Tucked away in Parker House on the north side of campus exists an organization that grapples with problems ranging from bio-ethics to professional behavior.
The Dartmouth Ethics Institute, founded over 20 years ago as a consortium for College faculty members to focus on ethics in their respective areas of research, addresses ethical practices on an international scale.
Its roots, however, are based in Dartmouth's own, less cosmopolitan past.
"Dartmouth was founded on an ethical basis," said Institute executive director Aine Donovan. "Young men came to Dartmouth to get an ethical education."
Today, the Ethics Institute facilitates conferences within the College and runs programs to help faculty and students consider contemporary issues in education within an ethical framework. One such effort takes place at the Dartmouth Medical School, where Donovan works with residents to assist them in confronting difficult tasks, like making end-of-life decisions for terminally-ill patients.
Recent events sponsored by the Institute include last spring's four-session "Exploring Moral Courage" conference.
Stories included that of a man who saved nearly 3,000 lives from the burning World Trade Center and lost his own in the process. Another speaker told of his suspicions that his own brother might be the notorious "Unabomber," and how he made the heart-wrenching decision to betray a family member to save the lives of others.
The Institute provides research opportunities for students and faculty, including a recent federal grant to study the Human Genome Project. It also sponsors a team of students each year to participate in the Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl with 25 other colleges nationwide.
The Institute has recently applied to create a six-course Applied Ethics minor at the College, which Donovan feels would be a good addition to almost any major.
"Many professors may not want to talk about values in class," she said. "But if you're teaching about biology or genetics, you better talk about ethics. We're tweaking with human life."
"Ethics means making choices," she said. "It's more than getting an A in econ, but understanding what economic theory does to third world production."
Many people confuse ethics with religion, or believe that an "ethical education" means that one endorses a specific set of principles, Donovan said.
Not so, she argued. Ethics are about what it means to be a good person, but are subject to each individual person's beliefs. Their importance lies in their application.
For example, a young woman in a Dartmouth class might be learning about the human genome project, or studying reproductive rights. Alongside the facts she acquires, applying ethics to the learning process would help her consider how those pieces of data might be animated in her own life, Donovan said.
Ethics at Dartmouth come in to play in many courses across the disciplines, and also apply to student life issues, such as the honor code.
But their implications go beyond crime and punishment, said Donovan.
"Ethics asks, 'What is a good life?'" she said. "The ancient Greeks really considered this question. 'What leads to fulfillment?' Making money is not it -- not if it means cheating and lying. That's not the root of happiness," she said.
"It's not that there's anything bad about money, but it's about how you acquire the things you have," she added. "Ethics strives to help people understand contentment."
