This is a University course and part of a new initiative with the Office of the Vice Provost Advances in Learning (VPAL). These courses are being deliberately designed to bring the entire Harvard student community together in united class sessions with dedicated sections. All graduate and undergraduate students should enroll in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences version of the course, GENED 1171. EC students would follow cross-register steps at FAS for the course.

The course explores classical and contemporary theories of justice and applies them to the ethical issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. For example: Does the state have the right to require people to stay at home during a pandemic, or is this a violation of individual liberty? Is it objectionable to use “immunity passports” to determine access to schools, workplaces, and college campuses? What about retail stores, restaurants, and public facilities? Should the government use surveillance tracking of citizens to enforce social distancing and enable contact tracing? Should we be willing to accept a certain number of deaths to resume normal economic activity? Is it wrong to pay people to submit to life-threatening risks, such as testing coronavirus vaccines? What, if anything, does the experience of the pandemic suggest about how our economy and society should be organized? The course addresses debates about equality and inequality, individual rights and the common good, the role of markets and government. Readings include Aristotle, Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and John Rawls, and articles on contemporary controversies. The course invites and equips students to reflect critically on their moral and political convictions, in relation to the pandemic and beyond. Course site: https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-216258/2020/fall/18135