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Ethics Classes

Ethics Thought Experiments

In this interactive online discussion class we will explore famous philosophical thought experiments and their practical applications.  How does the trolley problem relate to the question of whether self-driving cars should be programmed to protect the passengers inside the car or the pedestrians outside the car if their brakes fail?  What does John Rawls’ “veil of ignorance” thought experiment teach us about how to set up a just society?  How do philosophers Peter Singer and Onora O’Neill use thought experiments to raise the question of whether people in the developed world are doing enough to help those in the developing world?  Come join the conversation!

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Ethics in Modern Life

In this interactive online discussion class we will explore a different real-world ethical issue each week.  Questions might include:  Did the West Point military academy handle a recent cheating scandal ethically?  How concerned should we be about Artificial Intelligence and the “responsibility gap?” That is, if a device with artificial intelligence causes harm, who is responsible?  Should the Audubon Society, streets, schools and other institutions, change their names because they are named after people who owned slaves?  What are some of the ethical issues that come up around donation of organs, and how are they resolved differently in different countries?  Should there be a mandatory retirement age for Senators, Congresspeople, and the President?  Would this be unethical age discrimination, or not?  Come join the conversation and share your views! 

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Ethics and Sports

Calling all sports fans!  In this interactive class we will discuss ethical issues in the world of sports.  What is the difference between unethical gamesmanship and ethical sportsmanship?  Is it ethical to be a football fan given what we now know about the effects of repeated head trauma?  Should baseball players who used steroids be admitted to the Hall of Fame?  Should there be rules against taunting in basketball, end zone celebrations in football, and bat flipping in baseball?  And should athletes speak out on social issues, or not?   

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Professional Ethics

In this interactive discussion class we will study some of the ethical rules that govern doctors, lawyers, and journalists, and ethical issues that arise.  What should a lawyer do when they know that their client is guilty?  What should a doctor do if parents refuse necessary treatment for their child on religious grounds?  Is it ethical for doctors to help the military create "medicalized weapons?"  Why are journalists so reluctant to use anonymous sources, and in what circumstances might it be ethical to publish a story based solely on anonymous sources?  Undercover reporting involves journalists misrepresenting who they are and what they are doing; is this ever ethical? 

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Justice in a Pandemic​

In this interactive discussion class we will explore ethics in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Were the people who stock-piled large quantities of hand sanitizer and then sold them online at inflated prices behaving ethically?  What ethical issues arise in testing vaccines, and in deciding who gets the first available doses of a vaccine? What did the philosopher John Rawls’ have to say about how to set up a fair and just society, and how has the pandemic highlighted ethical questions about the fairness of our economy and society?  Come join the discussion!

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Contact

Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  

Thank you! I'll be in touch soon.

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