Jerome Karabel: The United States as Outlier Nation?

The question of what constitutes a good society has been debated since the time of Aristotle. While long the province of philosophers and political theorists, the debate about the good society has taken on renewed energy in recent decades as social scientists—most notably, economists, psychologists, and sociologists—have begun to systematically study issues of quality of life and societal well-being. Karabel's presentation will attempt to address the issue of the "good society" with comparative evidence from 20 wealthy democratic societies. The performance of the United States and other countries will be assessed in nine domains identified as essential components of a healthy, well-functioning society: Education, Mobility and Opportunity, the Economy, Health, the Polity, the Environment, Social Capital and Civil Society, Subjective Well-Being, and Crime and Incarceration. The presentation will conclude with a discussion of an Index of Societal Well-Being and its relationship to different varieties of capitalism.

The McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society is committed to bringing ethical reflection to bear on important social problems through research, teaching, and engagement. Visit the Center's website for more information: http://ethicsinsociety.stanford.edu

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