Free Will and Human Perfection in Medieval Jewish Philosophy

Recipient: Jacobs, Jonathan (Hamilton, NY 13346 USA) in affiliation with Colgate University

Goal: A five-week college and university teacher seminar for sixteen participants to explore key elements of medieval Jewish moral thought, focusing on the works of Saaida Gaon and Moses Maimonides.

Description: The seminar explores key elements of medieval Jewish moral thought, focusing on the works of Saadia Gaon and Moses Maimonides. We will examine their conceptions of the rational justification of commandments in Torah, their conceptions of free will, moral responsibility, the virtues, and the highest end for a human being. Also, we will explore key texts of Anselm and Aquinas, to highlight contrasts with influential Christian thought on some of the issues. The seminar will show the importance and relevance of medieval Jewish thought to central, enduring problems of moral theorizing. It will enlarge participants' knowledge of the history of philosophy and add texture and substance to their appreciation of important conceptions of the relation between reason and revelation. The nature and role of tradition, and the issue of the relation between a particular faith-community (and its tradition) and the universal validity of moral requirements are topics of special interest.

Grant: 197355 / FS-50221-09,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2009

Free Will and Moral Responsibility: Implications of Advances in Neuroscience

Recipient: Bok, Hilary (Baltimore, MD 21218 USA) in affiliation with Johns Hopkins University

Goal: The writing of essays to be compiled into a book addressing neuroscientific contributions to our understanding of human freedom and responsibility. (30 months)

Description: Philosophers have argued about the nature of moral responsibility for centuries. While they disagree on many aspects of this topic, most agree on one point: that moral responsibility requires the capacity to step back, think about what to do, reach a decision and act on it - that is, the capacity for self-governance. Recently, neuroscientists have been exploring the nature and biological underpinnings of this capacity, and the ways in which it can break down. Yet the philosophical literature on moral responsibility often fails to engage in any systematic way with neuroscientists' work on this topic. We propose a collaborative research project, involving a small group of philosophers, bioethicists and neuroscientists, the aim of which is to bridge this gap.

Grant: 191383 / RZ-50892-08,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2008

Ethics and Political Philosophy: A Guide to the Classic Texts

Recipient: Downard, Jeffrey B (Flagstaff, AZ 86011-6011 USA) in affiliation with Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ 86011 USA)

Goal: The development of a guide, to be hosted in a wiki-based digital format to encourage collaboration, that uses the Socratic method to help undergraduates understand the main arguments of the classic texts in introductory ethics and political philosophy.

Description: We propose to develop an approach to the content of introduction to ethics that is modeled on Socrates' approach to questions about the nature of virtue. Our proposal is to construct a reading guide that works through each of the main arguments in the texts, one at a time, and guides the students through the premises and conclusions of each argument. We do not intend to provide a ready-made outline of the arguments, but rather a guide that uses the Socratic method of raising hard questions and then criticizing possible answers to help students work through primary texts. This guide will be used as an online supplement to traditionally delivered courses in philosophy. The primary texts and the reading and writing guides will be hosted on a wiki based web page so that students and faculty can work both inside and outside of class in a more collaborative fashion.

Grant: 190048 / EE-50562-08,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Teaching and Learning Resources and Curriculum Development,   Year Awarded: 2008

Philosophical Perspectives on Democracy, Law, and Human Rights

Recipient: Altman, Andrew (Atlanta, GA 30302-4089 USA) in affiliation with Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc. (Atlanta, GA 30303 USA)

Goal: A four-week seminar for fifteen college and university teachers on philosophical questions relating to democracy, law, and human rights.

Description: Democracy, the rule of law and human rights are three core concepts in current political and legal thought. Few persons deny that these are worthy ideals, but conflicting understandings of these concepts has generated debate among contemporary philosophical thinkers. This seminar will examine that debate through an historically-informed discussion of the writings of some of its main participants. Among the questions to be addressed are: What is democracy? What role does public deliberation play in a properly functioning democracy? What is the rule of law? What value does the rule of law possess? Can the rule of law come into conflict with democracy? What rights are human rights? Is the idea of human rights culturally biased? And: Is there a human right to democracy? The main purpose of the seminar is to enable its participants to contribute to the current debate on these questions and to bring their understanding of that debate to their teaching.

Grant: 182225 / FS-50132-06,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2006

The Ideal of Nature: Appeals to Nature in Debates about Biotechnology and the Environment

Recipient: Kaebnick, Gregory E (Garrison, NY 10542 USA) in affiliation with Hastings Center (Garrison, NY 10524-5555 USA)

Goal: A volume of scholarly essays, and other related publications, examining the ways in which "nature" and "the natural" are appealed to in political and philosophical arguments. (24 months)

Description: This project will consider how ideas about "nature" or "the natural" are invoked in contemporary moral and policy debates over medical biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, and the environment. Although a number of recent books, articles, and government reports have offered appeals to nature in scholarly as well as popular forms, there has been no sustained comparative look at how appeals to nature compare with each other in the different social debates where they appear. Without this comparative work, we lack an adequate understanding of how they function in moral and political arguments and do not understand whether or how moral and political debate can accommodate them. The project proposed here will fill this gap, and therefore help to clarify some of the underlying and most controversial issues in debates about the appropriate use of biotechnology and the preservation of the environment. The work will be structured around three two-day conferences at which participants will examine, respectively, how ideas about "nature" are understood and used, whether and why nature or natural states of affairs should be valued, and whether and how appeals to nature can be incorporated in public policymaking. The project will produce a volume of scholarly essays, a scholarly report summarizing major issues and findings, web postings of the group's work and other useful resources, and an overview of issues for policymakers, media, and others interested either in biotechnology or the environment.

