Spring 2017 Ethics Reading Schedule

Return to Ethics

JAN 18

• Introduction to Course

JAN 23

• Ariely, "Why We Lie" (6)
• Singer, Chapter 1, Practical Ethics, "About Ethics" (16)

• Focus: In Ariely, make sure you can summarize the main research study and consider implications of this research for ethics. With Singer, track the distinction between ethics and religion, arguments about relativism, and what makes something an ethical claim.

JAN 25

• Cooper, Chapter 1, "Philosophical Ethics," (1-20)
• Haidt, "The Divided Self" (1-21)

• Focus: Cooper give us some vocabulary for distinguish different dimensions of ethical thought, but the main action is the summary of the Zimbardo experiment. Haidt's "Divided Self" introduces you to your brain. Track the four types of divisions he describes.

JAN 30

• Haidt, The Righteous Mind, Intro and Chapter 1

• Focus: Track the story Haidt is telling about developmental and moral psychology and it's encounter with anthropology.

FEB 1

• Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics, Book 1 (1-13) (you can skip Section 6)
• Cooper, Chapter 5; (75-84) For background on Kohlberg's theory. Not for quiz.

• Focus: We'll fill in Aristotle's theory after you get the main ideas from the first book of the famous work.

FEB 6

Heavy Reading Week!!

• Sandel, Chapter 2: Utilitarianism, (31-57)
• Sandel, Chapter 3: Libertarianism, (58-74)

FEB 8

• Haidt, Chapter 2
• Sandel, Chapter 5: Kant, (103-124)

FEB 13

• Singer, Practical Ethics. "Rich and Poor" (191-216)
• Sachs, "Can the Rich Help the Poor"

FEB 15

• Post new research to wiki page on Aid to the Absolutely Poor
• 1st Position Paper topic discussion: Obligations to those in Absolute Poverty. Draft process begins.

FEB 20

• President's Holiday - No class!

FEB 22

• Haidt, Chapter 3
• Haidt, "Out-Take" on Virtue Ethics (4 pages);
• de Waal, to page 21;

FEB 27

• Haidt, Chapter 4
• de Waal, 21-42;

MAR 1

• de Waal, 42-58;

MAR 6

• Korsgaard, "Morality and the Distinctiveness of Human Action" (98-119)

MAR 8

• Singer, "Morality, Reason, and the Rights of Animals" (in de Waal) (140-151)

MAR 20

• Haidt, Chapter 5, "Beyond Weird Morality" (17 pages)

MAR 22

• Singer, One World Now, Chapter 1, "A Changing World," (1-16) and Chapter 2, "One Atmosphere" (16-68)

MAR 27

• Haidt, Chapter 6

MAR 29

• Singer, One World Now, Chapter 3, "One Economy" (69-122)

APR 3

• Haidt, Chapter 7

APR 5

• Singer, One World Now, Chapter 4 "One Law," (122-175)

APR 10

• Haidt, Chapter 8

APR 12

• Singer, One World Now, Chapter 5, "One Community" and Chapter 6, "A Better World?" (174-227)

APR 19

• Position Paper 2 discussion

APR 24

• Haidt, Chapter 9
• Laura's presentation and exercise on "Real Food Challenge"

APR 26

Haidt, Ch 10, "The Hive Switch"

• Humans are "conditional" hive creatures; satisfy the conditional and you flip the switch.

• Muscular bonding: examples? rowing, dance teams, cheer, serpentine, retreat rituals...

• Hive switch in celebration and dance: cultures which repress dance.

• Durkheim's social sentiments, which bind us to our group, "collective effervescence"; sacred / profane; for evaluation. Do we go wrong by not nurturing this? Or is it an outdated sort of virtue?

• Awe in nature: Emerson's transparent eyeball experience. (suppression of ego, even in solitude -- beautiful and the sublime) - (especially in religious experience?)

• Entheogens - in history of religion; contemporary versions. Maslow studies in 60s. bonding in adolescent social groups.

• Oxytocin - note studies: effect on bonding and trust, but not with outgroups. Mixed evidence with Dutch men. generally about bonding rather than exclusion, but can stimulate some out group behaviors. (research ambiguous.)(Paul Zac, The Love Molecule wedding story.)

• Mirror Neurons - in humans hooked more into emotional and goal oriented systems. recognizing intentions. (good for short research paper. some skepticism about theorizing from mirror neurons.) Tania Singer study -- less empathy for selfish players.

• Economic hives: corporations and cartels.
• Leadership studies - transactional vs. transformational. (How do you want to live and work? Does belonging matter?) notes from working at a mission-centered non-profit. the magic of 150. building inter-group unity without stimulating out-group negative judgements.

• Political Hives: might think of hive switch as same phenomenon as fascism. But not all calls for "binding" (fascia, fascist) involve the hive. Hive switch is about dissolving individuality, but also social hierarchy. (Ehrenreich claims fascism was essentially hierarchical, elevating the leader to a cult figure.) Also, hives embody social capital.

• Evaluating the Hive Switch

• examples in your experience.
• anthropological value of the hive.
• dangers of the hive -- loss of critical distance, over-trusting. communal thinking. turns over a lot to the elephant.

APR 28

• Position Paper 2 final version due

MAY 1

• Haidt, Chapter 11

MAY 2

• Position Paper 2 Peer Evaluations due.

MAY 3

• Haidt, Chapter 12