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 Introduction: The University of Toronto's Major in Ethics, Society, and Law (ES&L)
Contact Information(416) 978-8454 or Prof Theresa Miedema, Acting ES&L Director, 2011-12 Larkin Room 319 Office hours: TBA Is it ever right to lie? Is it ever permissible to kill a person? When, if ever, is it right for one state to intervene in the affairs of another? Are developed nations obliged to aid underdeveloped nations? Is it wrong to use animals in medical research? Is it wrong to experiment on human embryos? Is it wrong to constrain individuals to use public health care? Is progressive taxation legitimate? These are ethical questions.  Individuals face ethical challenges in ordering their lives, and societies face ethical challenges in regulating their affairs. There is nothing new about this. However, today we face new ethical challenges, many of which arouse deep feelings and resist easy solutions. Some of these challenges are rooted in our advanced global, bureaucratic, technological, and capitalistic social and political formations. Thus if we are to respond adequately to the ethical challenges of our time, we need to understand the very nature of the society in which we live. Some of the ethical questions we face as a society concern the law. For example: Should the law permit the virtually unlimited interrogation of terrorist suspects? Should the law permit pre-emptive war? Should the law permit surrogate motherhood? Should there be legally enforced guidelines for genetic research? Should the law extend the concept of property rights to the commercial use of new life forms? Should assisted suicide be a crime? Should the possession of child pornography be a crime? Should provincial film review boards have censorship powers? Should the law permit those with the greatest financial resources to have the greatest access to legal resources? There are various disciplines in the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences that can help us arrive at reasonable answers to such questions. A number of these disciplines are combined in the major program Ethics, Society, and Law (ES&L). |
