Ethics and Public Policy
Instructor Name
Søren Harnow Klausen
Instructor Biography
Søren Harnow Klausen is professor of philosophy at the University of Southern Denmark. He was Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Tübingen 2000-2002, member and later vicechair of the Danish Council for Independent Research 2008-2013, elected member of Science Europe Scientific Advisory Committee 2016-2019 and is currently member of the Icelandic Research Fund Expert Panel. He was guest professor at Åbo Akademi University 2022-2024 and visiting scholar at Peking University 2023-2024 (working on a monograph on sustainable behavior changes). His research is strongly interdisciplinary, combining philosophy, psychology and social sciences to investigate issues of contemporary and practical importance, in fields likes health and wellbeing, aging, green transition, digital technology, education and innovation. He has a special interest in Western and Chinese theories of personal and collective self-development and self-cultivation. Søren Harnow Klausen currently holds research grants for projects on digital wellbeing and implementation of hospital robots and is involved in projects on the ethics of artificial intelligence.
Course Description
The course gives a solid introduction to ethical principles and guidelines for public policy. It demonstrates how ethics can applied to policymaking and policy assessment in a constructive manner, using it as a tool for innovation and implementation and not just as a constraining factor. The course takes a pluralistic, global approach to ethics, considering how Western, Chinese and other ethical traditions can inform public policy and be used in combination. Four major areas of public policy will be treated in depth, to illustrate how ethical problems and options can be identified and handled in different fields: Public health policy; aging societies and eldercare; environmental policy; and digital policy (including regulation of online communication and digital technology use). The course gives special attention to issues of feasibility and acceptability and will also present relevant findings from moral psychology and behavioral science, as well as consider how to take into account different cultural contexts in policy implementation.
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge of the role of ethics in public policy; knowledge of relevant ethical principles; ability to carry out ethical analysis and ethically informed policy making; knowledge of obstacles and affordances for policy implementation; knowledge of ethical issues related to health, aging, green transition and digital technology use.
Course Schedule
Lecture | Topic(2.5 teaching hours) |
1 | Introduction: The role of ethics in public policy |
2 | Ethical principles of public policy |
3 | Political theory and the foundations and practice of public policy |
4 | Public policy, moral psychology and behavioral science |
5 | Public health policy and ethics |
6 | Aging societies, eldercare and ethics |
7 | Environmental policy and ethics |
8 | Digital policy (regulation of online communication, digital technology use etc.) |
9 | Ethical analysis as a tool for public policy |
10 | Decision making and implementation procedures |
Reading List
Boston, Jonathan, et al. (eds.). (2010). Public Policy: Why Ethics Matters. ANU Press (Open Access)
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2023, June 8). normative ethics. Encyclopedia Britannica.
Klausen, S. H. (2025; forthcoming). Changemaking: Gratifying Transitions and Strategies for Green Transition. Ch. 7 in Klausen, S. H.: Gratifying Transitions. Maintaining Wellbeing in the Face of Climate Change. Key Issues in Climate Change. Lexington Press
Wolf, J. (2019). Ethics and Public Policy. Routledge
Student Assessment
Apart from taking the final exam, students are expected to participate actively, contribute to discussions and perform case analyses
