Harvard professor Francis G. Peabody and his team tried to establish something like a school of social work at Harvard that offered courses covering a great range of economic and social policy. As befitting a “Department of Social Ethics” the emphasis was on applied ethics, which is something distinct from the interest of a Department of Economics in applied economics. The intersection of the two was located in real-world problems.
Previously posted course material for social ethics at Harvard.
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Social Ethics Instructors
1911-12
Jeffrey Richardson Brackett
Robert Franz Foerster
James Ford
Ray Madding McConnell
Francis Greenwood Peabody
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Social Ethics 1-7
1911-12
Social Ethics 1. Application of Ethical Theory
Social Ethics 2. Practical Problems of Social Service
Social Ethics 3. Criminology and Penology [omitted 1911-12]
Social Ethics 4. Selected Topics in Social Ethics
Social Ethics 5. The Moral Responsibilities of the Modern State [omitted 1911-12]
Social Ethics 6. Social Amelioration in Europe
Social Ethics 7. Rural Social Development
The courses in this group are designed to apply philosophical principles to the modern problems of philanthropy, industry, and social life. They begin with a general introduction to Social Ethics and proceed to methods of applied ethics which approach those of a professional school. Students should have already elected courses both in Philosophy and in Economics, and should regard the courses in Social Ethics as concerned with the transition from academic to practical life.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), pp. 70-74.
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Application of Ethical Theory
to Present Social Problems
Course Description
1911-12
- The Problems of Poor-Relief, The Family, Temperance, and various phases of the Labor Question, in the light of Ethical Theory. Lectures, special researches, and prescribed reading. Tu., Th., Sat., at 10. Professor Peabody, Dr. McConnell, Dr. Ford, and Dr. Foerster.
This course is an application of ethical theory to the social problems of the present day. It is to be distinguished from economic courses dealing with similar subjects by the emphasis laid on the moral aspects of the social situation and on the philosophy of society involved. In addition to lectures and required reading a special and detailed report is made by each student, based as far as possible on personal research and observation of scientific methods in industrial reform. These researches are arranged in consultation with the instructors; and an important feature of the course is the suggestion and direction of such personal investigation and the provision to each student of special literature and opportunities for observation. Students are advised, before beginning the study of Social Ethics, to take courses both in Economics and Philosophy; and must have taken a course, or the equivalent of a course, in one of these subjects.
The following courses are planned for students who take or have taken Social Ethics 1 or its equivalent.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 70.
Course Enrollment
1911-12
Social Ethics 1 2hf. Professor Peabody, Drs. Ford and Foerster. — Social Problems in the light of ethical theory.
Total 43: 3 Graduates, 11 Seniors, 12 Juniors, 8 Sophomores, 2 Freshmen, 7 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 69.
SOCIAL ETHICS 1
Year-end Final Examination
1911-12
This paper should be considered as a whole. The time should not be exhausted in answering a few questions, but such limits should be given to each answer as will permit the answering of all the questions in the time assigned.
- Explain briefly: —
“Economic determinism”;
“Social labor time”;
“The capitalistic appropriation of surplus value”;
“The class-conscious conflict.”
- Lassalle and Marx compared as influences on German socialism.
- What legislation on Woman and Child Labor has been enacted in the United States? (Adams & Sumner, pp. 30–37.)
- What is the Sweating-System, and what forms does it take? (Adams & Sumner, pp. 114–119.) What legislation has been enacted to deal with it? (pp. 122–126.)
- Explain and criticise the following statement: “Co-operation differs from profit-sharing primarily by reason of the fact that, in its industrial form, at least, its aim is to modify radically, and finally to utterly abolish, the wage system.” (Adams & Sumner, p. 379, and Dr. Ford’s Lectures.)
- Compare the advantages of industrial partnership under the direct-bonus plan with those of a pension system or a stock offering.
- The conclusions of physiology concerning the function of alcohol.
- The history of the liquor traffic in Boston from 1875 to 1894. What are the comparative merits of the three types of licensing boards operating in Boston during that period?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 87-88.
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Public Aid, Charity, and Neighborhood Work:
Practical Problems
Course Description
1911-12
- 2hf. Practical Problems of Social Service: Public Aid, Charity, and Neighborhood Work. Lectures, prescribed reading, and observation of work under skilled direction. Half-course (second half-year). Tu., Th., at 2.30. Dr. Brackett.
