "liberal" arts? Does studying free your mind? Does free will even exist? If so, how does education help you develop its potential? This course will look at various authors -- from antiquity through the 20th century -- who have thought about the blessings, burdens, and obligations of human freedom. Beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden, we will explore how exercising freedom in your personal choices and conduct not only determines your fate as an individual but carries with it a measure of responsibility for the world. We will place special emphasis on the implications of such responsibility in our own time.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 7
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing 1
ETHICSOC 20:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (PHIL 2)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 131S:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (POLISCI 131L)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 133:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 136R:
Introduction to Global Justice (INTNLREL 136R, PHIL 76, POLISCI 136R, POLISCI 336)
Recent work in political theory on global justice. Topics include global poverty, human rights, fair trade, immigration, climate change. Do developed countries have a duty to aid developing countries? Do rich countries have the right to close their borders to economic immigrants? When is humanitarian intervention justified? Readings include Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, John Rawls.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 170:
Ethical Theory (PHIL 170, PHIL 270)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 171:
Justice (IPS 208, PHIL 171, PHIL 271, POLISCI 3P, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors: ;
Cohen, J. (PI);
Berkey, B. (GP);
Ettel, J. (GP);
Grinberg, M. (GP);
Lamboy, L. (GP);
Levitov, A. (GP);
Liu, G. (GP);
Rudy, F. (GP);
Seaford, A. (GP);
Smith, P. (GP);
Young, J. (GP)
ETHICSOC 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 178M:
Introduction to Environmental Ethics (ETHICSOC 278M, PHIL 178M, PHIL 278M, POLISCI 134L)
This course examines the following ethical questions about the environment: (1) how we ought morally to relate to animals; (2) attempts to expand the circle of moral concern beyond animals to other parts of nature; (3) economic approaches to environmental problems (e.g. cost-benefit analysis) and the justification of the precautionary principle; and (4) our moral obligations to future people. The class will conclude by considering whether the theoretical tools that we have examined help to address the problems of climate change, one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 180M:
Collective Action: Ethics and Policy (PHIL 73, PUBLPOL 304A)
Individually rational actions can give rise to results that are collectively irrational. For example, the collective result of our consumption decisions is to warm the planet, destroy the world's fisheries, and increase reliance on factory farming; at the same time, the decisions of a single individual seem to have no tangible effect on such things. In light of this, what (if anything) are you as an individual required to do in these and other collective action situations, especially when others are not doing their part to prevent things from getting out of control? For example, are you required to reduce your carbon footprint and avoid products that are produced in ethically objectionable ways? Do you have a duty to vote? Is free-riding always ethically objectionable? Can you be required to 'cooperate' in a situation where you know that most others will 'defect'? Finally, from a real-world policy perspective, how can we bring about the best solutions to these and other collective action problems? Is the best policy response always a straightforward function of the variable features of each case? Interdisciplinary readings from authors in philosophy, politics, economics, and law such as Elinor Ostrom, Peter Singer, and Cass Sunstein. No background will be assumed and no mathematical work will be required. The course will include a module led by an award-winning designer in which students will design table top games that can be used to teach the dynamics of collective action to high school students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 182M:
Business Ethics (PHIL 74)
What do people mean when they say, "it's just business"? Do they mean that there are no moral norms in business or do they mean that there are special moral norms in business that differ from those of personal relationships and other spheres of social activity? In this class we will examine ethical questions that arise in the domain of business. We will ask, for example: What does the market reward and what should it reward? What are the moral responsibilities of a business owner in a competitive environment? Is it acceptable to employ "sweatshop labor"? How do the moral responsibilities of a business owner differ from that of a policy maker? What information does a seller (or buyer) have a moral duty to disclose? In real estate, is a strategic default morally wrong? How much government regulation of Wall Street is morally justified? We will use the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, J. S. Mill, Marx, Jevons and Menger, Hayek, Walzer, and Sandel, among others, to help us answer these questions. We will see, for example, what Aristotle thought about day trading.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 185M:
Contemporary Moral Problems (PHIL 72, POLISCI 134P)
As individuals and as members of societies, we make choices that can be assessed from the moral point of view. What choices should we make, and how should we make them? Topics will include: Is it ok to buy iThings when others lack basic nutrition? Does a preference for the taste of meat justify killing and eating animals? Under what circumstances, if any, is abortion morally permissible? Should employers and schools be allowed to favor minority candidates? Is a ban on trans fat morally impermissible paternalism? Readings for these and other topics will be drawn from contemporary philosophers such as Frances Kamm, Jeff McMahan, Robert Nozick, Debra Satz, Tommie Shelby, Peter Singer, and Judith Jarvis Thomson.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 203R:
Ethics in Real Life: How Philosophy Can Make Us Better People (PHIL 90E)
Socrates thought that philosophy was supposed to be practical, but most of the philosophy we do today is anything but. This course will convince you that philosophy actually is useful outside of the classroom--and can have a real impact on your everyday decisions and how to live your life. We'll grapple with tough practical questions such as: 'Is it selfish if I choose to have biological children instead of adopting kids who need homes?' 'Am I behaving badly if I don't wear a helmet when I ride my bike?' 'Should I major in a subject that will help me make a lot of money so I can then donate most of it to overseas aid instead of choosing a major that will make me happy?' Throughout the course, we will discuss philosophical questions about blame, impartiality, the force of different 'shoulds,' and whether there are such things as universal moral rules that apply to everyone.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 234R:
Ethics On the Edge: Business, Non-Profit Organizations, Government, and Individuals (PUBLPOL 134, PUBLPOL 234)
The objective of the course is to explore the current international emphasis on organizational ethics. Students will consider in-depth complex ethics matters across business, the non-profit sector, and government. We will unravel the factors contributing to the seemingly pervasive failure of ethics today, including commonalities and links among sectors, through a broad range of international case studies. Examples might include: the Bangladesh garment factory fire and collapse; corruption in Nigeria; the Libor rate-rigging scandal; the US military sex abuse scandal; the GlaxoSmithKline China corruption scandal; racism in international football; drones; social media; and a non-profit sector ethics challenge to be identified. Prominent guest speakers will attend certain sessions interactively. Questions of cultural context, how ethics lags behind technology, ethics and leadership, and ethics and global systemic risks (poverty, financial system meltdown, climate change, cyber terrorism¿) will be considered. Attendance required. Grading is based 25% on short assignments, 35% class participation, and 40% final project. The final project is in lieu of exam on a topic of each student¿s choice. Class participation may include a variety of options beyond simply speaking up in class (e.g. participation on the class web site, assisting other students with presentations or final projects, participation in relevant University events, group discussions during office hours¿).
