Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

The Moral Significance Of Empathy: A Scottish Sentimentalist Perspective, Xiaolong Wang

The Hilltop Review

Which feature of human nature accounts for moral motivation? From a Scottish Sentimentalist perspective, the answer lies in our fellow feelings: empathy, the capacity for sharing what other people feel; and sympathy, the capacity for feeling concern for other people’s well-being. Recently, disagreement has emerged within Scottish Sentimentalism on which of the two fellow feelings does the real work in motivating moral acts. Paul Bloom famously argues that sympathy is sufficient for moral motivation with the help of theory of mind (or often called mind reading), and thus concludes that empathy is not necessary from a Scottish Sentimentalist perspective. I …

Justifying Advocacy Of Patients’ Belief Diversity W/ Support From William James’ Lectures On Pragmatism: A New Name For Some Old Ways Of Thinking, The Variety Of Religious Experiences & The Will To Believe, Sterling Courtney

The Hilltop Review

Abstract:

Predating monastic healthcare in the Middle Ages (Siraisi, 2019), spirituality and/or religion have been unified with healing, caring for the sick and consoling the dying, as documented by historical writings as early as c.3000 BCE-c.500 BCE in Mesopotamia and followed by coinciding accounts from c.750 BCE-c.280 BCE Greece and Rome (Mann, 2014). Via philosophy and science, a movement towards secularization has been perceived (as the Renaissance faded and the scientific revolution led into the Age of Enlightenment), therefore creating a dichotomy between treating the physical body separate from the metaphysical soul. In the early 1900’s, Abraham Flexner discredited any …

Freedom Or Responsibility? On The Unreason Of Public Reason, Mitchell L. Winget

The Hilltop Review

Abstract: This article argues that the public reason tradition of political normativity is flawed. As a result, I argue for a politically normative approach that rationally justifies morally legitimate political power for democratic political societies from outside the paradigm of public reason. To this end, I propose that neo-Aristotelian virtue theory lends us such a framework. Furthermore, I’ll defend this framework against the objections that such a theory of political normativity is unreasonable and anti-democratic.

Wildlife Emotions: Animal Rights As Examined Through A Cognitivist Lens, Kristy Schultz

The Hilltop Review

The aim of this article is to revisit and redefine the scope of a Kantian rights-based theory to include non-human animals. Generally, rights-based theories are predicated on a Kantian deontology that excludes all but rational subjects from possessing of basic rights. Historically, non-human animals—once thought to act on impulse and desire alone—have been excluded from rights-based considerations. However, more recent literature from emotions theorist Martha Nussbaum suggests an alternative picture for non-human animals. Cognitivist theories like Nussbaum’s, alongside intensive scientific research, support the notion that non-human animals show signs of intentionality and possess the capacity to emote. If Nussbaum’s theory …

Politicians, Policy, And Anxiety, Charlie Kurth

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

First two paragraphs, references in actual text:

Do we want our politicians to be anxious? The answer may seem obvious: no. Consider, for instance, what it would have been like to see John F. Kennedy in the grip of anxiety during the Cuban missile crisis. Clearly, that’s not what we want—not only does anxiety signal weakness in a leader, but it also tends to bring vicious cycles of worry, disengagement, and motivated reasoning that undermine one’s decision making. Instead, what it seems we want in our politicians is strength and resoluteness—the “Iron Lady,” Margaret Thatcher, not a Woody Allen-like hapless …

Pleasure In Virtue: The Possibility Of Willful Virtuous Behavior, Kaleb Terbush

The Hilltop Review

Virtuous behavior has often been construed as having three requisite elements: right action, done for the right reason, and also carried out with the “right feeling,” i.e. without the contrary inclination of Aristotle’s merely continent individual. Some have argued that even if the right motivating reason(s) for action might not be directly within our power to act on at will, there are a number of steps we can take in order to make ourselves more responsive to the appropriate reasons – thus giving us indirect control over which reasons we take to be compelling. However, I believe that such accounts …

Why Don’T We Have A Peace Memorial? The Vietnam War And The Distorted Memory Of Dissent, Christian G. Appy

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

First paragraph:

Exactly a year before he was murdered, Martin Luther King Jr., gave one of the greatest speeches of his life, a piercing critique of the war in Vietnam. Two thousand people jammed into New York’s Riverside Church on April 4,1967, to hear King shred the historical, political, and moral claims U.S. leaders had invoked since the end of World War II to justify their counter-revolutionary foreign policy. The United States had not supported Vietnamese independence and democracy, King argued, but had repeatedly opposed it; the United States had not defended the people of South Vietnam from external Communist …

A Defense Of The Unrestricted Kantian Moral Saint, Richard Szabo

The Hilltop Review

In this article I provide a defense for the worthiness of the moral paradigm of unrestricted Kantian Moral Sainthood from criticisms raised by Susan Wolf. She claims that actually achieving the ideal would result in undesirable moral fanatics with underdeveloped nonmoral characters that none of us would want to be like and so we should not aspire to this ideal of Moral Sainthood. My defense’s main thrust appeals to the impossibility of human beings achieving the demands of the ideal in the actual world in order to avoid Wolf’s objections. Because we can never become unrestricted Kantian Moral Saints (i.e. …

The Unifying Power Of Education, Keagan Potts, Jenji Learn

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

• Without Expertise or Experience: Philosophizing When Your Students Know You Know Nothing
• Segregated Students — Segregated Society: The Primacy of Education in Ending Hate
• Combatting Emerging Resegregation: Teaching Those in Power to Empower

