According to one prominent Harvard University professor, ethics are sorely needed in political campaigns often fraught with misinformation and manipulation.
Dennis Thompson, the Alfred North Whitehead professor of political philosophy at Harvard, spoke about campaign ethics in his keynote address at the Philosophy, Politics and Economics department's seventh-annual Goldstone Forum before several dozen students and professors yesterday afternoon in the Hall of Flags in Houston Hall.
Thompson argued that campaigns are too often criticized for a lack of fairness in the way candidates treat each other, while what they really need is an ethical distribution of information.
"Campaigns shouldn't give voters what candidates 'deserve,'" he said. Instead, "they should give voters what they need to make an informed decision."
Thompson said candidates should focus on major issues, which he calls the "fundamentals," rather than personal attacks.
"The principles of campaign ethics should allow voters to consider issues more relevant to their decision," he said.
One example of a disproportionate influence on voter views he cited was the public focus on the sexual orientation of Mary Cheney, daughter of current Vice President Dick Cheney, during the 2004 presidential election.
Thompson argued that, while many campaign tactics criticized as "unfair," like attack ads, are not inherently bad and may actually be more informative than other campaign media, they can still be detrimental if they fail to tell the facts correctly.
"A voter's free choice requires that candidates not distort the message," he said, also criticizing politicians who manipulate facts and intentionally over-appeal to voter emotion to get votes.
Many attendees reacted positively to the issues discussed in the forum.
"This was a fascinating talk," said Matthew Kolasa, a sophomore PPE major..
"It really related to so many issues we discussed today in class," he added.
University President Amy Gutmann, who co-authored Why Deliberative Democracy? with Thompson in 2004 and introduced his speech, called him "a publicly engaged intellectual" and a "great scholar."
The Goldstone Forum was established in 2001 and annually "brings to campus individuals who are leaders in philosophy, politics and economics," according to Penn's Web site.
