Mediating Suffering: Buddhist Detachment And Tantric Responsibility In Michael Ondaatje’S Anil’S Ghost,
2019
National Yang-Ming University, Taipei
Mediating Suffering: Buddhist Detachment And Tantric Responsibility In Michael Ondaatje’S Anil’S Ghost, Justin M. Hewitson
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture
In “Mediating Suffering: Buddhist Detachment and Tantric Responsibility in Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost,” Justin Hewitson argues that the global mediation of suffering following human rights abuses creates the offender-victim binary. The way in which moral judgments drive urgent peacemaking is seldom connected to long-term victimhood narratives. This psychology can exacerbate cyclical patterns of anger, exploitation, and violence by deferring responsibility. Ondaatje’s controversial novel, Anil’s Ghost, which reflects these charged accusations, refuses to settle blame on any side of the Sri Lankan conflict; instead, it offers the troubling recognition that offenders, victims, and mediators are all causal agents. Hewitson …
The Reliable Revisionist,
2019
Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois
The Reliable Revisionist, Caitlyn Schaffer
Philosophy: Student Scholarship & Creative Works
The present text explores how the topic of head and heart is much more complicated than one would expect, according to Paul Henne and Walter Sinnot-Armstrong, contributors of Neuroexistentialism. “Does Neuroscience Undermine Morality” aims at figuring out the problem of which moral judgments we can trust, judgments from one’s head (revisionism) or judgments from one’s heart (conservatism). My hypothesis suggests the opposite of the authors, I believe that if you are a revisionist, your first order intuitions are reliable. After setting the framework, I make three main arguments. (A.) If you are able to self-correct then you can identify errors …
An Intercultural Dialogue Between Confucianism And Western Philosophies Concerning Approaches To Family: A Report From A Workshop,
2019
San Jose State University
An Intercultural Dialogue Between Confucianism And Western Philosophies Concerning Approaches To Family: A Report From A Workshop, Muzi Marilyn Fang
Comparative Philosophy
No abstract provided.
Respect, Jing, And Person,
2019
San Jose State University
Respect, Jing, And Person, Pengbo Liu
Comparative Philosophy
While respect for persons is fundamental to many moral and political theories, its nature and ground remain controversial. According to the standard model of respect, respect is primarily a response to certain inherent features of a person or an object. Importantly, it is in virtue of the value, status or authority of those features that respect is justified or owed. This model, however, faces many serious challenges. Drawing on the classical Confucian notion of jing (敬), I develop an alternative model of respect, which construes respect as an expression of agent’s sense of the self and its place in …
Introduction To Biomedical Ethics,
2019
CUNY School of Medicine
Introduction To Biomedical Ethics, Katherine Mendis
Open Educational Resources
This course introduces students to issues in the field of biomedical ethics, the theoretical tools bioethicists use to analyze them, and methodology for resolving clinical ethical dilemmas.
Normative Pragmatic Selfhood: A Pragmatist Conception Of Value For Marginal Cases,
2019
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
Normative Pragmatic Selfhood: A Pragmatist Conception Of Value For Marginal Cases, Sam Noel Johnson
Graduate Theses and Dissertations
I develop a theory of personal ontology called normative pragmatic selfhood (NPS) to explain what persons are and how they are morally valuable. I also demonstrate the applicability of NPS theory by using it to assess the moral status of marginal cases in bioethical dilemmas. I begin by discussing the concept of intrinsic value and why it is problematic when it comes to persons. I then draw upon John Dewey’s theory of value, specifically the concept of growth, and Kant’s concept of humanity to show that persons are objectively yet extrinsically valuable. Next, I discuss and argue how the psychological …
Moving Beyond ‘Therapy’ And ‘Enhancement’ In The Ethics Of Gene Editing,
2019
Portland State University
Moving Beyond ‘Therapy’ And ‘Enhancement’ In The Ethics Of Gene Editing, Bryan Cwik
Philosophy Faculty Publications and Presentations
Since the advent of recombinant DNA technology, expectations (and trepidations) about the potential for altering genes and controlling our biology at the fundamental level have been sky high. These expectations have gone largely unfulfilled. But though the dream (or nightmare) of being able to control our biology is still far off, gene editing research has made enormous strides toward potential clinical use. This paper argues that when it comes to determining permissible uses of gene editing in one important medical context—germline intervention in reproductive medicine—issues about enhancement and eugenics are, for the foreseeable future, a red herring. Current translational goals …
Intervention Principles In Pediatric Health Care: The Difference Between Physicians And The State.,
2019
CUNY New York City College of Technology
Intervention Principles In Pediatric Health Care: The Difference Between Physicians And The State., D. Robert Macdougall
Publications and Research
