How does social change happen?

Cass Sunstein

How does change happen? When, why, and how do people, and whole nations, come to together to influence large-scale policies and actions on issues like the environment, equality, criminal justice? Why do revolutions occur? This course will try to answer these questions, and do so by exploring a diversity of efforts related to societal change.... Read more about Making Change When Change Is Hard: the Law, Politics, and Policy of Social Change (Gen Ed 1102)

Why have debates about medicine and public health (e.g., vaccination, abortion, etc.) become so polarized and contentious in the United States?

David Shumway Jones

Students will encounter the ethical dilemmas of medicine and public health throughout their lives, whether with their own health, or with the health of their families and friends. This course will equip them with the tools of moral philosophy so that they can recognize, critique, and craft arguments grounded in appeals to utilitarianism, deontology, rights, or justice.... Read more about Medical Ethics and History (Gen Ed 1116)

If a society achieved truly equal opportunity, so that everyone could rise as far as their effort and talent would take them, would it be a just society?

Michael Sandel

Suppose a society achieved truly equal opportunity, so that everyone could rise as far as their effort and talent would take them. Would this be a just society? Would those on top deserve their success?... Read more about Meritocracy and Its Critics (Gen Ed 1181)

How can the novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky help us think differently about everyday moral dilemmas that are often seen as the prerogative of religion, politics, or philosophy?
 

Justin Weir

This course considers how Tolstoy and Dostoevsky take up moral inquiry in their fiction, introduces students to philosophical texts that informed their major fiction, and asks why the novel as a literary genre may be a good forum for the discussion of ethics.... Read more about Moral Inquiry in the Novels of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky (Gen Ed 1059)

Saving the planet is necessary and will actually make us happy, right?

Joyce Chaplin

So, the good news is that we’re already using ethics to define how we can and should do the right thing in relation to the natural world. In fact, all ethics in the western tradition have used “nature” and “natural” as foundational definitions—we’re more than halfway there! But, obviously, we need to be conscious that we’re using those definitions and we must decide which of them to correct or reject. (Ethics from western philosophy have an outsized place in global debates over policy and science, for instance, but should this continue to be the case?)

... Read more about Nature (Gen Ed 1117)

How can we most effectively harness the power of philanthropic giving and nonprofit work to create positive social change and address society's most pressing challenges?

Shai M. Dromi

How can charitable giving and nonprofit work be used to foster positive social impact? This course investigates this question by introducing students to the nature of philanthropy and nonprofit organizations, and their influence on civil society.... Read more about Philanthropy, Nonprofits, and the Social Good (Gen Ed 1192)

Is technology good, bad, or neutral – and if good, should we make it central to solving all our problems; if bad, should we radically change our ways; and if neutral, then what else should be the focus as we look for solutions to global problems?

Mathias Risse

Technology shapes how power is exercised in society, and thereby also shapes how the present changes into the future. Technological innovation is all around us, and new possibilities in fields like artificial intelligence, genome-editing and geoengineering not only reallocate power, but might transform human life itself considerably, to the point of modifying the essence of what it is to be human.... Read more about Philosophy of Technology: From Marx and Heidegger to Artificial Intelligence, Genome Editing, and Geoengineering (Gen Ed 1194)

What is racial justice, and through what justifiable means might it be achieved in the United States?

Tommie Shelby

We all agree that racism is wrong. Yet beneath this abstract consensus we find deep disagreements about what to do about it, and even about what racism is. We will address these questions by thinking about some very specific issues, drawing on work in philosophy, law, history, and the social sciences.... Read more about Race and Justice (Gen Ed 1146)

In an era of fake news, conspiracy theories, quack cures, science denial, and paranormal woo-woo, the well-being of the world depends on an understanding of rationality, why it is so easily eclipsed by irrationality, and how the rational angels of our nature can prevail.

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Argument and persuasion are features of all of our lives that can be as challenging and fraught as they are unavoidable and essential; what is the best way for us to handle them?

Edward J. Hall

Our lives are awash in argument and persuasion. This course aims to teach you how to manage argument and persuasion in your own life – not just with skill, but ethically.... Read more about Reclaiming Argument: Logic as a Force for Good (Gen Ed 1051)

What is a democratic republic, and can such a regime — one that trusts citizens to capably choose and monitor those in power, and one that trusts those in power to restrain themselves and each other while attending to the public good — survive and protect us from tyranny?

Daniel Carpenter

“A republic, if you can keep it.”  So did Benjamin Franklin characterize his hopes for American government. What did Franklin and others mean by republic, and why did he and so many others worry that it might be something hard to hold onto? This course will give you the theoretical basis and historical evolution of republics so that you can understand the American system of a democratic republic, now spread widely around the planet even as it is considered under threat.... Read more about Res Publica: A History of Representative Government (Gen Ed 1032)

How do the moral implications of security, a term with a long and provocatively ambivalent history, continue to be relevant in today’s understanding of community and social responsibility?

John Hamilton

Security is everywhere. Driven by hopes and fears, the need to be or feel safe determines almost every aspect of our world, from politics, foreign policy and environmental concerns to our social, communal and personal relationships. But what in fact do you desire when you desire security?... Read more about Security (Gen Ed 1020)

At a time when democracies are collapsing all over the world and when American democracy lies in a state of crisis, what, of its future, can be learned from its past?

Jill Lepore

The history of the United States is the story of a struggle to realize two ideas: that all people are created equal and that people can govern themselves. “Our great experiment,” generations of Americans have called the United States, and with good cause. Democracy has always been, at heart, an inquiry, a question: Can the people rule? In 1787, when Alexander Hamilton asked whether it’s possible to establish a government ruled by reflection and choice rather than by accident and force, that was a hypothetical question.... Read more about The Democracy Project (Gen Ed 1002)

In a time of rising authoritarianism and polarized debate, what role can the love of wisdom have in tempering the pursuit of power?

David Damrosch

Philosophers and politicians alike struggle to set the terms for living a good life in a world of conflict. Rulers seek guidance from their counselors, and philosophers have often dreamed of wielding real-world influence. Reading a series of masterpieces of philosophical thought and literary expression, we will examine some striking cases of relations between the pursuit of wisdom and the pursuit of power, from the extremes of conflict (the executions of Socrates, Han Fei, Jesus, Sir Thomas More) to the opposite dream of the philosopher king.... Read more about The Philosopher and the Tyrant (Gen Ed 1030)

How can a globalizing world of differing countries – rich and poor, democratic and authoritarian – best promote inclusive growth and human security by meeting the challenges of inequality, climate change, rising populism, and global disease?

Lawrence Summers and Robert Lawrence

Why is populism becoming pervasive - and is there a revolt against global integration? What is the right balance between national sovereignty and international integration? Is the US equipped to sustain its role as a global leader? How does international trade affect prosperity and inequality?... Read more about The Political Economy of Globalization (Gen Ed 1120)