First Ethics Table brown bag lunch on Jan. 30 to discuss ethical character of students

The Ethics Table brown bag lunches begin this week on Wednesday, Jan. 30, from 11:30 to 1 p.m. in Thwing Center’s Spartan Room. These weekly lunches will offer members of the campus community an opportunity to meet and discuss pertinent ethical issues. The opening topic for the series takes its inspiration from the university’s next strategic planning phase, CWRU 2026, in preparation for our bicentennial. The question on the table will be: What should our university do to help form the ethical character of students in the 21st century? The meeting will address this and other related questions, such as:

• How, if at all, should the ethics of citizenship be a part of 21st century education? Which civic capacities are most in need and why?
• How should the philosophy of sustainability be considered? Is it an ethical demand or just a technological one?
• How should the omnipresence of information technology and virtual reality affect how we think about ethical formation? Should students learn how to live well with information technology? Does IT change our ethical being in any way?
• How should students be readied, if at all, to deal with the proliferation of new kinds of beings who have value, from non-human animals which increasingly are said to demand our justice, to genetically modified or created organisms, to the possibility of artificial intelligence, to nano-technology?

Attendees can come for all or part of the time. Attendees should bring their own lunches; coffee and cookies will be served. For more information, visit the Ethics Table website at case.edu/artsci/phil/ethicstable.html.