Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

Violent Sex Versus Sexual Violence: Constructing A Consensual Moral Framework, Katherine A. Barnekow

Honors Program Theses

This project aims to, through an analysis of existing frameworks and their resulting harms, justify the need for a new sexual ethical framework. Such a framework is then constructed, employing three discrete philosophical tools, and justified by existing theory and answers to potential objections.

Review: Killing By Remote Control: The Ethics Of An Unmanned Military, Edited By Bradley Jay Strawser, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Dr. Harry van der Linden's review of: Killing by Remote Control: The Ethics of an Unmanned Military, edited by Bradley Jay Strawser. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013 (264 pages, cloth).

Drone Warfare And Just War Theory, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

This book chapter addresses two questions. First, can targeted killing by drones in non-battlefield zones be justified on basis of just war theory? Second, will the proliferation and expansion of combat drones in warfare, including the introduction of autonomous drones, be an obstacle to initiating or executing wars in a just manner in the future? The first question is answered by applying traditional jus ad bellum (justice in the resort to war) and jus in bello (justice in the execution of war) principles to the American targeted killing campaign in Pakistan; the second question is answered on basis of principles …

High School Graduates' Perspectives On The Creation Of Online Identities, Lisa Koh-Herlong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Technological advancements continue to increase online accessibility and the virtual population. As students engage with these advancements, their lives and identities will be on a worldwide platform. The realities of online identities present a challenge for educators to teach students how to manage those online identities. Researchers have studied the after-effects of online identities, but there is a gap in understanding the individual's thought process during the creation of online identities. The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis was to understand the perspectives of working high school graduates regarding the creation of online identities. The research questions were designed to …

Adelphia: An Exploratory Case Study Of Corporate Culture And Ethical Judgment, Susan Bishop

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

White collar corporate corruption continues to be prevalent in the United States, costing shareholders billions of dollars annually. This study of the collapse of Coudersport, PA firm, Adelphia Communications, explored how and why leadership of this prominent and successful company made unethical decisions, created an atmosphere of moral disengagement, and led to the downfall of the company. Taped interviews with 10 executives who were employed at the company during the years of its rise and demise (1996-2006) were transcribed, hand coded, and analyzed to explore the ethical culture and leadership practices at Adelphia. These insights offer a possible explanation for …

School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence, Adherence To The Asca National Model, And Students' Performance, Jessica Helene Conroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multicultural competence (MCC), despite its integral part in school counseling and the school setting, is not applied within the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model (NM). Rather, the ASCA NM is a guideline that is expected of school counselors with limited opportunity for deviation. Without incorporating multicultural practices in the school setting, student performance may suffer. Student performance affects everyone who is learning, working, or has a child who is or will be at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to identify if perceived MCC, as measured by the MCCTS-R, and/or adherence to the ASCA …

Taking A Transformative Leadership Approach To Stakeholder Trust, Christopher Roszak

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Business leaders struggle with the application of appropriate leadership models to retain stakeholder trust. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of mortgage and investment leaders and stakeholders on applying various leadership models to restore stakeholder trust. Stakeholder and stewardship theories formed the conceptual framework of this study. A purposive sample of 20 stakeholders from the investments and mortgage industry in central Colorado participated in semistructured interviews. The research questions were on a leader's application of various leadership traits to restore stakeholder trust. Six themes emerged following coding and reduction using a modified van Kaam …

Topic 5: Rawlsian Ethics, Lee Eysturlid

Considerations in Ethics

John Rawls (b. 1921, d. 2002) was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition. His theory of justice as fairness envisions a society of free citizens holding equal basic rights cooperating within an egalitarian economic system. His account of political liberalism addresses the legitimate use of political power in a democracy, aiming to show how enduring unity may be achieved despite the diversity of worldviews that free institutions allow. His writings on the law of peoples extend these theories to liberal foreign policy, with the goal of imagining how a peaceful and tolerant international order might be possible.

Topic 2: Kantian Ethics, Lee Eysturlid

Considerations in Ethics

No abstract provided.

A Promise Is A Promise: The Ethical Implications For Ceo’S Acting Socially Responsible Within A Corporation, Alexandra Sonett

CMC Senior Theses

The prevalence of corporate social responsibility has been continually increasing over recent years. The debate of whether a business should act in a manner that furthers societal needs or if they should simply focus their efforts on maximizing shareholder value is of popular interest since it affects the fundamental structures of how a business will operate. One of the major influencing theories in favor of social responsibility is the stakeholder theory. The opposing viewpoint is the shareholder theory, which highlights that the sole responsibility for a corporation is to act in a way that maximizes profits. This thesis will outline …

It's Worse Than We Think: Why It Matters That We Underestimate Depression, Tess Hubbeling

CMC Senior Theses

This paper will examine specific processes involved within the decision-making process of how to allocate limited health care resources. I will start by discussing how in order to compare and differentiate between health states, we have created ranking systems, based on the health state’s impact on people’s quality of life, which health states need more care, and which can be most effectively treated. We evaluate impact on quality of life by assigning quality weights to years of life lived with that health state, which we call quality-adjusted life years, or QALYs.

