Chapter 1: Moral Reasoning on Campus
Ethics and the moral life
Normative dominance
Universality
Impartiality
Reasonableness
Box: Morality and the law
Moral relativism
Ethics and religion
Argument fundamentals
Deductive arguments
Box: Valid and invalid argument forms
Inductive arguments
Enumerative induction
Analogical induction
Inference to the best explanation
Box: Three mental obstacles to critical thinking
Moral arguments
Box: Common fallacies in moral reasoning
Moral theories
Evaluating moral theories
Two important theories
Traditional utilitarianism
Kantian ethics
Box: Beware of motivated reasoning
Moral principles
Respect for persons
Justice
Utility
Nonmaleficence
Beneficence
Key terms
Exercises
Chapter 2: Free Speech, Equality, and Harm
Perceptions of Campus Speech
What students believe
Campus realities
Why Free Speech Matters
The right of free speech is not absolute
Free speech in recent U.S. history
Protected and Unprotected Speech
True threats
Harassment
Punishable incitement
Fighting words
Viewpoint-neutral regulations
Speech and harm
Psychological harms
Dignitary harms
Speech equals violence?
Box: Free Speech and Civility
Free Speech and Inclusion
Cancel Culture
Counterspeech
Box: Counterspeech: What Works, What Doesn't
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: Louis D. Brandeis, Susan Benesch, Nadine Strossen, Ulrich Baer, Lee C. Bollinger, Greg Lukianoff, Jonathan Haidt, Sigal R. Ben-Porath, Jeremy Waldron, Maxime Lepoutre, the AAUP, PEN America, the ACLU, Erwin Chemerinsky, Howard Gillman, Pamela Paresky, Justice Louis Brandeis, University of Chicago, Dangerous Speech Project, Susan Benesch, Richard Delgado, Jean Stefancic, Harper's Magazine letter, Michelle Goldberg, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Jonathan Zimmerman.
Chapter 3: Hate Speech and Speech Codes
Punishing Speech
Speech codes: overbreadth and vagueness
The University of Michigan code
The University of Wisconsin code
The University of the Virgin Islands code
Box: Two Views of Speech Laws
For Speech Codes
Matsuda's proposed speech code
Problems of vagueness
Existing laws against speech harms
Box: How Hate Speech Laws Are Used in Europe
How effective are speech laws?
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Nadine Strossen, Erwin Chemerinsky, Howard Gillman, Mari J. Matsuda, University of Michigan, University of Wisconsin, University of the Virgin Islands, Azhar Majeed, Glenn Greenwald, Richard Stengel, Conor Friedersdorf.
Chapter 4: Academic Freedom
Why academic freedom?
The role of professors
Past assaults on academic freedom
Faculty Freedom
What academic freedom does and doesn't do
The Steven Salaita case
The Joy Karega case
The Charles Negy case
The AAUP position
Classroom Freedom
Indoctrination vs. education
Trigger warnings
Safe spaces
Freedom of expression vs. freedom from expression
Silencing students
Censorship and safe spaces
The ache for home
No Platforming
The appeal to equality
The risks of censorship
Obama's admonition
No platforming and academic freedom
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: Jennifer Lackey, John Stuart Mill, John Dewey, Michael P. Lynch, Jennifer Saul, Michele Moody-Adams, Mary Kate McGowan, Jonathan Zimmerman, Ann Franke, Benjamin Daniels, Catherine Baiocchi, Cary Nelson, Sigal R. Ben-Porath, Colleen Flaherty, Divya Kumar, Michael Levenson, Joy Karega, Steven Salaita, Charles Negy, Inside Higher Ed, Tampa Bay Times, New York Times, Michele Moody-Adams, Michael S. Roth, Ruth Simmons, Robert Mark Simpson, Amia Srinivasan, Barack Obama
Chapter 5: Race, Racism, and Justice
Race and Racism
Defining racism
The nonexistence of biological race
Scientific racism
Why is racism morally wrong?
Racism Past and Present
American slavery
The KKK and Jim Crow
Essential concepts of slavery
Racial inequalities
Whites who say they “don't see color”
Structural racism
Box: Removing Confederate Monuments
Racial inequalities in wealth
Racial inequalities in education
Box: White Privilege and Its Problems
Racial inequalities in the criminal justice system
Racism or Not?
Racist statements and motivations
Unacknowledged racism
Degrees of racism
Microaggressions
Box: Responding to Microaggressions
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: Randall Kennedy, Lawrence Blum, Maria Golash-Boza, Naomi Zack, American Anthropological Association, Michaels James, Hasan Kwame Jeffries, Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Shannon Sullivan, Radley Balko, Conor Friedersdorf, Michele Moody-Adams, Kevin, Nadal
Chapter 6: The Ethics of Protest
The Right to Protest
Protest and the First Amendment
Protests on Campus
Civil Disobedience
Conscientious Objection
Classic Civil Disobedience
MLK's Exposition
Nonviolence and Violence
Peter Suber's Defense of Civil Disobedience
Box: Is It Protected Speech or Civil Disobedience?
Uncivil Disobedience
Disrupting lives
Defining Uncivil Disobedience
Philosophers against Personalized Protest
Candice Delmas: When Disobedience Should Be Uncivil
Box: Should Students Be Punished for Disrupting Speech?
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Martin Luther King, Jr., Kimberley Brownlee, Peter Suber, Martha C. Nussbaum, Charles Watson, Sarah Holtman, Candice Delmas
Chapter 7: The Ethics of Belief Online
Believing
Clifford's Principle
A Duty to Base Beliefs on Evidence
The Hazards of the Infosphere
Fake News
Reasonable Skepticism
Reading Laterally
Reading Critically
Using Google and Wikipedia
Box: Your Brain on Social Media
Sharing
The Ethics of Sharing Misinformation
Sharing Misinformation about the Pandemic
Gradations of Blame
Deliberate Deceivers, Self-Deceivers, and Bullshitters
Box: Trustworthy Fact-Checkers
Arguing
Morally Responsible Arguing
How to Argue Productively Online
Box: How to Win Every Argument
Argument Analysis
Key terms
Exercises
Readings discussed: W.K. Clifford, Sabrina Tavernise, Guy Harrison, Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Appendix A: For Further Reading
Appendix B: Answers to Exercises
Appendix C: Writing Argumentative Essays
Glossary
Index