This course is for advanced students, especially for those who plan, as ministers, teachers, or as citizens, whatever their vocation, to be actively interested in charity, correction, or any form of social work. It is also an introduction to Social Ethics 20c, the School for Social Workers. It is a study of tendencies in Social Service, of law and custom, especially in England and the United States, bearing directly on such topics as neighborhood improvement, forms and sources of relief, modification of charitable trusts, treatment of special types of the needy, organization of charity, financial management, supervision of work by public and private agencies.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), pp. 70-71.
Course Enrollment
1911-12
Social Ethics 2 2hf. Dr. Brackett. — Practical Problems of Social Service: Public Aid, Charity, and Neighborhood Work.
Total 14: 2 Graduates, 4 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 3 Others.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 69.
SOCIAL ETHICS 2
In all answers, give your reasons.
- “A community can have as much pauperism as it will pay for.” Comment on this, with illustrations from English or American history.
- What are the “feeble-minded”? In what ways would you have provision made for them?
- A homeless, able-bodied machinist, who says there is no one dependent upon him, but he is at the end of his money, tells you he can have a good job in Providence, R.I., where he formerly lived, if he can get there tomorrow and be ready for work the next morning. He asks a railroad ticket to that place. What would you do, and why?
- What have been the chief steps in progress in the treatment of offenders?
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- What was the chief principle for administration of public aid, laid down by the English poor-law commission of 1832–34?
- How was it to be carried out?
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- In taking up neighborhood work, what kinds of persons in the neighborhood, would you aim primarily to reach?
- When and how would you decide what methods to use for reaching them?
- What is meant by “organizing charity”? I.e., when we speak of the work of an associated charities or other agency for organizing charity.
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- To what extent would you advise residents in a “settlement” to give material relief to persons in the community?
- To what extent would you advise pastors of churches to give it?
- What are the chief lessons you have learned from your field work connected with this course?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 88-89.
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Criminology and Penology
Course Description
Not taught in 1911-12
- ¹hf. Criminology and Penology. Lectures, prescribed reading, and reports. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 1.30. Dr. McConnell.
This course aims to offer a brief general study of crime and its prevention. As a necessary preparation for the meeting of present problems some investigation of historical as well as of present conditions will be attempted. The subjects considered will include the following: methods of study in criminology; classes of crimes and of criminals; causes and effects of crime; prevalent conceptions of crime and of the treatment which society should accord it; agencies especially intended for the punishment and prevention of crime (including certain features of criminal law and its administration, the identification of criminals, the indeterminate sentence, institutions for the detention, punishment, and reformation of criminals, the supervision and aid of convicts on probation or parole or after discharge, and special methods for dealing with young criminals); the influence on the volume of crime of various agencies designed for general social betterment.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 71.
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Selected Topics in Social Ethics
Course Description
1911-12
- ¹hf. Selected Topics in Social Ethics. Lectures and prescribed reading. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12.
Subjects for 1911-12: –
The State and Charity. Dr. Brackett.
The Ethical Relations of the State to Industrial Affairs. Dr. McConnell.
The Ethical Aspects of Industrial Coöperation. Dr. Ford.
The Ethics of Immigration. Dr. Foerster.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 71.
Course Enrollment
1911-12
Social Ethics 4 1hf. Selected Topics in Social Ethics.
Dr. Brackett. — The Ethics of Public Aid and Private Charity.
Dr. Ford. — The Ethical Aspects of Industrial Coöperation.
Dr. Foerster. — The Ethics of Immigration.
Total 10: 2 Graduates, 2 Seniors, 5 Juniors, 1 Other.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 69.
SOCIAL ETHICS 4
- What do you say (1) in favor of, and (2) in opposition to the provision by the state of non-contributory old-age pensions for all persons beyond the age of 69, and below a small income line?
- How are profits divided in (1) the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers’ Society; (2) the Scottish Wholesale Society; (3) a typical Copartnership Housing Association; (4) an Irish Co-operative Dairy; (5) the New England Cranberry Sales Co. (or some other American Co-operative Sales Association)?
