printer friendly pageETHICSOC 12: First Steps toward Sustainable Food Solutions: Weighing Political, Economic, and Ethical Trade-Offs
Most food courses offer either a purely factual account of the challenges we face in connection with food, or idealistic accounts of what solutions would be best in a perfect world. Our approach is different. Our focus is on effective real-world policymaking and activism. Our aim is to identify the best initial steps toward the ultimate goal of sustainable food solutions given the messy real-world constraints of political feasibility and human irrationality that stand in the way of ideal solutions. For example, even if policymakers and activists agree that factory farms should ideally be eliminated, they still face the more pressing question of what initial steps of policy and activism would be most effective at moving us toward that goal. Similarly, even if policymakers and activists share goals of food justice, they still face the more pressing question of how best to work toward those goals from our starting point here and now. With that in mind, our goal is to use a weekly discussion of highly accessible readings from social science, behavioral economics, public policy, and ethics to illuminate how best to make the political, economic, and ethical trade-offs that are necessary for progress toward realistic solutions. In the process, we aim to distill more general insights about effective policymaking and activism that apply beyond the domain of food issues, and to include diverse perspectives that are often neglected in university food courses. NOTE: Course enrollment will be capped at 20, please contact Priya Fielding-Singh at priyafs@stanford.edu to apply.
Instructors:
Budolfson, M. (PI)
;
Fielding-Singh, P. (PI)
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-ER, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Reich, R. (PI)
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, WAY-ER, GER:EC-EthicReas
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
Instructors:
Budolfson, M. (PI)
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: WAY-ER, GER:EC-EthicReas
Instructors:
Olson, K. (PI)
ETHICSOC 199: Independent Studies in Ethics in Society
May be repeated for credit.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-15
| Repeatable
for credit
Instructors:
Callan, E. (PI)
;
Cohen, J. (PI)
;
Dannenberg, J. (PI)
...
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Instructors:
Callan, E. (PI)
;
Cohen, J. (PI)
;
Dannenberg, J. (PI)
;
Dougherty, T. (PI)
;
Dupuy, J. (PI)
;
Grimmer, J. (PI)
;
Hussain, N. (PI)
;
Lawlor, K. (PI)
;
Magnus, D. (PI)
;
Mazor, J. (PI)
;
McQueen, A. (PI)
;
Reich, R. (PI)
;
Satz, D. (PI)
;
Sockness, B. (PI)
;
Stedman, S. (PI)
;
Thomas, J. (PI)
ETHICSOC 200A: Ethics in Society Honors Thesis
Limited to Ethics in Society honors students, who must enroll once in A and once in B.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-5
ETHICSOC 200B: Ethics in Society Honors Thesis
Limited to Ethics in Society honors students, who must enroll once in A and once in B.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum
| Units: 1-5
Instructors:
Abrams, W. (PI)
;
Banks, R. (PI)
;
Bratman, M. (PI)
...
more instructors for ETHICSOC 200B »
Instructors:
Abrams, W. (PI)
;
Banks, R. (PI)
;
Bratman, M. (PI)
;
Caldeira, K. (PI)
;
Callan, E. (PI)
;
Dannenberg, J. (PI)
;
Friedman, L. (PI)
;
Greely, H. (PI)
;
Luhrmann, T. (PI)
;
McQueen, A. (PI)
;
Moe, T. (PI)
;
Ober, J. (PI)
;
Olson, K. (PI)
;
Parker, G. (PI)
;
Reich, R. (PI)
;
Romano, M. (PI)
;
Schapiro, T. (PI)
;
Weiner, A. (PI)
;
Wotipka, C. (PI)
ETHICSOC 200C: Ethics in Society Honors Thesis
Limited to Ethics in Society honors students, with special approval from the program faculty director.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 1-5
ETHICSOC 232T: Theories of Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Nonprofit Sector (POLISCI 236, POLISCI 236S)
What is the basis of private action for the public good? How are charitablenndollars distributed and what role do nonprofit organizations andnnphilanthropic dollars play in a modern democracy? How do nongovernmental nnorganizations operate domestically and globally? The historical developmentnnand modern structure of civil society emphasizing philanthropy and thennnonprofit sector. Readings in political philosophy, political sociology, andnnpublic policy. WIM for PoliSci students who enroll in
PoliSci 236S.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Sievers, B. (PI)
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