Category Archives: Ethics and Moral Philosophy

By what measures can we value human life?

The Fallen of World War II from Neil Halloran on Vimeo. It can clearly be challenging to convey the magnitude of loss after a tragedy, particularly when that number is in the tens of millions, yet that is precisely what … Continue reading

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Science in the lead?

Is scientific progress outpacing progress in areas such as ethics and politics? What does progress in these areas look like?

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The Ethics of Robot Cars

How about robot cars with ethics settings adjusted to suite the driver? Here’s a Terrible Idea: Robot Cars With Adjustable Ethics Settings Here’s a PDF

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Can We Choose To Believe Something?

Discuss  

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Can science answer questions about morality?

Sam Harris on TED

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When Should Science be Censored?

Calls to censor details of potential killer flu via ABC News The suppression of breakthrough research into deadly bird flu strains has been labelled scientific censorship by some, but others say it is a necessary step to prevent a possible … Continue reading

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Harvard Justice Series: The Moral Side of Murder

Part One:

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1,500 Animal Species Practice Homosexuality

Not natural?  Think again…  Homosexuality is quite common in the animal kingdom, especially among herding animals. Many animals solve conflicts by practicing same gender sex. via http://www.news-medical.net/news/2006/10/23/20718.aspx?page=1  From the middle of October until next summer the Norwegian Natural History Museum … Continue reading

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Suing for Being Born

ISRAELI children with birth defects are increasingly suing the medical authorities for ever allowing them to be born. The rise in such “wrongful life” lawsuits, which the medical profession estimates at 600 since the first case in 1987, has prompted … Continue reading

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Philosophical Health Check

This is a fabulous online interactive to see how coherent your beliefs and values are as a whole (tpm online) Check your [philosophical]Tension Quotient! To take the philosophical health check (PHC), go through the statements below, selecting for each one … Continue reading

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A Utilitarian Decision – Sacrifice Lives to Save Lives

Would the lives of the people on board have been worth it…? Discuss. AN F-16 pilot scrambled on 9/11 to prevent another attack on the US capital says she was prepared to ram her plane into a hijacked aircraft, as … Continue reading

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Philosophy in Senior Schools

(From my appearance on ABC Radio National’s ‘Philosopher’s Zone) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2007/1911312.htm Philosophy is about asking childlike questions – how do we know the world exists? How do we know it hasn’t just started existing? Why can’t we go back in time? … Continue reading

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Some important tools of critical thinking

(from my Ockham’s Razor appearance on the ABC’s Radio National) http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2010/2975629.htm  Robyn Williams: And now, the bad news. No, don’t run off – this is interesting – even Quite Interesting, as Stephen Fry might say. Here I’ll quote directly from a … Continue reading

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Morality without Religion

Marc Hauser and Peter Singer. Empirical evidence of innate morality? Philosophy of mind. Moral philosophy. HauserSingerMoralRelig05

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The dilemma of giving

Q: If giving to charity can save lives, am I morally obliged to donate all of my excess income and live on the bare essentials? – N. C., Oxford, England ASK THE PHILOSOPHER: Tim Soutphommasane The Australian Nov 21 2009 … Continue reading

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Rebuilding before retreating

Themes: Just war, moral responsibility, military occupation, peacekeeping ASK THE PHILOSOPHER: Tim Soutphommasane | October 10, 2009 Article from: The Australian Do occupying military powers, such as American and allied forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, owe a moral duty to … Continue reading

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Brain science and the search for the self

Nice little overview of how the whole thing started. From New Scientist magazine. Philosophy of mind, consciousness, self. 20 March 2009 by A C Grayling AFTER John Locke published his Essay Concerning Human Understanding in 1690, he sent copies to various … Continue reading

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Peter Singer Full Text Articles (Ethics)

A clearing house provided by Singer which contains full-text versions of articles written by him on a wide variety of topics pertaining to ethics. A useful resource if you’d like your students to engage first-hand with the writings of one … Continue reading

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Cognitive Bias in Reasoning

A list of topics from Wikipedia – visit there by clicking on the links – well worth the effort. Decision-making and behavioral biases Many of these biases are studied for how they affect belief formation, business decisions, and scientific research. … Continue reading

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Did aversion to bitter tastes evolve into moral disgust?

People’s visceral reaction to incest or betrayal by others could stem from a natural aversion to potentially toxic foods. Moral Philosophy, ethics. Another revealing article from New Scientist magazine. 19:00 26 February 2009 by Ewen Callaway For similar stories, visit the The … Continue reading

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