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
ETHICSOC 237M:
Politics and Evil (POLISCI 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
FRENCH 228:
Science, Technology, and Society in the Face of the Looming Disaster (ITALIAN 228, POLISCI 233F)
The major topic will be the indeterminacy regarding the survival of humankind. With the advent of the atomic bomb humankind became potentially the maker of its own demise. Will combine a number of significant case studies (environmental disasters, industrial catastrophes, threat of nuclear devastation, technological risks) with the lessons drawn from a form of literature that is at the intersection of STS and the Humanities, in particular the early warnings made by such thinkers as Ivan Illich, Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, Günther Anders, and Hannah Arendt.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
FRENCH 229:
Literature of Global Health (COMPLIT 229, HUMBIO 175L, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
GENE 104Q:
Law and the Biosciences
Preference to sophomores. Focus is on human genetics; also assisted reproduction and neuroscience. Topics include forensic use of DNA, genetic testing, genetic discrimination, eugenics, cloning, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, neuroscientific methods of lie detection, and genetic or neuroscience enhancement. Student presentations on research paper conclusions.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, Writing 2
GERMAN 104:
Resistance Writings in Nazi Germany
This course focuses on documents generated by nonmilitary resistance groups during the period of National Socialism. Letters, essays, diaries, and statements on ethics from the Bonhoeffer and Scholl families form the core of the readings. The resistance novel, Every Man Dies Alone, is also included. Texts will be read as historical documents, reflections of German thought, statements of conscience, attempts to maintain normal relationships with others in the face of great risk, as poetic works, and as guides for the development of an ethical life. Taught in English.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
HISTORY 96:
Worlds of Gandhi
Place the paradox of Gandhi in context of global convulsions of 20th century. Gandhi lived across continents; maturing in South Africa, struggling in India, attaining celebrity in Europe. As leader of masses, his method of Satyagraha was distinctively at odds with his times. Yet, he also privileged sacrifice, dying, even euthanasia. In a world beset by fear and war, Gandhi's complex theory of nonviolence is compelling. What kind of nonviolent politics did Gandhi envision after Fascism, Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Pakistan?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
HISTORY 196:
Worlds of Gandhi
(Same as HISTORY 96. History majors and others taking 5 units, register for 196.) Place the paradox of Gandhi in context of global convulsions of 20th century. Gandhi lived across continents; maturing in South Africa, struggling in India, attaining celebrity in Europe. As leader of masses, his method of Satyagraha was distinctively at odds with his times. Yet, he also privileged sacrifice, dying, even euthanasia. In a world beset by fear and war, Gandhi's complex theory of nonviolence is compelling. What kind of nonviolent politics did Gandhi envision after Fascism, Auschwitz, Hiroshima, and Pakistan?
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
HUMBIO 174:
Foundations of Bioethics
Classic articles, legal cases, and foundational concepts. Theoretical approaches derived from philosophy. The ethics of medicine and research on human subjects, assisted reproductive technologies, genetics, cloning, and stem cell research. Ethical issues at the end of life. Prerequisite: Human Biology core or equivalent, or consent of instructor.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
HUMBIO 175L:
Literature of Global Health (COMPLIT 229, FRENCH 229, MED 234)
This course examines the ways literary and medical writers have used the narrative form to explore the ethics of care in what has been called the developing world. We will begin with a call made by the editor-in-chief of The Lancet for a literature of global health -- modeled on the social reform novels of the nineteenth century, which are meant to have helped readers develop a modern public health conscience. We will study global health ethics as a field initially rooted in philosophy and policy that address questions raised by practice in resource-constrained communities abroad. And we will spend the quarter understanding how colonial and world literatures may deepen and even alter these questions. Readings will be selected from Albert Schweitzer, Aime Cesaire, Albert Camus, Frantz Fanon, Antonio Olinto, Ben Okri, Amitav Ghosh, Anne Fadiman, and Paul Farmer.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
HUMBIO 178:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
INTNLREL 136R:
Introduction to Global Justice (ETHICSOC 136R, PHIL 76, POLISCI 136R, POLISCI 336)
Recent work in political theory on global justice. Topics include global poverty, human rights, fair trade, immigration, climate change. Do developed countries have a duty to aid developing countries? Do rich countries have the right to close their borders to economic immigrants? When is humanitarian intervention justified? Readings include Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, John Rawls.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
ITALIAN 228:
Science, Technology, and Society in the Face of the Looming Disaster (FRENCH 228, POLISCI 233F)
The major topic will be the indeterminacy regarding the survival of humankind. With the advent of the atomic bomb humankind became potentially the maker of its own demise. Will combine a number of significant case studies (environmental disasters, industrial catastrophes, threat of nuclear devastation, technological risks) with the lessons drawn from a form of literature that is at the intersection of STS and the Humanities, in particular the early warnings made by such thinkers as Ivan Illich, Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, Günther Anders, and Hannah Arendt.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
KORGEN 121:
Ethics and Violence in Korean film and literature (KORGEN 221)
Ethics and violence seem to be contradictory terms, yet much of Korean film and literature in the past five decades has demonstrated that they are an intricate¿and in many ways justifiable¿part of the fabric of contemporary existence. Film and literature exposes time and again the complex ways in which the supposed vanguards of morality¿religious institutions, family, schools, and the state¿are sites of condoned transgression, wherein spiritual and physical violation is inflicted relentlessly. This class will explore the ways in which questions about Truth and the origins of good and evil are mediated through film and literature in the particular context of the political, social, and economic development of postwar South Korea.
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
LAWGEN 120:
Ethics, Leadership and Public Policy
This course is primarily for Stanford undergraduates. This course will explore the ethical challenges facing leaders in business, law, and public policy. Through problems, case histories and background readings, the course will examine the qualities of ethical leadership, the situational pressures that undermine it, and the structural initiatives that can reinforce it. Topics to be considered will include: the nature and styles of leadership; the role of values in leadership; ethical decision making and influence; authority and moral accountability in the war against terror; financial, political and sexual scandals; diversity in leadership and affirmative action; leadership and social change in civil rights and same sex marriage campaigns; global leadership on corporate social responsibility and international human rights; the moral case for philanthropy, and problems of paternalism. Course Requirements; Two short (five) papers on the readings (each 15 percent of grade); consistent and constructive class participation (20 percent of grade) and one final paper (ten pages) on an ethical issue in leadership (50 percent of grade).
