Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

Enhancing Strategies To Improve Workplace Performance, Francine Williams Richardson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When employees become dissatisfied at an organization, they may develop negative behaviors that can impede profits and productivity. The purpose of this single case study was to explore what strategies are essential for organizational leaders to improve workplace performance. Maslow's hierarchy of needs served as the conceptual framework for this study. Data collection involved face-to-face, semistructured interviews of 20 managers, floor employees, and clerical staff from a business organization in Southwest Georgia. Participant selection was based on employees' tenure of at least 1 year of experience within the organization. Interviews were transcribed and then coded for common patterns and themes. …

Poverty Knowledge, Coercion, And Social Rights: A Discourse Ethical Contribution To Social Epistemology, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In today’s America the persistence of crushing poverty in the midst of staggering affluence no longer incites the righteous jeremiads it once did. Resigned acceptance of this paradox is fueled by a sense that poverty lies beyond the moral and technical scope of government remediation. The failure of experts to reach agreement on the causes of poverty merely exacerbates our despair. Are the causes internal to the poor – reflecting their more or less voluntary choices? Or do they emanate from structures beyond their control (but perhaps amenable to government remediation)? If both of these explanations are true (as I …

Foundations Of A Political Identity: An Inquiry Into Indian Swaraj (Self-Rule), Shantanu Garg

CMC Senior Theses

India is celebrated as the largest democracy in the world but is it truly democratic? Is it the nation-state that its founder’s envisioned it to be? Has it addressed it ancient issue of social diversity?

This paper seeks to assess the present problem faced by the Indian Democracy; problems based on India’s inherent social diversity. Furthermore the paper seeks to recommend a solution based on Amartya Sen’s Open Impartiality approach that will allow the country to reassess its democratic platform. The paper also aims at providing a starting point to execute Sen’s approach by exploring the vision of two of …

Speaking And Rhetoric In The Community: The Implications Of Aristotle's Understanding Of Being, Logan C. Vescio

CMC Senior Theses

This thesis analyzes Martin Heidegger's early interpretation of Aristotelian concepts. The goal is to acquire an increased understanding of the ideas underlying Aristotle's political philosophy, as well as those underlying Heidegger's own later philosophy. The investigation begins with a critique of Kantian logic and the assumptions which underlie it, which are ultimately traced back to Aristotle. The passages that pertain to Kant's interpretation are assessed by Heidegger, who concludes that it is speaking, not explicit definition, that grounds possibility for life in a human sense. To demonstrate Heidegger's argument, the thesis transitions into an assessment of the Greek view of …

Trains, Trolley Cars, And Lifeboats: A Solution To Agent-Centered Restrictions And Tragic Questions Through The Application Of Middle Theory, Eric Christopher Ferrer

CMC Senior Theses

This Thesis will examine how the framing of ‘trolley problems’ incorrectly motivates arithmetic rankings of states of affairs by removing context. This is problematic because the context of these problems provides the tools to solve moral dilemmas by allowing one to analyze the relevant motivations, moral implications, duties, values, and personal and societal obligations that one has. I will discuss Samuel Scheffler’s charge that a paradox exists within agent-centered restrictions and how his abstract paradigmatic case leads to arithmetic rankings of choices, which are both unrealistic and lead to tragic and morally unacceptable decision making. I will argue that Allen …

Lying For The Sake Of The Truth: The Ethics Of Deceptive Journalism, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

Should journalists go undercover and misrepresent who they are in order to write exposé stories? This chapter examines the case of Ken Silverstein, the Washington editor of Harper's Magazine. Silverstein lied to lobbying firms about being a prospective client so he could expose firms' strategies to help tyrannical regimes and dictators. Although a utilitarian ethical approach would dictate that Silverstein should have gone undercover and lied to obtain the truth, an approach based on virtue ethics would discourage such actions.

Educating Early Christians Through The Rhetoric Of Hell: 'Weeping And Gnashing Of Teeth' As 'Paideia' In Matthew And The Early Church, Meghan Henning

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Meghan Henning explores the rhetorical function of the early Christian concept of hell, drawing connections to Greek and Roman systems of education, and examining texts from the Hebrew Bible, Greek and Latin literature, the New Testament, early Christian apocalypses and patristic authors.

This work is a revised version of the author's Ph.D. dissertation, which was successfully defended at Emory University in 2013. It is included in the series Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament II.

She writes, "Now that this work is finished, I am delighted to have the opportunity to thank those who have generously traveled with me on this …

Eternal Punishment As Paideia: The Ekphrasis Of Hell In The Apocalypse Of Peter And The Apocalypse Of Paul, Meghan Henning

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Much of the history of scholarship on “hell” has been devoted to tracing genetic relationships between older texts and more recent ones, typically based upon generic elements or the specific features of hell’s landscape. This paper suggests a new direction for classics and New Testament study, focusing instead on the rhetorical function of hell in antiquity. This paper argues that the ancient conventions of descriptive rhetoric were at work in the depictions of Hell that we find in the Jewish and early Christian apocalypses. It begins with a definition of these rhetorical devices by examining the Progymnasmata as well as …

Structural Racism, Institutional Agency, And Disrespect, Andrew J. Pierce

Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In recent work, Joshua Glasgow has offered a definition of racism that is supposed to put to rest the debates between cognitive, behavioral, attitudinal, and institutionalist definitions. The key to such a definition, he argues, is the idea of disrespect. He claims: "φ is racist if and only if φ is disrespectful toward members of racialized group R as Rs." While this definition may capture an important commonality among cognitive, behavioral, and attitudinal accounts of racism, I argue that his attempt to expand the definition to cover institutional or "structural" racism is less persuasive. Alternatively, I argue that structural racism …