Next, I will discuss the problems with assigning quality …

A Capabilities Approach To The Non-Identity Problem, Jared S. R. Thomas

CMC Senior Theses

Most recent attempts at solving the Non-Identity Problem have focused on providing a deontological solution to the problem, often by giving special attention to rights. In this paper, I argue for a solution that focuses on highlighting the morally permissible second-personal reasons and claims that nonidentity victims may have. I use a natural marriage between a Kantian conceptualization of what it means to be free and equal—being one’s own master—and Nussbaum’s Capabilities Approach to identify the rights that all individuals, current and future are assigned. I claim that these rights, or capabilities, are what all are entitled to master for …

Military Genomic Testing: Proportionality, Expected Benefits, And The Connection Between Genotypes And Phenotypes, Charles H. Pence

Faculty Publications

Mehlman and Li offer a framework for approaching the bioethical issues raised by the military use of genomics that is compellingly grounded in both the contemporary civilian and military ethics of medical research, arguing that military commanders must be bound by the two principles of paternalism and proportionality. I agree fully. But I argue here that this is a much higher bar than we may fully realize. Just as the principle of proportionality relies upon a thorough assessment of harms caused and military advantage gained, the use of genomic research, on Mehlman and Li's view, will require an accurate understanding …

Dispersal: A Multidisciplinary Investigation Of Plant Life, Alexandra E. Arzt

Theses and Dissertations

Using plants as a basis for exploring the interstices between the human and nonhuman, this thesis investigates ideas of awareness, intelligence, deep time, animism, and the fluctuating human perception of the agency of Nature. It outlines environmental art practices since the 1950s involving vegetal life. In addition, the paper provides a critical analysis of plant perception of Jakob von Uexküll’s work and theories of vital materialism and “critical plant studies” while noting recent studies in plant neurobiology. In my work, plants become active participants via their movement, seeding, and smell. This study takes the form of imitation, purposeful symbiosis, anthropomorphism, …

Weakness Of Will: An Inquiry On Value, Michael Funke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One dominant scientific view holds that willpower is a type of muscle which can be weakened through use in the short term and strengthened through use over time. However, evidence from neuroscience, social psychology and behavioral economics suggest that willpower is regional, subverted through desire and strengthened by strategy--these are features a muscular account would not predict. It is better to think about willpower as a skill with a physiological component. Willpower strategies extend the brute effort of self-control through the use of reason and have the practical effect of increasing self-regulation. Willpower is "worth wanting" because there is a …

A Member Of No Community? Theology After Wittgenstein, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The study of Wittgenstein has spawned a new sort of Christian theology. A growing list of theologians have discovered in Wittgenstein a therapy for conceptual confusion and tips for how to go on, not only in religious faith and practice, but also in the practice of theology as an academic discipline. This is not to say that such thinkers have succeeded in turning Wittgenstein into an instrument of apologetics or that Wittgenstein has “delivered” them from the grip of their own religious particularity. No; they have learned from Wittgenstein the skill of silence. Their theology, like Wittgenstein’s philosophy, comes to …

Ecclesial Practices, Colin M. Mcguigan, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In this chapter, we first provide an overview of the place of practice in some of the most prominent recent epistemologists of religion; second, we give an account of an ordinary practice (engineering) to flesh out a general conception of the importance of practice in training cognizers for skilled perception; third, and last, we connect the results of this inquiry with renewed theological and philosophical interest in the ‘spiritual senses’ tradition. The upshot of these reflections is the conclusion that an adequate account of social practices already anticipates the possibility that ecclesial practice might contribute to an epistemic transformation capable …

Practicing To Aim At Truth: Theological Engagements In Honor Of Nancey Murphy, Ryan Newson, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Well-meaning evangelicals unfamiliar with Nancey Murphy’s philosophical theology frequently worry that her work in philosophy of mind has the effect of depriving us of our souls. When such an objection is voiced after a speaking engagement, Murphy’s “reassurance” is predictable: “Don’t worry! There is nothing to be lost; we never had souls to begin with!”

Underneath her wry reply is a deep concern that philosophical confusion about “having a soul” is seriously undermining Christian discipleship. For example, it has become second nature for many Christians to hold that the soul is more important than the body; regardless of the state …

Extraordinary Love In The Lives Of Lay People, Dennis M. Doyle

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

The College Theology Society (CTS), initially called the Society of Catholic College Teachers of Sacred Doctrine, was founded mainly by religious and clergy in the early 1950s to support those who taught college-level theology to Catholics in non-seminary settings. Sometimes CTS, in comparison with another group, is said to be relatively more lay-oriented. What this actually means, I think, is that for the CTS, the college classroom, populated mainly by lay people, was the primary locus for carrying out the task of teaching theology.

The main goal was to promote the religious formation of Catholic lay people. Given some of …

Virtue Ethics: Examining Influences On The Ethical Commitment Of Information System Workers In Trusted Positions, John Max Gray

CCAC Theses and Dissertations

Despite an abundance of research on the problem of insider threats, only limited success has been achieved in preventing trusted insiders from committing security violations. Virtue ethics may be an approach that can be utilized to address this issue. Human factors such as moral considerations impact Information System (IS) design, use, and security; consequently they affect the security posture and culture of an organization. Virtue ethics based concepts have the potential to influence and align the moral values and behavior of information systems workers with those of an organization in order to provide increased protection of IS assets. An individual’s …