According to various accounts, intervention in pediatric decisions is justified either by the best interests standard or by the harm principle. While these principles have various nuances that distinguish them from each other, they are similar in the sense that both focus primarily on the features of parental decisions that justify intervention, rather than on the competency or authority of the parties that intervene. Accounts of these principles effectively suggest that intervention in pediatric decision making is warranted for both physicians and the state under precisely the same circumstances. This essay argues that there are substantial differences in the competencies …
Is Animal Suffering Really All That Matters? The Move From Suffering To Vegetarianism,
2019
CUNY New York City College of Technology
Is Animal Suffering Really All That Matters? The Move From Suffering To Vegetarianism, Carlo Alvaro
Publications and Research
The animal liberation movement, among other goals, seeks an end to the use of animals for food. Philosophers who write against animal exploitation agree on the goal but differ in their approaches: Deontologists argue that rearing animals for food infringes animals’ inherent right to life. Utilitarians claim that discontinuing the use of animals for food will result in the maximization of utility. Virtue-oriented theorists argue that using animals for food is an unvirtuous practice. Despite their different approaches, arguments for vegetarianism or veganism have a common step. They move from the notion of suffering to the conclusion of vegetarianism or …
Praemonitus, Praemunitus: Assessing The Ethical Dimension Of The Globalisation Of Science And Technology,
2019
University of World Economy and Diplomacy
Praemonitus, Praemunitus: Assessing The Ethical Dimension Of The Globalisation Of Science And Technology, F. F. Sattarov
International Relations: Politics, Economics, Law
In recent years, there has been a growing awareness of ethical issues resulting from the globalisation of science and technology. This article identifies and reviews the most important of such ethical issues in a systematic fashion. This paper aims to show that an increase in science research and technology development with foreign partners can have its own ethical and moral perils. Hence, to prepare the country and society to avoid the negative effects and consequences of the scientific and technological globalisation, it is necessary first to have a clear picture of all possible ethical issues, particularly those which either remain …
Further Developments Of The Santa Clara Ethics Questionnaire,
2019
Santa Clara University
Further Developments Of The Santa Clara Ethics Questionnaire, Thomas G. Plante, Anna Mccreadie
Psychology
Ethics and ethical decision-making are critically important for high-functioning communities, including those on college campuses. This brief paper provides further research support for the Santa Clara Ethics Questionnaire, a brief and no-cost 10-item questionnaire assessing general ethics. The questionnaire was administered to 329 university students along with several other measures to assess convergent and divergent validity. Results suggest that compassion, hope, and self-esteem predict about one-third of the variance in ethics scores. Implications for future research and use are discussed.
Preserving Mars Today Using Baseline Ecologies,
2019
University of Southern Mississippi
Preserving Mars Today Using Baseline Ecologies, Daniel S. Capper
Faculty Publications
Current calls to protect the Martian environment with “Planetary Parks” maintain environmental merit. However, they lack a sufficiently urgent timeframe for initiating protection as well as a robust scientific method for the establishment of noteworthy Martian natural landmarks as natural reserves. In response, if we return to the seminal environmental preservation teachings of Aldo Leopold and John Muir, we encounter the importance of grounding Martian preservation efforts on the fundamental environmental science method of a base-datum of normality, or baseline ecology. This method establishes natural reserves that feature both minimal human interference as well as known origination dates, thereby providing …
Exploring Parental Wishes And Personhood In The Grey Zones Of Neonatal Resuscitation,
2019
Seattle Pacific University
Exploring Parental Wishes And Personhood In The Grey Zones Of Neonatal Resuscitation, Alison Lindsay
Honors Projects
The intense societal debate churning around the moral status of fetuses includes topics such as qualifications for personhood, the role of the autonomous decisions of a fetus’ mother, and the obligations of society to protect fetuses. This paper analyzes extending this discussion to newborns in five sections. The first section presents a literature review of responses to a philosophical paper about the respective interests of parents and fetuses and newborns, elaborating on aspects of personhood and parental decision-making. The second section presents a literature review of medical and nursing discussion around resuscitation for extremely premature newborns, focusing on similar evaluations …
Computer Vision Machine Learning And Future-Oriented Ethics,
2019
Seattle Pacific University
Computer Vision Machine Learning And Future-Oriented Ethics, Abagayle Lee Blank
Honors Projects
Computer Vision Machine Learning (CVML) in the application of facial recognition is currently being researched, developed, and deployed across the world. It is of interest to governments, technology companies, and consumers. However, fundamental issues remain related to human rights, error rates, and bias. These issues have the potential to create societal backlash towards the technology which could limit its benefits as well as harm people in the process. To develop facial recognition technology that will be beneficial to society in and beyond the next decade, society must put ethics at the forefront. Drawing on AI4People’s adaption of bioethics for AI, …