Eudemonic Care: A Future Path For Occupational Therapy?, Charlotte L. Royeen, Franklin Stein, Alivia Murtha, Julie Stambaugh

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

The core tenets of occupational therapy date to ancient Greece. Philosophers and physicians alike promulgated that quality of life, or “eudemonia,” is at the center of both ethical and medical concern and can be attained through healthful engagement in meaningful occupation. In more recent times, there has been a strong call to return to the powerful implementation of the eudemonic moral philosophy in health care practice, especially in occupational therapy. Searches of recent occupational therapy research show that integration of wellness initiatives into rehabilitative treatment sessions can have a profound impact on the physical and emotional healthfulness of people with …

Human-Nonhuman Chimeras, Ontology, And Dignity: A Constructivist Approach To The Ethics Of Conducting Research On Cross-Species Hybrids, Jonathan M. Vajda

The Hilltop Review

Developments in biological technology in the last few decades highlight the surprising and ever-expanding practical benefits of stem cells. With this progress, the possibility of combining human and nonhuman organisms is a reality, with ethical boundaries that are not readily obvious. These inter-species hybrids are of a larger class of biological entities called “chimeras.” As the concept of a human-nonhuman creature is conjured in our minds, either incredulous wonder or grotesque horror is likely to follow. This paper seeks to mitigate those worries and demotivate reasonable concerns raised against chimera research, all the while pressing current ethical positions toward their …

Crispr Humans: Ethics At The Edge Of Science, Insoo Hyun

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

No abstract provided.

The Wooden Doctrine: Basketball, Moral Character, And The Successful Life, Janelle Dewitt

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

No abstract provided.

The Germans And Their Nazi Past: To What Extent Have They Accepted Responsibility?, Martin Hille

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

No abstract provided.

Vulnerability, Preventability, And Responsibility: Exploring Some Normative Implications Of The Human Condition, Daniel E. Wueste

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented March 17, 2015. Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University.

False Consciousness As A Major Hindrance To Control Of Corruption In Africa, John O. Ouko

International Journal of African Development

Corruption is rampant in Africa despite the effort to fight it. An effective fight against corruption requires a clear and firm understanding of the factors that cause and conduce it. Using Kenya as an example, I will examine some of the social, economic, political, and legal factors that have been given as causal explanations of corruption. By focusing primarily on political corruption, I will argue that false consciousness among the masses and leaders has to be overcome for the fight against corruption to be effective, and, by extension, for meaningful development to take place in Kenya and many other African …

Moral Disagreement And Audi's Account Of Moral Intuitionism, Dustin Michael Sigsbee

The Hilltop Review

In Moral Perception Robert Audi advocates for an intuitionist account of moral perception in which a moral agent of the proper disposition can use emotion and intuition as a means of supporting or justifying knowledge claims concerning certain moral truths or propositions. Since emotion and intuition can vary from agent to agent and neither agent would be better disposed to claim priority for their emotion or intuition over that of the other agent this opens Audi’s account up to possible instances of problematic disagreement. For this reason, I argue that agents in this intuitionist picture ought to remain epistemically agnostic …

Anorexia/Bulimia, Transcendence, And The Potential Impact Of Romanticized/Sexualized Death Imagery, Heather D. Schild

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented November 10, 2014. Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University

Ethical Ambivalence In Local Television Weathercasting: A Rossian Analysis, Vernon Keith Thompson

Masters Theses

Today’s television weathercasters are being called upon increasingly to go beyond benign weather prognostications to become the “newsroom experts” for science topics. The expectation to act as both scientists and journalists can cause ethical ambivalence (EA), a sociological condition in which, faced with conflicting norms, the subject feels that he/she is being pulled psychologically in two different directions (Jansen & Von Glinow, 1985). This thesis presents a Rossian analysis of climate change in weathercasting, a topic that captures the most important ethical tensions arising from conflicting duties within the weathercaster role, specifically: a) how might the duties of the television …

Journey Of A Peace Journalist, Robert Koehler

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented October 15, 2012. 2012 Winnie Veenstra Peace Lecture.

The Social And Political Philosophy Of Bertolt Brecht, Anthony Squiers

Dissertations

Bertolt Brecht is widely considered to be one of the most important figures in Twentieth Century literature. An acclaimed poet, he is best known as a playwright and director. His 'epic theatre' revolutionized the theatre by creating radical breaks from traditional literary and theatrical form. These radical breaks were done in an effort to facilitate radical social change. Specifically, Brecht designed his epic theatre as a revolutionary aesthetic which would help bring about the advent of a Marxist revolution. There is a broad corpus of academic work which analyzes the formalistic elements of his work. However, this body of work …

Knowledge, Wisdom, And Service: The Meaning And Teaching Of Professionalism In Medicine, Matthew K. Wynia

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University. Presented September 29, 2011.

Communication And The Pragmatic Condition, Gregory J. Shepherd

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented March 9, 2011

Reflections On The 25Th Anniversary Of The Wmu Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society, Ronald Kramer

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010.

Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society: Celebrating 25 Years, Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University.

The Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society At Twenty-Five, Michael S. Pritchard

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010.

Reflections On The Role Of The Ethics Center At Wmu, Shirley Bach

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15, 2010

Reflections On The Role Of The Ethics Center At Wmu, James A. Jaksa

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society: Celebrating 25 Years - Presented November 15,2010.

Diversity, Democracy And Dialogue In A Human Rights Framework, Carol C. Gould

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University, November 3, 2009

A Free And Undemocratic Press?, Stephen J. A. Ward

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University.