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
MS&E 197:
Ethics and Public Policy
Ethical issues in science- and technology-related public policy conflicts. Focus is on complex, value-laden policy disputes. Topics: the nature of ethics and morality; rationales for liberty, justice, and human rights; and the use and abuse of these concepts in policy disputes. Case studies from biomedicine, environmental affairs, technical professions, communications, and international relations.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
OSPBEIJ 8:
Marvelous Creatures: Animals and Humans in Chinese Literature and Society
What do pervasive animal imageries and metaphors tell us about the Chinese and how they relate to the world, be it natural or supernatural, and to their neighbors, be they ethnic minorities or foreigners? How do animals define the frontiers of humanity and mediate notions of civilization and Chineseness? How do culture, institution, and political economy shape concepts of human rights and animal rights? What does it mean to be human in the pluralistic and planetary 21st century? Course materials include scholarly treatises, novels, short stories, and films that feature an array of animalkind from late imperial times to the contemporary era.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
OSPFLOR 46:
Images of Evil in Criminal Law: Icons and the Visual Representation on Wrongdoing
Iconographic component of criminal law; reasons and functions of the visual representation of criminal wrongdoing. Historical roots of "evil typecasting;" consideration of its variations with respect to common law and civil law systems. Fundamental features of the two legal systems. Sources, actors, enforcement mechanisms of the criminal law compared; study of cases in the area of murder, sex offences, organized crime and terrorism. Different techniques of image typecasting highlighted and discussed. International criminal law, which takes the burden to describe, typecast and punish forms of "enormous, disproportionate evil," such as genocide and other mass atrocities.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
OSPFLOR 74:
Ethics and Politics of Climate Change
Holistic view of anthropogenic climate change, addressing the several points of view from which this phenomenon is usually discussed: climatological, economic, political and ethical, with a focus on the latter two. Climate change as a collective action problem: how to bring individual actors (states, regional unions, business associations, trade unions) to take a collective course of action whose benefits will be felt primarily by future generations. Notion of global governance, as well as the difficulties for democracy to come to terms with an unprecedented challenge. Ethical debate on climate change: how we can find rules that re-establish what is now called climate justice; why we should accept having obligations to future generations.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
OSPFLOR 85:
Bioethics: the Biotechnological Revolution, Human Rights and Politics in the Global Era
Birth and development of the philosophical field of bioethics based on advances in several fundamental fields of science and technology, including molecular and cell biology, information technology, neurosciences and converging technologies. Challenges for society and ethical and political issues created by new advances and opportunities for individuals and populations. Philosophical approaches developed in the Italian as well as in the European debate; special attention to controversy about the freedom of scientific research, new conditions of procreation, birth, cures, and death. Complexity of the challenges posed by the `biotechnological revolution'.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
OSPMADRD 72:
Issues in Bioethics Across Cultures
Ethical dilemmas concerning the autonomy and dignity of human beings and other living creatures; principles of justice that rule different realms of private and public life. Interdisciplinary approach to assessing these challenges, combining scientific facts, health care issues, and moral philosophy. Sources include landmark bioethics papers.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 2:
Introduction to Moral Philosophy (ETHICSOC 20)
A survey of moral philosophy in the Western tradition. What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What is it to have a virtuous rather than a vicious character? What is the basis of these distinctions? Why should we care about morality at all? Our aim is to understand how some of the most influential philosophers (including Aristotle, Kant, and Mill) have addressed these questions, and by so doing, to better formulate our own views. No prior familiarity with philosophy required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 5N:
The Art of Living
Whether we realize it or not, all of us are forced to make a fundamental choice: by deciding what is most valuable to us, we decide how we are going to live our life. We may opt for a life of reason and knowledge; one of faith and discipline; one of nature and freedom; one of community and altruism; or one of originality and style.We may even choose to live our lives as though they were works of art. In every case, hard work is required: our lives are not just given to us, but need to be made. To live well is, in fact, to practice an art of living. Where, however, do such ideals come from? How do we adopt and defend them? What is required to put them into practice? What do we do when they come into conflict with one another? And what role do great works of art play in all this? "The Art of Living" will explore the various ways in which it is possible to live well and beautifully, what it takes to implement them, and what happens when they come under pressure from inside and out.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 8N:
Free Will and Responsibility
In what sense are we, or might we be free agents? Is our freedom compatible with our being fully a part of the same natural, causal order that includes other physical and biological systems? What assumptions about freedom do we make when we hold people accountable morally and/or legally? When we hold people accountable, and so responsible, can we also see them as part of the natural, causal order? Or is there a deep incompatibility between these two ways of understanding ourselves? What assumptions about our freedom do we make when we deliberate about what to do? Are these assumptions in conflict with seeing ourselves as part of the natural, causal order?nWe will explore these and related questions primarily by way of careful study of recent and contemporary philosophical research on these matters.
