Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

The Social Market Economy As A Formula For Peace, Prosperity, And Sustainability, Almuth D. Merkel

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

The social market economy was developed in Germany during the interwar period amidst political and economic turmoil. With clear demarcation lines differentiating it from socialism and laissez-faire capitalism, the social market economy became a formula for peace and prosperity for post WWII Germany. Since then, the success of the social market economy has inspired many other countries to adopt its principles. Drawing on evidence from economic history and the history of economic thought, this thesis first reviews the evolution of the fundamental principles that form the foundation of social-market economic thought. Blending the micro-economic utility maximization framework with traditional growth ...

Architectural + Language: Breaking Barriers And Creating Cultural Dialogue, Maria De Los Angeles Delgado Bailon

Bachelor of Architecture Theses - 5th Year

When I was 11 years old, I moved back to the United States, after having spent my whole childhood in Ecuador, my parents native land. I was moving back to the land of opportunity in the search for the so called ‘American Dream’. It was difficult to leave and move to a new place where we did not know anyone or have anything, but just the idea of a going back to my hometown piqued my curiosity and excitement. I remember very vividly, the day I left Ecuador. I remember telling myself to be happy, because this was a moment ...

Skorupskian Allyship: Human Rights Reconstructed Through Efficacious Enforcement And Social Relativism, Chase Opperman

Philosophy Honors Papers

This project aims to take the subject of Human Rights and attempt to wrestle with its clarity. The concept has been, since its more modern manifestation, as represented by the United Nations’ Uniform Declaration of Human Rights, heavily criticized for its being indeterminate, unclear, ambiguous, or somehow not fully understood. Despite the concept’s incredible moral potential, the extent to which this potential can be realized is determined by the concept’s intelligibility and defensibility—both of which are affected by the concept’s being understood to a sufficient point. Given Human Rights’ moral potential to challenge the forces of ...

Welcoming The Game Changer Of Human Society: A Defense Of The Moral Permissibility And Obligations Of Human Genetic Engineering, Yongkang Li

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In 2018, a Chinese scientist, Jiankun He, announced the birth of two HIV-resistant babies through his experiment of human genetic engineering. This incidence has soon shocked the entire scientific community and invoked public outrage towards He’s corrupt moral integrity.

However, this event should also act as a harbinger to the human society that the technique of human genetic engineering is rapidly approaching maturity. In that case, how should we respond?

This thesis focuses on the moral issues surrounding human genetic engineering and advertises an accepting moral attitude to this booming technology. This thesis will first discuss the types of ...

Laurence Sterne: A Different Way Of Approaching The Notion Of Life In The Early Novel, Robert Metaxatos

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis employs the later philosophy of Michel Foucault to think through the unique set of socio-cultural problems that emerged alongside the early novel. I endeavor to explain the development of “biopower” and the concomitant (yet historically grounded) concept of a mass population in order to round off a nettlesome tendency among historicist rise-of-the-novel critics to focus on the creation of a bourgeois individual at this time. To that end, the texts of Anglo-Irish author Laurence Sterne bear out a unique narratorial response to biopower that begins with the ‘body’ of his work: i.e., Shandeism. Signaling the importance of ...

A Critical Analysis Of Amelioration And Inclusion By Katherine Jenkins, Braden S. Ritchey

Global Tides

This paper argues that Katherine Jenkins' inclusive ameliorative account fails to avoid the inclusion problem in her attempt to account for all women in her definition of woman. It goes about doing this by first examining the context of the scholarly debate. It is divided into three sections: (1) an examination of Jenkins' critique of Sally Haslanger's response to the inclusion problem, (2) an explanation of Jenkins' conceptual exploration, viz. the two sense of gender, and (3) an analysis of Jenkins' argument.

Intellectual Access And Spirituality: The Twin Urgencies Of Responsible American Education, Matthew Schmitz

Educational Studies Honors Papers

America is increasingly, and perhaps overwhelmingly, becoming a society characterized by political divisiveness. At its most extreme form, Hannah Arendt argues such a division can make us vulnerable to a loneliness that destroys our confidence and leaves us dependent on ideologies. A renewed sense of spirituality and intellect are prime candidates for helping us develop a healthy relationship with ourselves that can help counteract this loneliness. Not only that, but fully accessing our intellectual and spiritual sides can give us the confidence to tackle democratic republican citizenship the way Thomas Jefferson envisioned it. Here, Jacques Rancière helps us to construct ...

Climate Inaction As Discrimination Against Young People, Nathan Brett

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

As many young people are now making clear, they are being subjected to extraordinary risks of harms because of government inaction on climate change. In a previous paper, I argued that those who accept climate science have an obligation to join forces with others in pressing for adequate policies. Given what is at stake, it is quite wrong for individuals go about their everyday lives while ignoring the problem. This is not a vague obligation to future generations, nor is it an obligation that is opaque to common-sense morality. This paper is a commentary on Greta Thunberg’s brief but ...

Examining The Ethical Basis For Personal Support Workers In Ontario, Maureen Muldoon

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

This paper argues that Personal Support Workers (PSWs), the staff people who care for residents in long-term care facilities and nursing homes and who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, need to negotiate a new social contract with government based on equitable terms to recognize the essential nature of their work, thereby helping to ensure public accountability and trust.

