CSP 68 Doing Good Well

Most people want their life to mean something. This desire leads many people to devote anywhere from some to a considerable amount of their time, effort and resources to things they believe will promote good aims and causes.

Good intentions do not guarantee good results, however. What is "good," anyway? Once you have decided that, what ways available to you are likely to increase it? And how can you tell if your intentions are being realized?

These are questions that have concerned humanity for centuries if not millennia. Particular answers to them are embedded in the work of many philosophers, writers and artists, as well as most religions, cultures, and political systems. While some of the readings for this course will draw on these traditions, we will also examine how contemporary resources, experience, and philosophical and scientific developments shed new light on these questions.

In particular, we will consider relational community organizing, issues of interest and power, the roles of governmental and non-governmental organizations, and the empowering potential (as well as the risks) of internet-based social media and big data. Effective Altruism, a recent philosophical position and social movement, will receive special attention. Engagement with community partners will help ground our work.

Students will write shorter pieces responding critically to readings, reflective pieces intended to help them progress towards principled answers to these questions for themselves, and a research paper analyzing the effectiveness of an organization (loosely defined) that is attempting to promote good (as the student defines it).