As we’re all still trying to make sense of the explosion of racism and violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last week, the question asked over dinners and drinks is how—how in this time and place can such public displays of hatred exist? Joshua Greene, in his seminal book Moral Tribes, has one answer: biology. Greene argues that our […]
I love football. I’ve been known to annoy family and friends in July as the countdown to the season’s opening begins. And so, as the conversation over whether or not athletes should be able to kneel or absent themselves from the national anthem escalated over last weekend and spilled into basketball, baseball, and even golf, […]
Turns out that a person riding a bicycle in China is only responsible for creating a twelve-inch bubble of safety around them. In the US, the bubble of trust is larger, because we expect the rider to make eye contact with others, signal their intentions, and navigate in a way that maximizes safety for riders, […]
Over Christmas, my granddaughter wheedled me into watching The Lego Movie—an aminated film released in 2014 that I had somehow missed. When asked why I should watch it, Catie said she liked its message: that an ordinary person could make a real difference in the world. She got my attention. After a delightful romp through […]
As the anger and outrage for the latest school shooting has begun to subside into a search for strategies to reduce the number of deaths caused by people using firearms, the articulate courage of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School provides a flicker of inspiration in the shadows of grief. Turns out that […]
It all started innocently enough with a student inquiry about one of our simulations. The dilemma asked the learner to identify the most ethical option if a long-term, valued employee gets angry and throws a fire extinguisher at another employee while off his meds for being bipolar. The student made a good case for the […]
Many of us anxiously awaited the Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 584 U.S. ___ (2018) decision, crossing our fingers that our particular position would be validated. Surely the Supreme Court would see that the principle of freedom of religion was more important than the principle of accommodation for all—or perhaps tilt the balance the other […]
I’ve spent the past week cruising the upper Rhine in Germany. At one of the stops, we not only had the chance to explore a Museum of Medieval Torture but also visit the dungeon of a local castle with its sampling of the tools used to encourage ethical behavior. In addition to the pillories (wooden […]
Over the past month, I’ve been privileged to visit more than five universities and speak with several hundred students and faculty about ethics and ethics education. No matter the size of the group or the announced topic, at some point the question was asked: What did you think about the hearing for Judge—now Justice—Kavanaugh? Did […]
We often hear from faculty members who assert that they don’t have to think about teaching ethics because their subject doesn’t include conversations about values. However, like it or not, every faculty member teaches ethics—either intentionally or unintentionally. All educators talk about the ethical potholes of their discipline, model a (hopefully) civil and respectful environment […]