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 15N:
Freedom, Community, and Morality
Preference to freshmen. Does the freedom of the individual conflict with the demands of human community and morality? Or, as some philosophers have maintained, does the freedom of the individual find its highest expression in a moral community of other human beings? Readings include Camus, Mill, Rousseau, and Kant.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 72:
Contemporary Moral Problems (ETHICSOC 185M, POLISCI 134P)
As individuals and as members of societies, we make choices that can be assessed from the moral point of view. What choices should we make, and how should we make them? Topics will include: Is it ok to buy iThings when others lack basic nutrition? Does a preference for the taste of meat justify killing and eating animals? Under what circumstances, if any, is abortion morally permissible? Should employers and schools be allowed to favor minority candidates? Is a ban on trans fat morally impermissible paternalism? Readings for these and other topics will be drawn from contemporary philosophers such as Frances Kamm, Jeff McMahan, Robert Nozick, Debra Satz, Tommie Shelby, Peter Singer, and Judith Jarvis Thomson.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 73:
Collective Action: Ethics and Policy (ETHICSOC 180M, PUBLPOL 304A)
Individually rational actions can give rise to results that are collectively irrational. For example, the collective result of our consumption decisions is to warm the planet, destroy the world's fisheries, and increase reliance on factory farming; at the same time, the decisions of a single individual seem to have no tangible effect on such things. In light of this, what (if anything) are you as an individual required to do in these and other collective action situations, especially when others are not doing their part to prevent things from getting out of control? For example, are you required to reduce your carbon footprint and avoid products that are produced in ethically objectionable ways? Do you have a duty to vote? Is free-riding always ethically objectionable? Can you be required to 'cooperate' in a situation where you know that most others will 'defect'? Finally, from a real-world policy perspective, how can we bring about the best solutions to these and other collective action problems? Is the best policy response always a straightforward function of the variable features of each case? Interdisciplinary readings from authors in philosophy, politics, economics, and law such as Elinor Ostrom, Peter Singer, and Cass Sunstein. No background will be assumed and no mathematical work will be required. The course will include a module led by an award-winning designer in which students will design table top games that can be used to teach the dynamics of collective action to high school students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 74:
Business Ethics (ETHICSOC 182M)
What do people mean when they say, "it's just business"? Do they mean that there are no moral norms in business or do they mean that there are special moral norms in business that differ from those of personal relationships and other spheres of social activity? In this class we will examine ethical questions that arise in the domain of business. We will ask, for example: What does the market reward and what should it reward? What are the moral responsibilities of a business owner in a competitive environment? Is it acceptable to employ "sweatshop labor"? How do the moral responsibilities of a business owner differ from that of a policy maker? What information does a seller (or buyer) have a moral duty to disclose? In real estate, is a strategic default morally wrong? How much government regulation of Wall Street is morally justified? We will use the writings of Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, J. S. Mill, Marx, Jevons and Menger, Hayek, Walzer, and Sandel, among others, to help us answer these questions. We will see, for example, what Aristotle thought about day trading.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 76:
Introduction to Global Justice (ETHICSOC 136R, INTNLREL 136R, POLISCI 136R, POLISCI 336)
Recent work in political theory on global justice. Topics include global poverty, human rights, fair trade, immigration, climate change. Do developed countries have a duty to aid developing countries? Do rich countries have the right to close their borders to economic immigrants? When is humanitarian intervention justified? Readings include Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, John Rawls.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 90E:
Ethics in Real Life: How Philosophy Can Make Us Better People (ETHICSOC 203R)
Socrates thought that philosophy was supposed to be practical, but most of the philosophy we do today is anything but. This course will convince you that philosophy actually is useful outside of the classroom--and can have a real impact on your everyday decisions and how to live your life. We'll grapple with tough practical questions such as: 'Is it selfish if I choose to have biological children instead of adopting kids who need homes?' 'Am I behaving badly if I don't wear a helmet when I ride my bike?' 'Should I major in a subject that will help me make a lot of money so I can then donate most of it to overseas aid instead of choosing a major that will make me happy?' Throughout the course, we will discuss philosophical questions about blame, impartiality, the force of different 'shoulds,' and whether there are such things as universal moral rules that apply to everyone.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 101:
Introduction to Medieval Philosophy (PHIL 201)
Classics of Western philosophy by Augustine, Boethius, Anselm, and Aquinas. Explore the puzzles facing someone seeking to lead a good life and to understand herself and her world. A theory of will and human motivation, a theory of ethics based on the agent's intention, and a theory of divine omniscience and omnipotence consistent with divine goodness and human freedom. Works include On Free Choice, The Consolation of Philosophy, On the Fall of the Devil, and Summa Theologiae.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 127:
Kant's Ethics (PHIL 227)
A study of Kant¿s ethical thought, focusing on The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals, The Critique of Practical Reason, and The Metaphysics of Morals. Prerequisite: Phil. 2, Phil. 170, or equivalent (consult the instructor). Designed for undergraduate department majors and graduate students.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 127A:
Kant's Value Theory (PHIL 227A)
(Graduate students register for 227A.) The role of autonomy, principled rational self-governance, in Kant's account of the norms to which human beings are answerable as moral agents, citizens, empirical inquirers, and religious believers. Relations between moral values (goodness, rightness) and aesthetic values (beauty, sublimity).
Last offered: Spring 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 135:
Existentialism (PHIL 235)
Focus is on the existentialist preoccupation with human freedom. What constitutes authentic individuality? What is one's relation to the divine? How can one live a meaningful life? What is the significance of death? A rethinking of the traditional problem of freedom and determinism in readings from Rousseau, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, and the extension of these ideas by Sartre, Beauvoir, and Camus, including their social and political consequences in light of 20th-century fascism and feminism.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER
PHIL 170:
Ethical Theory (ETHICSOC 170, PHIL 270)
A more challenging version of Phil 2 designed primarily for juniors and seniors (may also be appropriate for some freshmen and sophomores - contact professor). Fulfills the Ethical Reasoning requirement. Graduate section (270) will include supplemental readings and discussion, geared for graduate students new to moral philosophy, as well as those with some background who would like more.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 170D:
Trust and Trustworthiness (PHIL 270D)
An exploration of the place of interpersonal trust in ethical thought. What is it to trust another person? How is trusting related to, though different from, other attitudes we sometimes bear towards others (e.g. justified beliefs we form about others and their conduct; ethically significant expectations we have of others, etc.)? What is involved in acquiring/possessing the virtue of trustworthiness? How should trust (and trustworthiness) figure in our thinking about important ethical activities, for example promising, friendship, or the practice of politics?
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 171:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 271, POLISCI 3P, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors: ;
Cohen, J. (PI);
Berkey, B. (GP);
Ettel, J. (GP);
Grinberg, M. (GP);
Lamboy, L. (GP);
Levitov, A. (GP);
Liu, G. (GP);
Rudy, F. (GP);
Seaford, A. (GP);
Smith, P. (GP);
Young, J. (GP)
PHIL 172:
History of Modern Moral Philosophy (PHIL 272)
This course traces the development of moral philosophy in Britain just prior to the nearly simultaneous emergence of Kant's moral philosophy and Bentham's utilitarianism in the 1780's. Emphasis is on the dialogue between empiricists and rationalists on the subject of the relationship between the natural and the normative. Authors include Hobbes, Clarke, Hutcheson, Hume, Smith, Price, and Bentham. Prerequisite: some familiarity with Kant's moral theory and utilitarianism, and demonstrated interest in philosophy.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 172B:
Recent Ethical Theory (PHIL 272B)
Study the works of several prominent contemporary moral philosophers. Possible authors include: Scanlon, Darwall, Nagel, Williams, Blackburn, Gibbard, Korsgaard. Prerequisite: students should have taken an introduction to moral philosophy (Phil. 20, Phil. 170 or equivalent).
