Be the Ethicist: The Environment
In this course, students are asked to consider debates in environmental ethics. Topics include: where do obligations to the environment come from? How do we balance environmental concerns with concerns about development? Is eating meat morally wrong? Ought we interfere in natural processes with the goal of sustainability or rehabilitation? Students address these issues by writing their own answers to prompts styled after “The Ethicist” column in the New York Times, as well as traditional formal essays. The focus of this course is on helping students develop effective written argumentation strategies and writing habits that prepare them for future academic writing at the university level and beyond.
Be the Ethicist: Sexual Ethics
In “The Ethicist,” philosophers answer the real life ethical questions that New York Times readers submit. In this course, you will become the ethicist. The real life questions you will be answering will focus on the theme of sexual ethics: is watching pornography wrong? Is consent enough for ethically good sex? Is it ok to have racialized dating preferences? In preparation for arguing for your position on these dilemmas in written assignments, we will read basic ethical theory to learn the tools of the trade, as well as reading arguments for and against answers to these questions. In addition to “Ethicist”-style columns, we will practice summarizing arguments in writing, giving arguments, and revising written work.
As Teaching Assistant
Ethics, Cornell University [primary instructor: Kate Manne]
19th and 20th Century European Thought, Cornell University [primary instructor: Michelle Kosch]
Contemporary Moral Issues, Cornell University [primary instructor: Kate Manne]
Introduction to Philosophy, Cornell University [primary instructor: Fran Fairbairn]
Minds and Machines, Cornell University [primary instructor: W. Starr]