Teaching Right from Wrong

Wile the public may feel that ethical standards in politics, business, medicine, entertainment and the media have slipped, universities are quietly doing something about it. According to the Harvard University Gazette, the teaching of ethics had been standard during the 19th century, but was all but abandoned by the early part of the 20th century. The subject was revived in the mid-1970s in the aftermath of Watergate and the Vietnam War, when universities believed something had to be done to restore the public’s faith in its leaders and institutions. The greatest growth in ethics courses has come in the past decade, in part because of requirements that recipients of federal scientific research grants provide training in research ethics. Here are some typical course offerings:

USC

* A bioethics minor that prepares students to understand the problems of human experimentation, genetic screening and death and dying.

* A bachelor of arts degree with an emphasis on ethics, law and value theory.

* Master’s and doctoral degrees in the field of religion and social ethics.

* A course in moral responsibilities in politics, public office and citizenship.

* A course examining the refusal of treatment for competent and incompetent patients, voluntary and involuntary euthanesia and resuscitation.

* A look at value questions arising from the impact of technology on individuals, social institutions, and culture.

* The methodologies of feminist ethics, their emergence out of the academic disciplines and women’s movement, and their applications to social policy issues.

UCLA

* A philosophical analysis of contemporary moral issues. Topics might include revolutionary violence, sexual morality, right of privacy, nuclear warfare and deterrance, abortion and mercy killing, rights of women.

* An introduction to ethical theory, including a discussion of egoism, utilitarianism, justice, responsibility, meaning of ethical terms.

* Topics in ethical theory, including human rights, virtues and vices, principles of culpability and praiseworthiness.

HARVARD

* A moral reasoning course including issues such as affirmative action, surrogate motherhood, free speech versus hate speech and income distribution.

* Decision making and ethical values, which seeks to heighten awareness of the ethical implications of management decision-making.

* Planning and environmental law examines the constitutional and legislative context for the planning and use of land by private and public owners in the United States.

STANFORD

* A course analyzing ethical and social issues related to the development and use of computer technology.

* A course dealing mainly with ethical issues affecting poor nations, such as the arms trade, debt crisis and resource depletion.

UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA

* A course on African American studies, dealing with ethics and nonviolence.

* A pharmacy course that examines how ethical values help the courts interpret legislation pertaining to drugs and their use.

DARTMOUTH

* The course on the scientific, ethical and social challenge of assisted reproduction.

* A science course dealing with ethical issues in scientific research, including deception in research, human and animal experimentation.