Stanford Center on Ethics Arrow Lecture Series on Ethics and Leadership: Dennis Thompson "Campaign Ethics: The Vices of Misinformation and Manipulation"

Date
Thu May 8th 2008, 12:00pm
Event Sponsor
Stanford Center on Ethics
Location
Cypress Lounge, Tresidder Student Union
Stanford Center on Ethics Arrow Lecture Series on Ethics and Leadership:  Dennis Thompson "Campaign Ethics:  The Vices of Misinformation and Manipulation"
Join Dennis Thompson, Director Emeritus of the Safra Foundation Center for Ethics and Professor of Public Policy and Alfred North Whitehead Professor of Political Philosophy in the Government Department in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University for a lunch time lecture as a part of the Center on Ethics five year anniversary celebration. A leading proponent of an institutional approach to political ethics, he will discuss campaign ethics in the midst of one of the most contentious presidential elections in recent history. What principles (if any) should we use to judge the conduct of political campaigns? We should care less about fair competition among the candidates, and more about the ability of voters to exercise free choice. Campaigns are not great moments of civic education, but neither should they be occasions for misinformation and manipulation. This lecture looks at examples of campaign practices in the past to develop some principles for judging campaigns in the future (or the present—if you bring your own examples).
Contact Phone Number