Intro to Ethics
PH 150
T/R: 11:00-12:15
I. DISASTER AND INJUSTICE
0. INTRODUCTION
Sept. 3
Introduction to the course
1. COVID-19 AND UNIVERSITIES
Sept. 8
John Jenkins - "We're Reopening Notre Dame. It's Worth the Risk" [PDF]
Christina Paxson - "College Campuses Must Reopen in the Fall. Here's How We Do It." [PDF]
Sept. 10
Irina Mikhalevich & Russell Powell - "The Misguided Rush to Reopen Universities" [PDF]
Katie Mack and Gavin Yamey - "After Cruise Ships and Nursing Homes, Will Universities Be the Next Covid-19 Tinderboxes?" [PDF]
2. BIOMEDICAL ENHANCEMENT
Sept. 15
Documentary "Fixed" (watch before class)
Sept. 17
Allen Buchanan - "Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer?"
3. LIFE EXTENSION
Sept. 22
Regina Rini - "The Last Mortals" [PDF]
Sept. 24
Nick Bostrom - "The Fable of the Dragon Tyrant" & "The Ethics of Life Extension"
4. EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM
Sept. 29
William MacKaskill - "Worms and Water Pumps" & "You are the 1 Percent"
Oct. 1
Amia Srinivasan - "Stop the Robot Apocalypse" [PDF]
5. ANIMAL SUFFERING
Oct. 6
David Foster Wallace - "Consider the Lobster"
Lori Gruen - "Eating Animals," pp. 1-9
Oct. 8
Lori Gruen - "Eating Animals," pp. 9-15
5.5. ESSAY 1
Oct. 13
NO CLASS (Columbus Day)
Oct. 15
Essay Workshop
Essay 1 - Friday, Oct. 16: 6:00pm
II. CULTURE WARS
6. SOCIAL MEDIA
Oct. 20
Jia Tolentino - "What it Takes to Put Your Phone Away" [PDF]
Oct. 22
Jia Tolentino - "The I in Internet" (from Trick Mirror)
7. POLITICAL TRIBALISM
Oct. 27
David Roberts - "Donald Trump and the Rise of Tribalist Epistemology" [PDF]
Oct. 29
Andrew Sullivan - "America Wasn't Built for Humans" [PDF]
7.5. THE U.S. ELECTION
Nov. 3
NO CLASS (voting day)
Nov. 5
Reading TBD
8. BACKLASH
Nov. 10
Freddie deBoer - "When Good Political Arguments Go Bad"
Nov. 12
Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt - "The Coddling of the American Mind" [PDF]
9. TRANS EXCLUSION
Nov. 17
Ruth Padawer - "When Women Become Men at Wellesley" [PDF]
Amia Srinivasan - "What is a Woman?" (Philosophy Bites Podcast)
Nov. 19
Amia Srinivasan - "Does Anyone Have the Right to Sex?" [PDF]
9.5. TBD
Nov. 24
Reading TBD
Nov. 26
NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
10. Emotional Labor
Dec. 1
Jess Zimmerman - "Where's My Cut? On Unpaid Emotional Labor" [PDF]
Metafilter thread on emotional labor
Dec. 3
Metafilter thread continued
10.5. Essay 2
Dec. 8
Readings TBD
Dec. 10
Essay Workshop
Essay 2 - Friday, Dec. 11: 6:00pm
Photo by Daniel Star
PH 150
T/R: 11:00-12:15
I. DISASTER AND INJUSTICE
0. INTRODUCTION
Sept. 3
Introduction to the course
1. COVID-19 AND UNIVERSITIES
Sept. 8
John Jenkins - "We're Reopening Notre Dame. It's Worth the Risk" [PDF]
Christina Paxson - "College Campuses Must Reopen in the Fall. Here's How We Do It." [PDF]
Sept. 10
Irina Mikhalevich & Russell Powell - "The Misguided Rush to Reopen Universities" [PDF]
Katie Mack and Gavin Yamey - "After Cruise Ships and Nursing Homes, Will Universities Be the Next Covid-19 Tinderboxes?" [PDF]
2. BIOMEDICAL ENHANCEMENT
Sept. 15
Documentary "Fixed" (watch before class)
Sept. 17
Allen Buchanan - "Will the Rich Get Biologically Richer?"
3. LIFE EXTENSION
Sept. 22
Regina Rini - "The Last Mortals" [PDF]
Sept. 24
Nick Bostrom - "The Fable of the Dragon Tyrant" & "The Ethics of Life Extension"
4. EFFECTIVE ALTRUISM
Sept. 29
William MacKaskill - "Worms and Water Pumps" & "You are the 1 Percent"
Oct. 1
Amia Srinivasan - "Stop the Robot Apocalypse" [PDF]
5. ANIMAL SUFFERING
Oct. 6
David Foster Wallace - "Consider the Lobster"
Lori Gruen - "Eating Animals," pp. 1-9
Oct. 8
Lori Gruen - "Eating Animals," pp. 9-15
5.5. ESSAY 1
Oct. 13
NO CLASS (Columbus Day)
Oct. 15
Essay Workshop
Essay 1 - Friday, Oct. 16: 6:00pm
II. CULTURE WARS
6. SOCIAL MEDIA
Oct. 20
Jia Tolentino - "What it Takes to Put Your Phone Away" [PDF]
Oct. 22
Jia Tolentino - "The I in Internet" (from Trick Mirror)
7. POLITICAL TRIBALISM
Oct. 27
David Roberts - "Donald Trump and the Rise of Tribalist Epistemology" [PDF]
Oct. 29
Andrew Sullivan - "America Wasn't Built for Humans" [PDF]
7.5. THE U.S. ELECTION
Nov. 3
NO CLASS (voting day)
Nov. 5
Reading TBD
8. BACKLASH
Nov. 10
Freddie deBoer - "When Good Political Arguments Go Bad"
Nov. 12
Greg Lukianoff & Jonathan Haidt - "The Coddling of the American Mind" [PDF]
9. TRANS EXCLUSION
Nov. 17
Ruth Padawer - "When Women Become Men at Wellesley" [PDF]
Amia Srinivasan - "What is a Woman?" (Philosophy Bites Podcast)
Nov. 19
Amia Srinivasan - "Does Anyone Have the Right to Sex?" [PDF]
9.5. TBD
Nov. 24
Reading TBD
Nov. 26
NO CLASS (Thanksgiving)
10. Emotional Labor
Dec. 1
Jess Zimmerman - "Where's My Cut? On Unpaid Emotional Labor" [PDF]
Metafilter thread on emotional labor
Dec. 3
Metafilter thread continued
10.5. Essay 2
Dec. 8
Readings TBD
Dec. 10
Essay Workshop
Essay 2 - Friday, Dec. 11: 6:00pm
Photo by Daniel Star