21 - 30 of 58 results for: ETHICSOC

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.

The practice of associating with others is a fundamental part of human existence. We cultivate friendships, we grow up in families, we work for nonprofit associations or businesses, we join social movements and sport clubs, and we participate in political associations with our fellow citizens. This seminar explores the ethical dimensions of association. What grounds a right to freedom of association? Do we have, beyond a right, also a duty to participate in associational life? Do we have special obligations towards our friends, family members, or fellow-citizens that we do not have toward strangers? To what extent should the internal life of private associations, such as families or churches, be regulated by the state? Should the state support, through tax-exemptions and subsidies, the nonprofit associations of civil society? Can a state exclude non-citizens, such as immigrants, in the same way in which a private club excludes non-members? These questions have wide-ranging implications for contemporary political and legal debates.

This course considers some of the moral problems encountered on campus and elsewhere in our lives as citizens and individuals. We will begin with questions that pertain to our own classroom and gradually broaden our scope to include, eventually, questions about terrorism and torture. The primary aims of the course are to encourage students to recognize and address moral questions as they appear in the concrete messiness of life and to help students develop the skills necessary to do this. Questions to be considered include: What would make this a good class and is this very question a moral one? What is education and who is entitled to it? What is the value of equality on campus and beyond? What is institutional discrimination? Are Stanford athletes being exploited? What should count as sexual harassment and is it properly captured by Stanford sexual harassment policies? Should abortions be offered by the Stanford Division of Family Planning? Is it permissible to kill animals for the purpose of scientific experimentation? Should Stanford divest from coal companies? Ought the City of San Francisco allow the homeless to reside in its streets? Who has the standing to condemn acts of terror and how do such acts compare to torture?

Seminar. The focus is on private property. Questions include: Is property a natural right or a social construction? How does our current, global system of property allocation work? What things are fit to be private property/a commodity? (Can we sell our bodies? Our vote? Natural resources?) The readings are a mix of philosophical classics (such as Locke and Marx), recent publications (e.g. Thomas Piketty, David Graeber), and empirical case studies. Prerequisites: none.

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

May be repeated for credit.