- Describe the economic and co-operative features of the credit unions of Massachusetts. What are the essential dissimilarities in method and purpose between the credit unions and the “co-operative banks” of this State?
- “Distributive co-operators are anti-capitalists and class-conscious.” Examine carefully and in detail the truth of this statement as applied to the distributive movements of England, Belgium and Germany.
- What are the usual features of the padrone commissary system?
Devote not less than one hour to this question.
- The following citations give the main arguments of an address recently reported in the newspapers.
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- “Why exclude the immigrant when there is so much room for him? . . . Texas alone could support our entire population without worrying about the problem of congestion. . . . The trouble in America is usually not a lack of work but a lack of workers.”
- “If he accepts a small wage, his need is responsible and it is to be deplored that Americans should be content to take advantage of this desperate need and convert the hunger of this stranger into more dollars for themselves.”
- “Thirty of every ten thousand immigrants become paupers. . . . While the thirty are costing us $3000 a year, the other 9970 are adding almost $40,000,000 to the wealth of the land. And this exclusive of the taxes each pays.”
- “There is a higher rate of crime among the native born than among the foreign born.”
- “The solution . . . is distribution, not exclusion. . . . We should be undeserving our blessings if we selfishly refused to share them.”
Illustrate your answer to the following questions from the reading and lectures of the course. So divide your time that you may write upon all questions; avoid generalities. The lettered divisions correspond with those just given.
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- In what sense does a lack of workers exist? When would it not exist, — e.g., when Texas should be as densely populated as Europe?
- Is the immigrant underpaid? What consequences would follow for employers, consumers, and immigrants if employers were compelled to pay their immigrant workmen wages not less than twice as high as they are now paying? What effect has immigration had on wages in the United States?
- In what sense is wealth “added”? If, by adding wealth, immigrants save Americans labor, should they not be welcomed like any other labor-saving device — a machine, typically? What kind of relation has immigration with dependency?
- Describe the criminal aspects of immigration.
- What can the best system of distribution accomplish? What can it not accomplish?
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 89-90.
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Moral Responsibilities
of the Modern State
Course Description
Not taught in 1911-12
- 2hf. The Moral Responsibilities of the Modern State. Lectures and prescribed reading. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 12. Dr. McConnell.
This course considers the fundamental ethical principles involved in the organization of the modern State, and the duties of public authorities in regard to defectives, charity, the child, and public health.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 72.
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Social Amelioration in Europe
Course Description
1911-12
- 2hf. Social Amelioration in Europe. Lectures and prescribed reading. Half-course (second half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 11. Dr. Foerster.
This course is mainly concerned with schemes of social amelioration that have so far been little considered in the United States. Remedial methods of dealing with poverty will be treated only incidentally. Chiefly the course will make a comparative study of the preventive and constructive measures, public and private, of several countries. After a brief consideration of the place of thrift institutions, unemployment and the important recent efforts to meet it will be discussed at some length. The experience of several countries in providing for the indigent in case of accident, sickness, invalidity, and old age will, in turn, be examined. The course will close with a study of recent developments of legislation governing conditions of labor.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 72.
Course Enrollment
1911-12
Social Ethics 6 2hf. Dr. Foerster. — Social Amelioration in Europe.
Total 19: 7 Graduates, 5 Seniors, 7 Juniors.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 69.
SOCIAL ETHICS 6
So allot your time that you may answer all questions.
- “Putting these unemployed men to work in industries already fully manned or over-manned would solve nothing. . . . The problem which the Labour Party desires the state to face is therefore that of the development of its unused resources. . . . Neither relief works nor the National Workshops of 1848 (except for training, perhaps) are asked for, but a policy of national development. . . . As part of this programme, the Socialist has long been crying for afforestation, national drainage and reclamation, labour farm colonies . . . and the pressure of social misery and depopulation has at length come to his aid.” (J. R. Macdonald, The Socialist Movement.) What is the value of such a policy in dealing with the problem of unemployment?
- What are the salient features of the English Workmen’s Compensation Act? What are its defects? How are these defects avoided in the legislation of other countries?
- What effect upon the industriousness and thrift of the population have the following?
- Provision for old age in Denmark.
- Provision for old age in England.
- Savings bank insurance in Massachusetts.
- Provision for sickness, old age, etc., in the mutual aid societies of France.
