Center for Values and Social Policy
Mission Statement and Programs

The Center for Values and Social Policy was founded in 1980 in order to bring the resources of philosophical analysis to bear on matters of social philosophy. The Philosophy Department, through the Center, offers B.A, M.A., and Ph.D. degrees with a concentration in values and social policy. These programs are designed to help students acquire both the philosophical skills and the broad understanding of public issues required to participate effectively in policy discussions and social research. The Center also conducts reasearch; sponsors lectures, conferences, and a visiting fellows program; publishes working papers and a newsletter; and collaborates with professionals from other departments and institutions. The concerns of the Center include both theoretical and applied topics in moral, social, political, and legal philosophy.

Degree Programs

Bachelor of Arts

The B.A. requires 30 hours in philosophy and 15 hours in allied fields. With the help of an advisor, each student selects an area of specialization such as environmental policy, medical ethics, or philosophy and women. A course schedule is then designed around this specialization. Some of the undergraduate courses in values and social policy that the Center offers are Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Environmental Ethics, and Marxism. For a complete list of the courses being offered in the current or coming semester, please refer to the Center Courses section of the Center Home Page.
 

Graduate Degrees

The M.A. and Ph.D. are designed to combine broad philosophical training and a focus in values and social policy. The M.A. program requires satisfaction of minimum background requirements in philosophy, a logic requirement, 30 hours of graduate study, a thesis, and (when appropriate) an internship.

The Ph.D. program requires 45 hours of graduate study, satisfaction of a logic requirement, a language exam, the fulfillmemnt of course distribution requirements in ethics, the history of philosophy, and metaphysics and epistemology, and a dissertation.

Recent theses and dissertations have been on a variety of topics including the notion of informed consent, the concept of wilderness, Native American views of property, the social construction of "trash," poverty, and ecofeminism.

Center graduate courses include Philosophy and Social Policy, Environmental Philosophy, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, Philosophy of Law, Bioethics and Health Policy and Professional Ethics. For a list of current and upcoming courses, refer to the Center Courses section on the Center Home Page.
 

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Ethics links

General resources in applied ethics:

• Ethics Updates, by Laurence Hinman.  This site contains links on ethical theory, as well as the following well organized and comprehensive links on issues in applied ethics.

  • Environmental ethics.
    • Animal rights.
  • Reproductive technologies and bioethics.
    • Abortion.
    • Euthanasia.
  • World hunger.
  • Poverty and welfare.
  • Punishment and the death penalty.
  • Race and ethnicity.
  • Gender and sexism.
  • Sexual orientation.
• Resources from DePaul University's Institute for Business and Professional Ethics.

  • Ethics, Business and Public Policy
    • Codes of Conduct.
    • Business Ethics Reference-Type Resources.
    • Associations or Organizations.
    • Links Regarding Specific Issues or Problem Areas.
    • Sites for Specific Corporations/Firms/Consultants.
    • Ethics Commentaries.
  • Ethics and Human Rights:
  • Ethics and Law, with a list of resources for law and pre-law students.
  • Ethics and Philosophy:
  • Ethics and Gender:
  • Ethics and Government.
  • Ethics and the Environment.
  • Ethics and Education.
  • Medical Ethics or Ethics in Science:
  • Ethics and Technology/Computer Ethics.
  • Ethics Pedagogical Resources (teaching/training):.
  • Newsgroups.
  • Newspaper coverage.
• Chris MacDonald's site for the Centre for Applied Ethics.  Also contains numerous links.

Ethics societies:

• Philosophy in Cyberspace's directory of philosophical organizations and societies.
• The international Association of Bioethics.
• The collection of links on ethics centers and organizations from Episteme Links.

Ethics centers:

• Philosophy in Cyberspace's alphabetical listing of centers and projects.
• The collection of links on ethics centers and organizations from Episteme Links.
• The center for professional ethics.

Journals:

• Links to journals in ethics from Episteme Links.
• Links to journals from Philosophy in Cyberspace.
• Ethics.

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