Last offered: Winter 2011
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 172N:
Prudence and Morality (PHIL 272N)
We sometimes think we should do something just because it will benefit us in the future, even though we don¿t particularly feel like doing it now (e.g. we exercise, go to the dentist for a check-up, or set aside money for retirement). And we sometimes think we should do something for the sake of another person, even when it is inconvenient, costly, or unpleasant (e.g. we stop to help a stranded motorist, donate to charity, or tell someone an embarrassing truth rather than a face-saving lie). When we do the former, we act prudently. When we do the latter, we act morally. This course explores the debate among philosophers about the source of our reasons for acting prudently and morally. Some argue that our reasons to be prudent and moral stem directly from the fact that we are rational ¿ that it is contrary to reason to ignore our own future interests, or the interests of other people. Others disagree, arguing that the source of these reasons must lie elsewhere. Course readings will include work by Thomas Nagel, Bernard Williams, Christine Korsgaard, Derek Parfit, Philippa Foot, and others.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PHIL 174A:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 274A, POLISCI 135P)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 175:
Philosophy of Law
Philosophical foundations of law and the legal system. The justifiability of patterns of assigning legal responsibility within criminal law. Prerequisite: PHIL 80 and one additional PHIL course.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 175A:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
PHIL 176:
Political Philosophy: The Social Contract Tradition (PHIL 276)
(Graduate students register for 276.) Why and under what conditions do human beings need political institutions? What makes them legitimate or illegitimate? What is the nature, source, and extent of the obligation to obey the legitimate ones, and how should people alter or overthrow the others? Study of the answers given to such questions by major political theorists of the early modern period: Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, and Kant.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 176A:
Classical Seminar: Origins of Political Thought (CLASSHIS 133, CLASSHIS 333, PHIL 276A, POLISCI 330A)
Political philosophy in classical antiquity, focusing on canonical works of Thucydides, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero. Historical background. Topics include: political obligation, citizenship, and leadership; origins and development of democracy; and law, civic strife, and constitutional change.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PHIL 178M:
Introduction to Environmental Ethics (ETHICSOC 178M, ETHICSOC 278M, PHIL 278M, POLISCI 134L)
This course examines the following ethical questions about the environment: (1) how we ought morally to relate to animals; (2) attempts to expand the circle of moral concern beyond animals to other parts of nature; (3) economic approaches to environmental problems (e.g. cost-benefit analysis) and the justification of the precautionary principle; and (4) our moral obligations to future people. The class will conclude by considering whether the theoretical tools that we have examined help to address the problems of climate change, one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
PHIL 182:
Truth (PHIL 282)
Focus on the nature of truth; specifically, ongoing debates between so-called correspondence theorists and deflationists. The former generally think truth amounts to some kind of structural isomorphism between the world and our representations of it (like the relationship between a subway map and the subway route itself). Deflationists think the nature of truth is exhausted by something as trifling as the equivalence between affirming something and affirming that it's true: e.g., it's true that Modest Mouse is God's gift to indie rock if and only if Modest Mouse IS God's gift to indie rock. Related issues include the possibility of truth-value "gaps" (claims that are neither true nor false), degrees of truth, relativism and realism about arbitrary subject matters, the semantic paradoxes (like the Liar), the role of truth in the theory of meaning, and the value of true belief. Most readings were written after 1980. Previous courses in philosophy of language and/or metaphysics very strongly encouraged. Phil 80 a must.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 2-4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 3P:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 171, PHIL 271, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors: ;
Cohen, J. (PI);
Berkey, B. (GP);
Ettel, J. (GP);
Grinberg, M. (GP);
Lamboy, L. (GP);
Levitov, A. (GP);
Liu, G. (GP);
Rudy, F. (GP);
Seaford, A. (GP);
Smith, P. (GP);
Young, J. (GP)
POLISCI 131L:
Modern Political Thought: Machiavelli to Marx and Mill (ETHICSOC 131S)
This course offers an introduction to the history of Western political thought from the late fifteenth through the nineteenth centuries. We will consider the development of ideas like individual rights, government by consent, and the protection of private property. We will also explore the ways in which these ideas continue to animate contemporary political debates. Thinkers covered will include: Niccolò Machiavelli, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Edmund Burke, John Stuart Mill, and Karl Marx.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 133:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, PUBLPOL 103D, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
POLISCI 134L:
Introduction to Environmental Ethics (ETHICSOC 178M, ETHICSOC 278M, PHIL 178M, PHIL 278M)
This course examines the following ethical questions about the environment: (1) how we ought morally to relate to animals; (2) attempts to expand the circle of moral concern beyond animals to other parts of nature; (3) economic approaches to environmental problems (e.g. cost-benefit analysis) and the justification of the precautionary principle; and (4) our moral obligations to future people. The class will conclude by considering whether the theoretical tools that we have examined help to address the problems of climate change, one of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
POLISCI 134P:
Contemporary Moral Problems (ETHICSOC 185M, PHIL 72)
As individuals and as members of societies, we make choices that can be assessed from the moral point of view. What choices should we make, and how should we make them? Topics will include: Is it ok to buy iThings when others lack basic nutrition? Does a preference for the taste of meat justify killing and eating animals? Under what circumstances, if any, is abortion morally permissible? Should employers and schools be allowed to favor minority candidates? Is a ban on trans fat morally impermissible paternalism? Readings for these and other topics will be drawn from contemporary philosophers such as Frances Kamm, Jeff McMahan, Robert Nozick, Debra Satz, Tommie Shelby, Peter Singer, and Judith Jarvis Thomson.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
POLISCI 135P:
Moral Limits of the Market (ETHICSOC 174A, PHIL 174A, PHIL 274A)