Grant: 176044 / RZ-50373-05,   Division: Research Programs,   Program: Collaborative Research,   Year Awarded: 2005

Political Obligation, Democratic Legitimacy, and Human Rights: Theoretical and Applied Issues

Recipient: Altman, Andrew (Atlanta, GA 30302-4089 USA) in affiliation with Georgia State University Research Foundation, Inc. (Atlanta, GA 30303 USA)

Goal: A five-week summer seminar for college teachers to examine ethical and political aspects of the relationships between citizens and the state.

Grant: 171903 / FS-50030-04,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2004

War & Morality: Rethinking the Just War Tradition for the 21st Century

Recipient: Lucas, George R (Annapolis, MD 21012 USA) in affiliation with United States Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD 21402 USA)

Goal: A four-week institute for 30 college teachers to support interdisciplinary study of classical and modern interpretations of "just war" theory.

Grant: 165517 / EH-50010-03,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Institutes for College and University Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2003

Ethics at the End of Life

Recipient: Battin, Margaret P (Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9156 USA) in affiliation with University of Utah (Salt Lake City, UT 84112 USA)

Goal: A five-week seminar for college teachers on ethical issues relating to death and dying.

Grant: 108485 / FS-23265-02,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2002

Justice, Equality, and the Challenge of Disability

Recipient: Silvers, Anita (San Francisco, CA 94132 USA) in affiliation with Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, NY 10708 USA)

Grant: 151637 / FS-23255-01,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2001

Thinking with Socrates

Recipient: Rorty, Amelie (Williamstown, MA 01267 USA) in affiliation with Williams College

Grant: 154743 / FV-22410-01,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2001

Social Justice and Group Rights

Recipient: Wren, Thomas E (Chicago, IL 60626 USA) in affiliation with Loyola University, Chicago (Chicago, IL 60611 USA)

Grant: 154746 / FV-22418-01,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for School Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2001

Ethics, Values, and Technological Change

Recipient: Hollis, Burney J (Baltimore, MD 21251 USA) in affiliation with Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD 21229 USA)

Goal: A study by faculty members of ethics and ethical theory leading to a new interdisciplinary course at this historically black university.

Grant: 157700 / HI-20876-01,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Presidentially Designated Institutions,   Year Awarded: 2001

Environmental Ethics and Issues: Alaska as a Case Study

Recipient: Liszka, James J (Anchorage, AK 99508-0000 USA) in affiliation with University of Alaska, Anchorage (Anchorage, AK 99504 USA)

Goal: A five-week national institute for 25 college and university teachers to explore ethical theory relating to the environment, focusing on Alaska and its complexities.

Grant: 142742 / EH-22280-00,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Institutes for College and University Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2000

Moral Choices: Ethics and Supranationalism

Recipient: Rosenthal, Joel H (New York, NY 10021-0000 USA) in affiliation with Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs (New York, NY 10021 USA)

Grant: 151629 / FS-23229-00,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 2000

Philosophy in Technology

Recipient: Robison, Wade L (Rochester, NY 14623-5603 USA) in affiliation with Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY 14623 USA)

Goal: A faculty development project to plan for a new undergraduate degree program in "applied philosophy" at the Rochester Institute of Technology.

Grant: 142022 / ED-21951-00,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Education Development and Demonstration,   Year Awarded: 2000

Bioethics in Particular

Recipient: Nelson, James (East Lansing, MI 48824 USA) in affiliation with University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Knoxville, TN 37996-0001 USA)

Grant: 151614 / FS-23188-99,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 1999

A Series of Seminars on Ethics in the Professions

Recipient: Liszka, James J (Anchorage, AK 99508-0000 USA) in affiliation with University of Alaska, Anchorage (Anchorage, AK 99504 USA)

Goal: A series of seminars for faculty at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, on ethical issues in areas such as public administration and engineering as a foundation for an ethics-across-the-curriculum program in the professions.

Grant: 141972 / ED-21682-99,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Education Development and Demonstration,   Year Awarded: 1999

Ethics Across the Curriculum

Recipient: Schiller, Britt-Marie C (St. Louis, MO 63112-0000 USA) in affiliation with Webster University (St. Louis, MO 63119 USA)

Goal: To support a one-year faculty and curriculum development project on practical and theoretical ethics.

Grant: 141925 / ED-21398-98,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Education Development and Demonstration,   Year Awarded: 1998

A Partnership to Study Ethics Between Utah Valley State College and Elementary and Secondary Schools

Recipient: Englehardt, Elaine E (Orem, UT 84058 USA) in affiliation with Utah Valley State College (Orem, UT 84058-5999 USA)

Goal: To support a faculty study project on ethics for twelve elementary and secondary school teachers from north-central Utah.

Grant: 141812 / ED-20625-97,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Education Development and Demonstration,   Year Awarded: 1997

Objectivity and Emotion in Practical Reasoning

Recipient: Blackburn, Simon W (Chapel Hill, NC 27599 USA) in affiliation with University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Grant: 151562 / FS-23015-96,   Division: Education Programs,   Program: Seminars for College Teachers,   Year Awarded: 1996