William B. Griffith

Chair, Elton Professor of Philosophy, and Professor of Public Policy

Director, Graduate Program in Philosophy and Social Policy

Office: Phillips 522
Office Hours: On sabbatical Spring 2008, W 3:30-5:30, R 10:30-11:30
Phone: (202) 994-8684
Email: wbg@gwu.edu

Areas of Interest

  • Ethics and Policy
  • Economic Justice
  • Social and Political Philosophy

Primary Courses Taught at GW

  • Ethical Issues in Policy Arguments

  • Economic Justice

  • Social and Political Philosophy

  • Ethics: Theory and Applications

  • Introduction to Philosophy

  • Ethics in Business and the Professions

Selected Publications

  • "The Reach of Property Rights when Environmental Effects are not Local" in Values in an Age of Globalization: Selected Proceedings of the 28th Conference on Value Inquiry, ed. Kevin Dodson, an e-publication at http://www.value-net.org, posted Fall 2005.

  • "Trusteeship: A Practical Option for Realizing our Obligations to Future Generations?" in Moral and Political Reasoning in Environmental Practice, ed. by Andrew Light and Avner de-Shalit (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2003).

  • "Economic Man as Moral Individual", with R.S. Goldfarb and R. Dowell, Economic Inquiry XXXVI, Oct. 1998, 645-653.

  • “Moral Codes and Professional Ethics", in AMSTAT News (American Statistical Assoc.), March 1995.

  • "Equality and Egalitarianism: Framing the Contemporary Debate", Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence VII (Jan. 1994), 5-26.

  • "Protecting and Providing for Future Generations: The Present Generation as Trustee", with research assistance from John Hartung, J.D., in Deciding for the Future: Issue Papers, B. L. Catron (ed.) (Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Public Administration, 1994), pp. 65-73.

  • 'Informed Consent' and Privacy Protection: Historical Development of the Doctrine and Applicability to Census Bureau Activities: A Report prepared for the U.S. Census Bureau, with the collaboration of R.P. Churchill.  Part III: "Informed Consent in Behavioral and Social Science Research". 98 pp. (Washington, D.C.: US Census Bureau, 1994).  [Part I: "Origin of Informed Consent in Biomedical Research" (1987), 25pp; Part II (by R.P. Churchill): "Informed Consent in Clinical Medicine and in Research on Human Subjects: Theory and Practice" (1987), 49pp.]

  • "Market Forces and Faculty Autonomy in the Contemporary American University", in Academic Freedom and University Autonomy, CEPES Papers in Higher Education (Bucharest: Europ. Centre for Higher Education of UNESCO, 1993), pp. 265-269.

  • "The 'Theory as Map Analogy' and Changes in Assumption Sets in Economics", with R.S. Goldfarb, in Socioeconomics:  Towards a New Synthesis, A. Etzioni and P. Lawrence, eds. Armonk. (NY: M.E. Sharpe Inc., 1991), pp. 105-129.

  • "Amending the Economist's 'Rational Egoist' Model to Include Moral Values and Norms, Part I:  The Problem", with R.S. Goldfarb, in Social Norms and Economic Institutions, K. Koford and J. Miller, eds.  (Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1991), pp. 39-58.

  • "Amending the Economist's 'Rational Egoist' Model to Include Moral Values and Norms, Part II:  Alternative Solutions", with R.S. Goldfarb, ibid. pp. 59-84.

  • "Responses to Our Commentators", with R.S. Goldfarb, ibid., pp. 107-113.

  • "Postscript to 'The Relevance of Professional Philosophy' -- after Five Years", in Applying Philosophy (along with republication of original 1982 paper), T. Bynum and W. Vitek, eds. (Hyde Park, NY:  Meta-philosophy Foundation, 1988).

  • "Ethics and the Academic Professional", republished in Professional Ideals, A. Flores, ed.  Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Pub. Co., 1988, pp. 202-211.

  • "How Have Various Professions Dealt with Ethics Issues?", American Historical Association Proceedings 1985 (Ann Arbor, MI:  University Microfilms International, 1986).

  • "Confidentiality, the Right to Privacy, and the Social Benefits of Data Sharing", First Annual Census Bureau Research Conference,

  • March 22-24, 1985 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Gov't Printing Office).

  • "Fairness in Hiring Practices", in Readings in Business and Professional Ethics, W. Hamilton, ed.  (Lexington, MA:  University of Maryland-Open University/Ginn Pub. Co., 1983).

  • "Professional Responsibility", in Readings in Business and Professional Ethics, W. Hamilton, ed.  (Lexington, MA:  University of Maryland-Open University/Ginn Pub. Co., 1983).

  • "Ethics and the Academic Professional", Business and Professional Ethics Journal, I (1982), pp. 75-95.

  • "The Relevance of Professional Philosophy", Metaphilosophy, XIII (Jul/Oct 1982), pp. 181-200.

  • "Symbolic Logic and the Appraisal of Arguments", Teaching Philosophy I, #1 (1975-76), pp. 13-20.