Morally controversial uses of markets and market reasoning in areas such as organ sales, procreation, education, and child labor. Would a market for organ donation make saving lives more efficient; if it did, would it thereby be justified? Should a nation be permitted to buy the right to pollute? Readings include Walzer, Arrow, Rawls, Sen, Frey, Titmuss, and empirical cases.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
POLISCI 136R:
Introduction to Global Justice (ETHICSOC 136R, INTNLREL 136R, PHIL 76, POLISCI 336)
Recent work in political theory on global justice. Topics include global poverty, human rights, fair trade, immigration, climate change. Do developed countries have a duty to aid developing countries? Do rich countries have the right to close their borders to economic immigrants? When is humanitarian intervention justified? Readings include Charles Beitz, Thomas Pogge, John Rawls.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
POLISCI 136S:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 171, PHIL 271, POLISCI 3P, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 103C, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors: ;
Cohen, J. (PI);
Berkey, B. (GP);
Ettel, J. (GP);
Grinberg, M. (GP);
Lamboy, L. (GP);
Levitov, A. (GP);
Liu, G. (GP);
Rudy, F. (GP);
Seaford, A. (GP);
Smith, P. (GP);
Young, J. (GP)
POLISCI 231:
High-Stakes Politics: Case Studies in Political Philosophy, Institutions, and Interests (CLASSHIS 332)
Normative political theory combined with positive political theory to better explain how major texts may have responded to and influenced changes in formal and informal institutions. Emphasis is on historical periods in which catastrophic institutional failure was a recent memory or a realistic possibility. Case studies include Greek city-states in the classical period and the northern Atlantic community of the 17th and 18th centuries including upheavals in England and the American Revolutionary era.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
POLISCI 232T:
The Dialogue of Democracy (AMSTUD 137, COMM 137W, COMM 237, POLISCI 332T)
All forms of democracy require some kind of communication so people can be aware of issues and make decisions. This course looks at competing visions of what democracy should be and different notions of the role of dialogue in a democracy. Is it just campaigning or does it include deliberation? Small scale discussions or sound bites on television? Or social media? What is the role of technology in changing our democratic practices, to mobilize, to persuade, to solve public problems? This course will include readings from political theory about democratic ideals - from the American founders to J.S. Mill and the Progressives to Joseph Schumpeter and modern writers skeptical of the public will. It will also include contemporary examinations of the media and the internet to see how those practices are changing and how the ideals can or cannot be realized.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
POLISCI 233F:
Science, Technology, and Society in the Face of the Looming Disaster (FRENCH 228, ITALIAN 228)
The major topic will be the indeterminacy regarding the survival of humankind. With the advent of the atomic bomb humankind became potentially the maker of its own demise. Will combine a number of significant case studies (environmental disasters, industrial catastrophes, threat of nuclear devastation, technological risks) with the lessons drawn from a form of literature that is at the intersection of STS and the Humanities, in particular the early warnings made by such thinkers as Ivan Illich, Martin Heidegger, Hans Jonas, Günther Anders, and Hannah Arendt.
Last offered: Winter 2013
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
POLISCI 234P:
Deliberative Democracy and its Critics (AMSTUD 135, COMM 135, COMM 235, COMM 335, POLISCI 334P)
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.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER, WAY-SI
POLISCI 237M:
Politics and Evil (ETHICSOC 237M)
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the political theorist Hannah Arendt wrote that ¿the problem of evil will be the fundamental question of postwar intellectual life in Europe.¿ This question remains fundamental today. The acts to which the word ¿evil¿ might apply¿genocide, terrorism, torture, human trafficking, etc.¿persist. The rhetoric of evil also remains central to American political discourse, both as a means of condemning such acts and of justifying preventive and punitive measures intended to combat them. In this advanced undergraduate seminar, we will examine the intersection of politics and evil by considering works by philosophers and political theorists, with occasional forays into film and media. The thinkers covered will include: Hannah Arendt, Immanuel Kant, Niccolò Machiavelli, Friedrich Nietzche, and Michael Walzer.
Last offered: Spring 2013
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
PUBLPOL 103C:
Justice (ETHICSOC 171, IPS 208, PHIL 171, PHIL 271, POLISCI 3P, POLISCI 136S, POLISCI 336S, PUBLPOL 307)
Focus is on the ideal of a just society, and the place of liberty and equality in it, in light of contemporary theories of justice and political controversies. Topics include financing schools and elections, regulating markets, discriminating against people with disabilities, and enforcing sexual morality. Counts as Writing in the Major for PoliSci majors.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
Instructors: ;
Cohen, J. (PI);
Berkey, B. (GP);
Ettel, J. (GP);
Grinberg, M. (GP);
Lamboy, L. (GP);
Levitov, A. (GP);
Liu, G. (GP);
Rudy, F. (GP);
Seaford, A. (GP);
Smith, P. (GP);
Young, J. (GP)
PUBLPOL 103D:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, URBANST 122)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
PUBLPOL 134:
Ethics On the Edge: Business, Non-Profit Organizations, Government, and Individuals (ETHICSOC 234R, PUBLPOL 234)
The objective of the course is to explore the current international emphasis on organizational ethics. Students will consider in-depth complex ethics matters across business, the non-profit sector, and government. We will unravel the factors contributing to the seemingly pervasive failure of ethics today, including commonalities and links among sectors, through a broad range of international case studies. Examples might include: the Bangladesh garment factory fire and collapse; corruption in Nigeria; the Libor rate-rigging scandal; the US military sex abuse scandal; the GlaxoSmithKline China corruption scandal; racism in international football; drones; social media; and a non-profit sector ethics challenge to be identified. Prominent guest speakers will attend certain sessions interactively. Questions of cultural context, how ethics lags behind technology, ethics and leadership, and ethics and global systemic risks (poverty, financial system meltdown, climate change, cyber terrorism¿) will be considered. Attendance required. Grading is based 25% on short assignments, 35% class participation, and 40% final project. The final project is in lieu of exam on a topic of each student¿s choice. Class participation may include a variety of options beyond simply speaking up in class (e.g. participation on the class web site, assisting other students with presentations or final projects, participation in relevant University events, group discussions during office hours¿).
