Letter from the Director
Stanford’s Ethics in Society Program has been a small program that has been attempting to do big things.
For years, we have been working towards the idea that every Stanford student needs to be equipped with the
tools to make responsible personal and public choices. Foremost among these tools is exposure to diverse ways
of thinking about morality and social justice. Yet our superb program has been under the radar screen of many
students. But now things are changing, and are about to change even faster.
Last year, we were fortunate to have received support from two very generous benefactors: Buzz and Barbara McCoy.
Through their support, we have been working to spread ethics across the curriculum, to help faculty in different
disciplines deepen and augment their understanding of ethical issues. We have supported 32 classes across 20
disciplines. At the same time, Stanford has now added an “ethical reasoning” component to its General Education
Requirements. We are working with faculty to develop new and exciting classes that will help students navigate
the diverse and changing world that they will face as professionals, as citizens, and as members of a global humanity.
The greatest challenges our world and society face today are not technical challenges but moral ones. We fail our
students if we do not give them the tools to face these challenges.
A further sign of the strengthening of ethics at Stanford is
the appointment of two distinguished senior faculty in political
philosophy: Josiah (Josh) Ober and Josh Cohen. Josh Ober is
moving from Princeton where he has played an important role
in Princeton’s Center for Human Values. He is a leading scholar
in Greek political theory and will have a joint appointment
in political science and classics. His class, "Ethics for
Political Animals: Values, Identity and Responsibility",
will be supported by an Ethics in Society grant. Josh Cohen
joins us from MIT, where he held a joint appointment in Philosophy
and Political Science. A leading political philosopher whose
work has focused on understanding and interpreting democracy,
Josh will head up a new center on global justice and human rights.
Both Cohen and Ober will join the Ethics in Society steering
committee in Sept. 2006. These two appointments will bring new
strength in normative theory to Stanford. And there are more
appointments waiting in the wings!
In addition to Cohen and Ober, I am pleased to announce another new member of the Ethics in Society steering committee.
Brent Sockness (Religious Studies) joined the steering committee at the beginning of the 2005-2006 academic year. Brent
is a scholar who works in Christian ethics and I look forward to working with him.
As you will see from reading our 2006 newsletter, we have been
able to accomplish a great deal and I am even more optimistic
about our future.
This fall, EIS will sponsor a conference on “Equality and the
Market” to be held at Stanford on September 28-30, 2006 (Thursday
through Saturday). The conference will focus on both theoretical
issues [such as whether the market is essential to our understanding
of equality - as claimed by philosopher and legal theorist Ronald
Dworkin among others - or destructive of equality] and practical
questions [such as whether markets in particular policy areas
such as education and healthcare are at least part of the best
strategy for helping the least advantaged]. Our plan is to bring
together philosophers, economists and political scientists as
well as policy experts to help us think through these issues.
We have a very exciting line up of speakers.
After this conference, I will take a needed sabbatical year to finish my own book on the Limits of the Market. Eamonn
Callan will act as Director during my absence; as many of you may know he has been an invaluable member of the Ethics
in Society steering committee as well as a creative and distinguished scholar who has mentored many of our undergraduates.
Along with Joan Berry, our heroic and talented program administrator, I know that I am leaving the program in able hands.
One last transition to mention is Arnie Eisen’s departure from the Ethics in Society steering committee. Arnie, a
founding member of the EIS program and a leading researcher on Jewish identity and modern Jewish thought, leaves Stanford
the year after next to become the second non rabbi to serve as The Jewish Theological Seminary’s chancellor. This is an
amazing and well-deserved opportunity for Arnie. I will miss his wisdom, his kindness, his humor and his commitment to ethical
reflection. I am glad, however, that these will all find a prominent place in a leading institution. I thank him for all
his years of input into the shaping of Ethics in Society.
It remains for me to thank all of the faculty, staff and students, Stanford administrators, community members, and supporters,
who have made Ethics in Society such an amazing place to be. All of you remind me that reflective and serious discussion and
research on the world’s most pressing issues poverty, inequality, war and terror, environmental degradation, and lack of
secure human rights for so many—can coexist with civic engagement, great comradeship, and sometimes even joy.
With
best wishes,
Debra
Satz