Super Soldiers: The Ethical, Legal And Operational Implications (Part 2), Patrick Lin, Max Mehlman, Keith Abney, Shannon French, Shannon Vallor, Jai Galliott, Michael Burnam-Fink, Alexander R. Lacroix, Seth Schuknecht

Philosophy

This is the second chapter of two on military human enhancement. In the first chapter, the authors outlined past and present efforts aimed at enhancing the minds and bodies of our warfighters with the broader goal of creating the “super soldiers” of tomorrow, all before exploring a number of distinctions—natural vs. artificial, external vs. internal, enhancement vs. therapy, enhancement vs. disenhancement, and enhancement vs. engineering—that are critical to the definition of military human enhancement and understanding the problems it poses. The chapter then advanced a working definition of enhancement as efforts that aim to “improve performance, appearance, or capability besides …

Attack Of The Drones : Unmanned Aerial Vehicles And Moral Problems, Tyler B. Kirk

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The frequency of use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for combat by the United States has increased dramatically in recent years. Since this technology has comprised a significant portion of American counter-terror operations abroad and there are virtually no signs of this practice slowing or ceasing in the foreseeable future, it is necessary to closely examine the ethical implications of remote-control warfare. At first glance, arguments supporting the use of "drones" seem robust and sensible: in theory, they save American military lives. But upon further investigation, the use of drones in practice actually creates morally murky, problematic situations that could lead …

Beyond Our Conscience: A Proposal For An Improved Model Of Self-Forgiveness, Kelsey M. Park

Honors Theses

The common saying forgive and forget does not do justice to the deep understanding we can gain of ourselves and of others by pursing genuine forgiveness. Philosophers Charles Griswold and Margaret Holmgren propose two models of forgiveness that differ in terms of how we should view our humanity. Griswold suggests that the foundation of genuine forgiveness is recognizing that we are all fallible human beings while Holmgren suggests that our being human makes us all worthy of respect. Both Griswold and Holmgren focus primarily on cases of interpersonal forgiveness and give significantly less attention to cases of self-forgiveness. The lack …

Moving To A New Paradigm: A Reflection On Ethics, Sara Bajor '15

Richard T. Schellhase Essay Prize in Ethics

No abstract provided.

The Plausibility Of A Slippery Slope: Guantanamo Bay As An Example Of Direct/Indirect Participation In Torture And The Corruption Of Societal Morality, Dominique T N Greene-Sanders

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although torture is considered universally reprehensible by law, including international law and human convention, it occurs routinely as an acceptable and efficient method for interrogation and intimidation. The questions that follow are: What kind of person engages in/commits acts of torture? If legalized, how would torture affect morality when an individual can be instrumentally utilized as a mere means-to-an-end? How does torture affect the victim, the torturer, and society as a whole? In order to answer these questions, I will use events at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center to argue in favor of the plausibility for the concept of a …

E Pluribus Unum? Liberalism And The Search For Civility In America, Jeannemarie Halleck

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores issues of civility in liberal democracy, and in particular, how civility and civic engagement must be regenerated in order to forward the democratic ideals of equal rights, citizen equality and collective self-government in a meaningful way. Liberal democracy presupposes a level of civility in order to uphold standards of individual liberty and freedom, however as a theory it fails to compel citizens to support levels of mutual respect.

An etymological exploration of the term civility introduces the work of puritan theologian Roger Williams, whose early writings on individual liberty as well as the role of civility and …

The Replicator And Scheffler’S Distributive Hybrid: Deriving Moral Obligations From Ability To Aid, Adam Griffith

CMC Senior Theses

If one can do a good thing, ought one do it? In this paper, I argue that capability is a strong source of moral obligation that can, in proper doses, override things like property rights. I will build a hypothetical case based on a fictional invention called the Replicator with enormous potential for use as a humanitarian tool and I’ll use it to display the way that capability to aid imposes powerful moral obligations on both individuals and organizations. Ultimately, I will use the model that I will develop to demonstrate that some real-world entities are not satisfying their moral …

The Deontological And Utilitarian Cases For Rectifying Structural Injustice In Sweatshop Labor Ethics: A Critical Assessment, Clark J. Kissiah

CMC Senior Theses

Sweatshop labor has been condemned by scholars, activists, students and consumers in more developed countries on charges of wrongful exploitation, and a failure to respect the dignity, and basic needs of sweatshop workers. This paper surveys charges against sweatshop labor, and some of the more influential arguments for, and against, rectifying the background structural injustices that perpetuate it. I argue that in certain sweatshop cases, compensating workers below a prima facie morally acceptable level can be most successful in striving towards the duty of beneficence that employers owe to their employees. Therefore, we ought to pursue utility-maximizing acts over others …

Ecology, Emotion, And Culture: The Moral Psychology Of Environmentalism, Camille G. Veri 14

Honor Scholar Theses

None

On Moral Supervenience, Ramon Alvarado

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Conventional accounts of moral supervenience are not fit for the moral realist to use against skeptic objections. In particular, they do not provide a sufficiently robust account of dependence or determination needed to counter the argument from queerness.This is shown in their inadequacy to deal with cases of minimal discernibility and cases of moral gradation. A similarity-base account of supervenient seems to be the one that the moral realist ought to incorporate instead.

International Trade: A Justice Approach, Aaron Crowe

Dissertations

The current international trade regime is flawed, unjust and in need of redress. It largely ignores concerns for global economic justice, and fails those most in need of a strategy to help them move out of extreme poverty. It exacerbates inequalities, both between states in global society and within individual countries. It also creates a competitive pressure on producers to use the differing legal standards and enforcement between countries to externalize important environmental, social /human rights and cultural costs that harm others now or in the future.

In the first two chapters, this dissertation draws out, and considers critically, the …