Free And Always Will Be? On Social Media Participation As It Undermines Individual Autonomy, Kathryn Norlock

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Social media participation undermines individual autonomy in ways that ought to concern ethicists. Discussions in the philosophical literature are concerned primarily with egregious conduct online such as harassment and shaming, keeping the focus on obvious ills to which no one could consent; this prevents a wider understanding of the risks and harms of quotidian social media participation. Two particular concerns occupy me: social media participation carries the risks of (1) negatively formative experiences and (2) continuous partial attention due to our habituation to the variable rewards that social media platforms provide. Although social media offer benefits as well as risks ...

Healthy Enough? A Capability Approach To Sufficiency And Equality, Jay Drydyk

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

‘Sufficiency’ approaches to social and global justice stress that everyone must have enough. According to some advocates of this approach, only sufficiency is important, not equality. Martha Nussbaum, who is often classified as a sufficiency advocate, has defied this stricture against egalitarianism by contending that, in several domains, nothing is adequate short of equality. She cites political freedoms as her most persuasive example and suggests that the same may be true of the capability for health care. However, she does not explore this idea in depth: the idea that, in the domain of health, nothing short of equal capabilities is ...

Ethics In Locality: Confessions Of A Not-So-Innocent Bystander, J. Douglas Rabb

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

Using narrative form, so important in the Indigenous tradition, this paper tells the story of Ojibwa philosopher, Dennis McPherson, a friend and colleague of the author, and his persistent efforts over the years to liberate Locality.

Engaging With Indigenous Philosophy With An Indigenous Philosopher, Lorraine Mayer

The Canadian Society for Study of Practical Ethics / Société Canadienne Pour L'étude De L'éthique Appliquée — SCEEA

This paper tells the story of an encounter between Wisakaychak, a trickster in the Omushkego tradition, and the Strange Stranger. The latter is engrossed in trying to determine what he can know beyond any doubt. Wisakaychak engages his partner in dialogue. By posing suitable questions to him, Wisakaychak is able to elicit answers from him, including the answer to the riddle of his own identity.

Another Case For Posthuman Dignity, Amy Azwell

Merge

No abstract provided.

How Personally Relevant Cases Of Covid-19 Influence Individuals’ Level Of Concern Towards The Virus, Timothy J. Nicklas

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

This paper presents the findings of a statistical analysis exploring the ways in which personally relevant cases of COVID-19 influence an individual's level of concern towards the virus. The analysis makes use of public opinion data collected throughout the pandemic by a market research company called Ipsos. This study conducts an OLS regression analysis using three different samples of data from three distinct periods of time during the pandemic. The paper addresses each component of the study's deductive approach, outlining everything from the initial hypothesis to the conclusions and broader implications. Ultimately, this study does show evidence that ...

Extended Minds: The Externalization And Expansion Of Human Minds Beyond The Body, Dmitri Wolfe

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Despite the commonly accepted notion that the mind is inseparable from the body, the extended mind hypothesis claims human minds can become linked with the world around us. Through various avenues such as spoken and written language, humans may use non-biological means to allow the mind to store, access, and communicate information in extended capacities not otherwise possible. Though the extended minds hypothesis may be viewed as a result of advancing technology, it makes up only a small part of the way in which externalization may occur. Everyday life is full of examples of extended minds, from computers and phones ...

Rejecting Ingrid Robeyns’ Defense Of Limitarianism, Timothy J. Nicklas

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

This paper critically evaluates the argument put forth by the philosopher Ingrid Robeyns in her work entitled What, if Anything, is Wrong with Extreme Wealth. Robeyns holds the Chair Ethics of Institutions at Utrecht University, and her academic research focuses on issues pertaining to contemporary political philosophy and applied ethics. In her aforementioned publication, Robeyns defends the political theory called limitarianism, which holds that there should be an upper limit to the amount of income that an individual can hold. Limitarianism, like many other political philosophies, presents a view of how resources ought to be distributed in society based, in ...

Corporate Limitarianism, Karl Meyer

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Ingrid Robeyns argues that there is a point at which increasing one’s income no longer increases one’s quality of life. Her argument states that given better uses for this money, namely restoring political equality and meeting urgent needs, it is morally wrong for individuals to have surplus money, which is money beyond that which is needed to live a good life. Therefore, Robeyns argues that surplus money should be taxed at a rate of 100%. The original argument only applies to individuals with excess wealth. However, there is no reason why it should be restricted only to people ...

Child Marriage: Characterization As A Noxious Market And Policy-Based Responses To Economic Motivations, Curtis Newman

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

Child marriage is a human rights violation according to various international agreements and human rights conventions. In many countries the practice is outlawed, yet it persists with great incidence in both developed and developing societies. Governments must act to eliminate the practice which (1) results in physical and psychological individual harms for child brides; (2) perpetuates societal harms in the form of entrenched gender inequality and limited economic potential for women and for countries as a whole; (3) thrives on the exploitation of economic and agency vulnerabilities of a social class, namely young girls and women; and (4) threatens the ...

Digital Norms And Their Place In A Tech-Based Future, Joseph M. Squillaro

Penn Journal of Philosophy, Politics & Economics

One impact of the technological revolution has been technology’s effects on social norms and the nudges needed to ensure efficiency and security in today’s “digitally required” world. I define these phenomena as digital norms and they inform interpersonal contact and tech-based choices. This paper looks specifically at norm interactions between Generation X and Generation Z. To test these digital norms and gauge their presence in both generations, this paper outlines a survey experiment of 50 people (25 Gen X and 25 Gen Z) and seeks to extrapolate assumptions on technology while providing policy recommendations. What was found was ...