1 - 10 of 18 results for: ETHICSOC

Weekly talks by Stanford faculty on important questions of ethics that arise in private and public life. These questions arise in all disciplines and are central to many of the main problems confronting humanity today. Such questions include: what is our obligation to future generations? are there any human rights? what is the appropriate role of religion in politics? is capital punishment ever justified? what are the ethical obligations of a researcher? should the university teach moral values? what principles of justice should govern the distribution of K-12 education? Class meets Fridays from noon to 1:05. Format is an informal talk of about 35- 40 minutes, followed by discussion.

Reflection on ethical values and the purpose of life through literature, including F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara, Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha, Jane Smiley's Good Will, Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Undergraduates from the University of Oxford participate with Stanford students. Field trips include an overnight camping experience.

What is the basis of moral judgment? What makes right actions right and wrong actions wrong? What makes a state of affairs good or worth promoting? What is it to have a good or virtuous character? Answers to classic questions in ethics through the works of traditional and contemporary authors.

State authority, justice, liberty, and equality through major works in political philosophy. Topics include human nature and citizenship, the obligation to obey the law, democracy and economic inequality, equality of opportunity and affirmative action, religion, and politics.

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.

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.

Focus is on theories of justice. How the core ideals of freedom, equality, and security animate theories which John Rawls considers the first virtue of social institutions. Topics include the U.S. Constitution as a legal framework for the operation of these ideals, civil rights legislation and litigation as the arena of tensions between those ideals, and how ideas of justice function both at home and abroad to impact civil liberties in today's war on terror.

An interdisciplinary examination of alternative and largely incompatible twentieth century defenses of the morality of capitalism, with a concentration on economic, Objectivist, and Christian arguments, considered historically, economically, politically, and philosophically. Readings from Adam Smith, Karl Marx, authors for and against slavery, John Maynard Keynes, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Austrian School economists, Milton Friedman, Michael Novak, and George Gilder. A reading of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. A concluding application of studied theories to a few recent public policy issues.

Major strands in contemporary ethical theory. Readings include Bentham, Mill, Kant, and contemporary authors.