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: WAY-ER
PUBLPOL 304A:
Collective Action: Ethics and Policy (ETHICSOC 180M, PHIL 73)
Individually rational actions can give rise to results that are collectively irrational. For example, the collective result of our consumption decisions is to warm the planet, destroy the world's fisheries, and increase reliance on factory farming; at the same time, the decisions of a single individual seem to have no tangible effect on such things. In light of this, what (if anything) are you as an individual required to do in these and other collective action situations, especially when others are not doing their part to prevent things from getting out of control? For example, are you required to reduce your carbon footprint and avoid products that are produced in ethically objectionable ways? Do you have a duty to vote? Is free-riding always ethically objectionable? Can you be required to 'cooperate' in a situation where you know that most others will 'defect'? Finally, from a real-world policy perspective, how can we bring about the best solutions to these and other collective action problems? Is the best policy response always a straightforward function of the variable features of each case? Interdisciplinary readings from authors in philosophy, politics, economics, and law such as Elinor Ostrom, Peter Singer, and Cass Sunstein. No background will be assumed and no mathematical work will be required. The course will include a module led by an award-winning designer in which students will design table top games that can be used to teach the dynamics of collective action to high school students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-ER
RELIGST 17N:
Love, Power, and Justice: Ethics in Christian Perspective
From its inception, the Christian faith has, like all religions, implied an ethos as well as a worldview, a morality and way of life as well as a system of beliefs, an ethics as well as a metaphysics. Throughout history, Christian thinkers have offered reasoned accounts of the moral values, principles, and virtues that ought to animate the adherents of what eventually became the world's largest religion. We will explore a variety of controversial issues, theological orientations, and types of ethical reasoning in the Christian tradition, treating the latter as one 'comprehensive doctrine' (John Rawls) among many; a normative framework (actually a variety of contested religious premises, moral teachings, and philosophical arguments) formally on par with the religious ethics of other major faiths as well as with the various secular moral theories typically discussed in the modern university. We will learn to interpret, reconstruct, criticize, and think intelligently about the coherence and persuasiveness of moral arguments offered by a diverse handful of this religious tradition's best thinkers and critics, past and present.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 106:
Religion and the Environment: The Moral Meanings of Nature
What does it mean to live in "harmony" with nature? What do humans seek and find in nature and our relationship to it? How have understandings of nature oriented human actions and values and given "place" to humanity in the cosmos? From religious texts to Deep Ecology, American conservationism to Buddhist and Romantic nature poetry, naturalist critics of religion to religious naturalists, and finally debates over the role of religion in dealing with environmental crisis, this course is designed as a general introductory survey of the topic of religion and the environment. It will be guided by the question of how conceptions of nature have been a source of reflection on the goals of life and the ways in which humans are to understand their existential "lot". Readings will include primary texts from major religious traditions, poetry, and scholarly and philosophical texts from figures including, among others, Descartes, Goethe, Nietzsche, J.S. Mill, Thoreau, Aldo Leopold, John Muir, Gary Snyder, and Peter Singer.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 3
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 119:
Gandhi and His Legacy: Violence and Nonviolence in the World and in Ourselves (RELIGST 219)
Gandhi, the pioneer of nonviolent political struggle in the first half of the 20th century, is used as a springboard to study violence more broadly¿what it is, what it does to individuals and societies, how it can be addressed and transformed. Special attention to connections between (non)violence on an individual/personal level and in the larger world. New format includes both academic study and experiential workshops
Terms: Win
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
RELIGST 233:
The Ethics of Religious Politics (RELIGST 333)
Is it possible for a deeply committed religious person to be a good citizen in a liberal, pluralistic democracy? Is it morally inappropriate for religious citizens to appeal to the teachings of their tradition when they support and vote for laws that coerce fellow citizens? Must the religiously committed be prepared to defend their arguments by appealing to 'secular reasons' ostensibly accessible to all 'reasonable' citizens? Exploration of the debates surrounding the public role of religion in a religiously pluralistic American democracy through the writings of scholars on all sides of the issue from the fields of law, political science, philosophy, and religious studies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 3-5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-EthicReas, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
SIMILE 93:
Science in the Making Integrated Learning Environment
SIMILE is a new residentially-based program organized around the question of when something we might call "science" identifiably began, what it became, and what it might become. While we may believe that science, technology and medicine represent some of the powerful tools we have for making a difference in the world, SIMILE challenges students to consider these as dynamic and changing fields of knowledge which must be understood in their historical, cultural and social contexts. Only then can we consider how new ideas, interpretations, technological artifacts and systems respond to societal needs within the limits of what is possible but also, importantly, in light of what might even become plausible.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
SLE 92:
Structured Liberal Education
Three quarter sequence; restricted to and required of SLE students. Comprehensive study of the intellectual foundations of the western tradition in dialogue with eastern, indigenous, and postcolonial perspectives. The foundations of the modern world, from late antiquity through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. Authors include Dante, Descartes, Shakespeare, and texts from Chinese and Islamic traditions.
Terms: Win
| Units: 8
| UG Reqs: College, GER:DB-Hum, GER:IHUM-2, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER, Writing SLE
TAPS 12N:
To Die For: Antigone and Political Dissent (CLASSGEN 6N)
Preference to freshmen. Tensions inherent in the democracy of ancient Athens; how the character of Antigone emerges in later drama, film, and political thought as a figure of resistance against illegitimate authority; and her relevance to contemporary struggles for women's and workers' rights and national liberation. Readings and screenings include versions of Antigone by Sophocles, Anouilh, Brecht, Fugard/Kani/Ntshona, Paulin, Glowacki, Gurney, and von Trotta.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-Gender, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
TAPS 13N:
Law and Drama
Preference to Freshmen.Beyond the obvious traits that make a good (court room) drama, theater and jurisprudence have much more in common. Just as drama is engaged not only in entertainment but also in examination of social conventions and mechanisms, so law is not only concerned with dispensing justice but with shaping and maintaining a viable human community. In this class we will read and discuss a series of plays in which court proceedings are at the center of dramatic action and concluding with an investigation of the new genre of documentary drama.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
TAPS 180Q:
Noam Chomsky: The Drama of Resistance
Preference to sophomores. Chomsky's ideas and work which challenge the political and economic paradigms governing the U.S. Topics include his model for linguistics; cold war U.S. involvements in S.E. Asia, the Middle East, Central and S. America, the Caribbean, and Indonesia and E. Timor; the media, terrorism, ideology, and culture; student and popular movements; and the role of resistance.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
THINK 2:
The Art of Living
Where do our ideals for living come from, and how should they be structured? How do we justify them in the face of criticism? What role do great works of art play in this creative process?nnnOur lives are not simply given to us, but also something we make: as we examine the circumstances of our existence, recognizing certain facts as immutable and others as subject to our control, each of us faces the challenge of fashioning out of them a way of living that is both meaningful and justifiable. The Art of Living will explore different ways to think about the nature of that challenge ¿ how to accommodate conflicting demands and values, how to make our choices ¿artfully,¿ how we might use works of imaginative literature to inspire us. We will read important works of literature and philosophy, each of which implies a different value by which to live, whether reason, authenticity, community, art, or faith. In each case, you will be presented with different perspectives and asked to work out for yourself what you find most persuasive, thereby fine-tuning skills essential to your own lifelong project of self-construction.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 4:
Can the People Rule?