- Unemployment benefits under the Ghent system.
In each case show specifically to what feature of the institution in question the effect is to be traced.
- Why did state insurance in Germany signify a less radical departure from previous social policy and thought than it would signify in the United States? How serious a burden has it laid on employers?
- Mr. Lloyd George said of the English old age pensions plan, that “it is just as much a contributory scheme as one financed directly by means of contributions arranged on the German basis.” Indicate in detail by what course of reasoning this statement may be supported. Or, if you believe it false or in part false, indicate precisely the gounds of your opinion.
- Present the best arguments you can for compulsory (and subsidized) insurance against unemployment. Then make out the best case against compulsion. Which way does the net advantage lie? In answering this question it may be assumed that a system of well-organized labor exchanges exists.
- Outline the Swiss methods of dealing with vagrancy.
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], pp. 90-91.
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Rural Social Development
Course Description
1911-12
- ¹hf. Rural Social Development. Lectures and prescribed reading. Half-course (first half-year). Mon., Wed., Fri., at 10. Dr. Ford.
This course is concerned with rural life as a problem in itself and as a solution of urban problems. It will study the distribution of population and its consequences; the development of country life from without, through suburban, “Garden-city, “ “Back-to-the-land,” and other movements, and rural reconstruction from within, through private initiative, coöperative movements, and State activity.
One hour will be devoted each week to the discussion of prescribed reading.
Source: Division of History, Government, and Economics: 1911-12 (1st ed.). Official Register of Harvard University, Vol. VIII, No. 23 (June 15, 1911), p. 72.
Course Enrollment
1911-12
Social Ethics 7 1hf. Dr. Ford. — Rural Social Development.
Total 17: 1 Graduate, 8 Seniors, 7 Juniors, 1 Freshman.
Source: Harvard University. Report of the President of Harvard College, 1911-1912, p. 69.
SOCIAL ETHICS 7
- What is meant by a “rural social survey”? What facts must be gathered? (Give reasons in each instance.) What are the probable sources of this material for a Massachusetts or New York community?
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- What essential differences do you note between the pleasures of the village and of the rural population in Blanktown?
- What is meant by pleasures of receptive sensation? What part have they played in the social evolution of Blanktown? (Williams, An American Town.)
- What is the rural housing problem in America? State the problem in detail with reference to construction and interior arrangement of farm houses.
- (a) Outline the rural health problem. (b) Under what conditions do each of the following matters require action by local or state boards of health? What sort of action is necessary? Why?
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- Illness in the farm home.
- Farm water supply.
- Farm sanitation.
- Milk production.
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- “When the rural social sense is thoroughly established, we shall be in a new epoch of rural civilization.” (Bailey, The Country Life Movement.) What is meant by this statement?
- By what methods can the “rural social sense” be developed in this generation? In the next?
- Describe in detail the structure and function of any three local socializing agencies (excluding church and school).
Source: Harvard University Archives. Harvard University — Examination papers, 1873-1915. Box 6. Bound volume, Examination Papers, 1912. Harvard University Examinations. Papers Set For Examinations in History, History of Science, Government, Economics […], p. 92.
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Social Ethics à la Peabody
1888/89—1910/11
A short history of Harvard’s Department of Social Ethics through 1920.
Exam questions for late 19th century versions of Francis Greenwood Peabody’s course on the Ethics of Social Reform have been transcribed and posted:
1888-1889; 1889-1890; 1890-1891; 1892-1893; 1893-1894; 1894-1895; 1895-1896.
Earlier 20th century course material:
1902-03. Listed as Philosophy 5. Taught by Peabody and Ireland.
1904-05. Listed as Philosophy 5 and Ethics 1. Taught by Peabody and Rogers.
1906-07. Taught by Peabody and Rogers.
1907-08. Taught by Peabody and Rogers.
1908-09. Taught by Peabody, McConnell, Ford and Foerster.
1909-10. Taught by Peabody, McConnell, Ford, and Foerster.
1910-11. Taught by Peabody, McConnell, Ford, Foerster, and Brackett. [complete set of social ethics exams]
Image Source: Francis G. Peabody, The Social Museum as an Instrument of University Teaching. Publications of the Department of Social Ethics in Harvard University, Number 4 (Cambridge, MA: 1911).