Sometimes Merely As A Means: Why Kantian Philosophy Requires The Legalization Of Kidney Sales,
2019
CUNY New York City College of Technology
Sometimes Merely As A Means: Why Kantian Philosophy Requires The Legalization Of Kidney Sales, D. Robert Macdougall
Publications and Research
Several commentators have tried to ground legal prohibitions of kidney sales in some form of Kant’s moral arguments against such sales. This paper reconsiders this approach to justifying laws and policies in light of Kant’s approach to law in his political philosophy. The author argues that Kant’s political philosophy requires that kidney sales be legally permitted, although contracts for such sales must remain unenforceable. The author further argues that Kant’s approach to laws, such as those governing kidney distribution, was formed in part by considering and rejecting an assumption frequently employed in the bioethics literature, namely, that legal duties can …
Confucian Robot Ethics,
2019
Colorado School of Mines
Confucian Robot Ethics, Qin Zhu, Tom Williams, Ruchen Wen
Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings
In the literature of artificial moral agents (AMAs), most work is influenced by either deontological or utilitarian frameworks. It has also been widely acknowledged that these Western “rule-based” ethical theories have encountered both philosophical and computing challenges. To tackle these challenges, this paper explores a non-Western, role-based, Confucian approach to robot ethics. In this paper, we start by providing a short introduction to some theoretical fundamentals of Confucian ethics. Then, we discuss some very preliminary ideas for constructing a Confucian approach to robot ethics. Lastly, we briefly share a couple of empirical studies our research group has recently conducted that …
Big Data And The Reference Class Problem. What Can We Legitimately Infer About Individuals?,
2019
London School of Economics and Political Science
Big Data And The Reference Class Problem. What Can We Legitimately Infer About Individuals?, Catherine Greene
Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings
Big data increasingly enables prediction of the behaviour and characteristics of individuals. This is ethically concerning on privacy grounds. However, this article discusses other reasons for concern. These predictions usually rely on generalisations about what certain sorts of people tend to do. Generalisations of this sort are often under scrutiny in legal cases, where, for example, lawyers argue that people with prior convictions are more likely to be guilty of the crime they are currently on trial for. This article applies criteria for distinguishing acceptable from unacceptable generalisations in legal cases to a number of big data examples. It argues …
Responding To Some Challenges Posed By The Re-Identification Of Anonymized Personal Data,
2019
Rivier University
Responding To Some Challenges Posed By The Re-Identification Of Anonymized Personal Data, Herman T. Tavani, Frances S. Grodzinsky
Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings
In this paper, we examine a cluster of ethical controversies generated by the re-identification of anonymized personal data in the context of big data analytics, with particular attention to the implications for personal privacy. Our paper is organized into two main parts. Part One examines some ethical problems involving re-identification of personally identifiable information (PII) in large data sets. Part Two begins with a brief description of Moor and Weckert’s Dynamic Ethics (DE) and Nissenbaum’s Contextual Integrity (CI) Frameworks. We then investigate whether these frameworks, used together, can provide us with a more robust scheme for analyzing privacy concerns that …
Human Supremacy As Posthuman Risk,
2019
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Human Supremacy As Posthuman Risk, Daniel Estrada
Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings
Human supremacy is the widely held view that human interests ought to be privileged over other interests as a matter of public policy. Posthumanism is an historical and cultural situation characterized by a critical reevaluation of anthropocentrist theory and practice. This paper draws on Rosi Braidotti’s critical posthumanism and the critique of ideal theory in Charles Mills and Serene Khader to address the use of human supremacist rhetoric in AI ethics and policy discussions, particularly in the work of Joanna Bryson. This analysis leads to identifying a set of risks posed by human supremacist policy in a posthuman context, specifically …
Autonomous Vehicles And The Ethical Tension Between Occupant And Non-Occupant Safety,
2019
Georgia Institute of Technology
Autonomous Vehicles And The Ethical Tension Between Occupant And Non-Occupant Safety, Jason Borenstein, Joseph Herkert, Keith W. Miller
Computer Ethics - Philosophical Enquiry (CEPE) Proceedings
Autonomous vehicle manufacturers, people inside an autonomous vehicle (occupants), and people outside the vehicle (non-occupants) are among the distinct stakeholders when addressing ethical issues inherent in systems that include autonomous vehicles. As responses to recent tragic cases illustrate, advocates for autonomous vehicles tend to focus on occupant safety, sometimes to the exclusion of non-occupant safety. Thus, we aim to examine ethical issues associated with non-occupant safety, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and riders of motorized scooters. We also explore the ethical implications of technical and policy ideas that some might propose to improve non-occupant safety. In addition, if safety (writ large) …