How did our ideas about democracy as a universal norm evolve from a term once used to describe a handful of ancient Greek city-states? Would American democracy function better if we applied ancient practices that allowed the people to rule more directly and knowledgeably?nnnnIn this course, we will explore the idea of democracy through the experience of the American republic, focusing on the constitutional experiments of the Revolutionary era and the 19th-century democracy analyzed by Alexis de Tocqueville. We then address contemporary criticisms voiced against many democracies today: that the public is not well informed and therefore incapable of governing. You will read and learn to draw on major works of political theory to think critically about the complexities of American democracy. You will also be asked to participate in a two-week experiment in Deliberative Polling, which involves gathering citizens in random groups to study and discuss issues. Through this exercise, you will explore whether this structure might offer an attractive or complementary alternative to representative rule.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
THINK 5:
Constituting Justice
How does justice incorporate the ideals of freedom, equality, and security? How are these ideals balanced against each other? How are they made concrete in the U.S. Constitution and law? nnnIn this course we consider three core ideals that animate the idea of justice: freedom, equality, and security. We explore the relationship between these different concepts through an interdisciplinary inquiry that includes political philosophy, history, and law. In your reading, writing, and thinking, you will move between the realm of abstract ideas and actual legal cases. We begin with the philosophical roots of the ideals of freedom, equality, and security, and then focus on their articulation in the U.S. Constitution and the overarching U.S. legal framework. Students will learn to analyze the distinctive challenges posed to the ideals of freedom, equality, and security by 21st century developments such as the emergence of the internet and the rise of non-state warfare.
Last offered: Autumn 2012
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
THINK 7:
Journeys
Is death final or only the beginning of another journey? How do the mysteries of destination give rise to our most basic questions of purpose, meaning, and faith, and challenge us to consider our proper relation to others?nnn nnJourneys will examine works written across a span of some 2,300 years, from Chinese philosophy to American short stories. Each of these forms and genres presents some essential aspect of the journey we all share, and of the various passages we make within that one great journey that relentlessly challenge and transform us even as we advance toward what the poet Thomas Gray called our "inevitable hour." By reading, discussing, and interpreting these works, we will ask you to consider how each text compels us, by the penetration of its vision and the power of its art, to make part of our own journey in its company.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 9:
Technological Visions of Utopia
How do science and technology shape the frameworks for imagining utopian or dystopian societies? nnnSir Thomas More gave a name to the philosophical ideal of a ¿good society¿ ¿ a word that is now a part of common language: utopia. In the almost 500 years since More¿s Utopia appeared, changes in society ¿ including enormous advances in science and technology ¿ have opened up new possibilities for the utopian society that More and his predecessors could not have envisioned. At the same time science and technology also entail risks that suggest more dystopian scenarios ¿ in their most extreme form, threats to humanity¿s very survival. We will look at several works that consider how literary visions of society have evolved with the progress of science and technology. The readings begin with More and include examples of more technologically determined visions of the late 20th century, as imagined in works of fiction.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 11:
Bioethical Challenges of New Technology
How might we apply ideas from ethical theory to contemporary issues and debates in biotechnology?nnnThis course will provide critical encounters with some of the central topics in the field of bioethics, with an emphasis on new technologies. Controversies over genetic engineering, stem cell research, reproductive technologies, and genetic testing will provide an opportunity for you to critically assess arguments and evidence. We will begin with an overview of the field and the theoretical approaches to bioethics that have been derived from philosophy. You will then have the opportunity to engage in debate and learn how to identify underlying values and how to apply ideas from ethical theory to contemporary problems.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER
THINK 19:
Rules of War
When, if ever, is war justified? How are ethical norms translated into rules that govern armed conflict? Are these rules still relevant in light of the changing nature of warfare? nnnWe will examine seminal readings on just war theory, investigate the legal rules that govern the resort to and conduct of war, and study whether these rules affect the conduct of states and individuals. We will examine alternative ethical frameworks, competing disciplinary approaches to war, and tensions between the outcomes suggested by ethical norms, on the one hand, and legal rules, on the other. Students will engage actively with these questions by participating in an interactive role-playing simulation, in which they will be assigned roles as government officials, advisors, or other actors. The class will confront various ethical, legal, and strategic problems as they make decisions about military intervention and policies regarding the threat and use of force in an international crisis.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-ER, WAY-SI
THINK 20:
Ultimate Meanings: The Stories Buddhists Tell
Does human existence have some ultimate meaning or purpose? What are we here for, and how should we live our lives? Can the stories used by the world¿s religions help us answer these questions? nnnFor a religion which teaches that we have no selves, Buddhism has produced many great stories with many great characters. In this course students will read and think about some of these stories, drawn from the Buddhist tradition in the many forms which it developed as it spread across Asia. We will look at the biography of the founder, the Buddha, the tales of his previous lives, the stories of his disciples, and of later saints and heroes, religious practitioners and ordinary folk. In reading these stories we will investigate how they elaborate a persuasively constructed world of meaning in terms of which people can make sense of their own personal histories, and from which they can learn how to lead a good and meaningful life.
Terms: Win
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
THINK 24:
Evil
What is evil? Are we naturally good or evil? How should we respond to evil?nnThere are many books and courses that focus on the good life or the virtues. Yet despite their obvious apparent presence in our life and world, evil and the vices are rarely taken as explicit topics. We will read philosophical and literary texts that deal with the question of evil at an abstract level and then use other readings that help us focus on more practical implications of the meaning and consequences of evil. By exploring the issue of evil, we will confront larger questions about the nature of humans, the responsibility to address evil as a society, and the moral and ethical ways we might begin to define what is evil.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: College, THINK, WAY-A-II, WAY-ER
URBANST 122:
Ethics and Politics of Public Service (CSRE 178, ETHICSOC 133, HUMBIO 178, PHIL 175A, PHIL 275A, POLISCI 133, PUBLPOL 103D)
Ethical and political questions in public service work, including volunteering, service learning, humanitarian assistance, and public service professions such as medicine and teaching. Motives and outcomes in service work. Connections between service work and justice. Is mandatory service an oxymoron? History of public service in the U.S. Issues in crosscultural service work. Integration with the Haas Center for Public Service to connect service activities and public service aspirations with academic experiences at Stanford. [This class is capped but there are some spaces available with permission of instructor. If the class is full and you would like to be considered for these extra spaces, please email sburbank@stanford.edu with your name, grade level, and a paragraph explaining why you want to take the class.]
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-EDP, WAY-ER
