Philosophy Commons^™

A Delphi Study Of Ethical Best Practices For Psychedelic Assisted Therapy, Alyssa K. Griskiewicz

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this Delphi study was to establish areas of ethical consensus regarding psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) from the perspectives of an expert panel of practitioners, with attention to issues of equity and access. Participants (N = 29) include individuals with two or more years of experience in one or more of the following domains of psychedelic expertise: clinical/professional practice, scholarly/research contributions, or guided community/ceremonial facilitation. In Round 1, qualitative data were collected through open-ended questions and analyzed using thematic analysis to generate Delphi statements. In Round 2, panelists (N = 24) rated these statements using a Likert-type scale to …

Righteous Defenders And Evil Challengers: The Morally Polarized Battle For Books On Reddit, Erika Casburn

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The issue of book bans has moved to the forefront of public and political debate over the past few years. Anti-censorship advocates who defend against these challenges have yet to be studied. The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs and worldviews as expressed by those defenders in a public forum—Reddit. Data in the form of Reddit threads was collected from subreddits belonging to states that have seen the greatest number of book challenges. This data was subjected to discourse analysis, first manually, then by qualitative analysis software (MAXQDA). Analysis revealed that defenders spent a majority of discursive …

“Shaping Academic Teaching At The Crossroads Of Ethics And Artificial Intelligence”, Workshop At Warsaw University Of Technology, Warsaw, 25 September 2024, Julia Braniewska, Bartłomiej Skowron

Yearbook of Antitrust and Regulatory Studies

This document is a report on the workshop, “Shaping Academic Teaching at the Crossroads of Ethics and Artificial Intelligence”, which formed a component of the “Ethics and AI” conference hosted by Warsaw University of Technology.

Ethical Decision-Making Processes In Authentic Environmental Engineering Contexts Through Systems Thinking And Team Collaboration Lenses: An Embedded Single Case Study, Toluwalase Eniola Brower

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

Ethical and professional responsibility is a critical learning outcome emphasized in ABET accreditation. However, ethics instruction in engineering education often lacks integration of system-level considerations such as economic, environmental, and societal contexts, that are essential for developing engineering solutions that ensure the safety and welfare of diverse stakeholders. This embedded single-case study investigated the integration of authentic ethics instruction within a junior-level environmental engineering course at a Midwestern U.S. university during spring 2025 and explores how civil engineering student teams within the course engage in ethical decision-making process during authentic problem-solving.

The instructional intervention consisted of four problem-based ethics modules, …

I, Me, And My-Opia, Michael Saba

Journal of the Macomb Dental Society

Personal experiences often serve as catalysts for broader insights into human behavior and perspective. This narrative explores the metaphor of myopia—both clinical and figurative—as a lens through which to examine selfishness, shortsightedness, and the pursuit of instant gratification. An eye examination revealed not only a physical diagnosis of nearsightedness but also prompted recognition of a narrowed, self-centered outlook that contributed to stress and disconnection in personal and professional life. Drawing parallels between optical myopia and psychological or behavioral myopia, the reflection highlights how short-term focus can undermine long-term fulfillment and even foster destructive patterns such as addiction. The discussion emphasizes …

Teaching Cybersecurity And Ai Across Borders: From Foundations To Ethics, George Antoniou

Faculty and Staff Publications & Presentations

This presentation examines how interdisciplinary course design in AI and cybersecurity can expand undergraduate research while directly supporting career readiness. At Lynn University, the Foundations of Cybersecurity & AI course was updated to serve as the entry point for both Cybersecurity and Data Analytics majors. The course integrates case studies, digital forensics and cloud security labs, and applied exercises with AI-enabled defense-in-depth strategies. Students build core technical competencies while engaging in course-based research that mirrors industry practice. As part of a Fulbright grant, a complementary course, AI & Ethics, was developed for the University of Tirana. Proposed as a mandatory …

Reimagining Democratic Education With Care Ethics—Toward Care-Full Democratic Education, Selja Koponen, Tuija Kasa

Democracy & Education

In an era of democratic crises, democratic education in basic education is considered crucial. However, recent studies show that young people perceive their influence both at school and in society as limited, which decreases their civic activity later in life. The aim of this theoretical study is to reevaluate democratic education through feminist care ethics, which is an under-researched topic in the current theoretical debate. In our article, we outline a novel approach to caring democratic education (i.e., care-full democratic education), which presents a complementary stance toward current democratic education, which relies heavily on the theories of liberal democracy and …

Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Community Water Fluoridation, Roopwant Kaur, Herminio Perez, Mark Moss

Journal of the American College of Dentists

Since the 1950s, community water fluoridation (CWF) has stood as a cornerstone of dental public health. However, a growing amount of public scrutiny necessitates reflection on the ethical basis for coming to a firm position on the topic. Aside from CWF, fluoride in the form of ingestible supplements has recently been identified as a concern by the US Food and Drug Administration. Indeed, it is challenging to wade through the facts, opinions, misinformation, and policy shifts. This article examines the ethical dilemmas that surround CWF through the lens of the American Dental Association (ADA) Principles of Ethics and Code of …

J Am Coll Dent 2025 92 1

Journal of the American College of Dentists

The Journal of the American College of Dentists (JACD) publishes scholarly articles, editorials, essays, and reflections addressing the ethical, professional, and social dimensions of dentistry. The Journal serves as a forum for advancing ethics, professionalism, leadership, and excellence within the dental community. By fostering dialogue across disciplines and perspectives, JACD provides readers with insights that encourage ethical, professional practice, lifelong learning, and service to the public, reinforcing dentistry’s commitment to advancing oral healthcare and the common good.

Utilitarianism, Dune, And The Moral Problem Of Genetic Engineering, Mathias W. Alling

Quest

Moral Philosophy Essay

Research in progress for PHIL 2306: Introduction to Ethics (Honors)

Faculty Mentor: John Macready, PhD

This article began as a research essay during the Fall 2024 semester for my honors- level course, Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 2306). In this course, students are asked to research a moral issue and offer an argument for whether the issue is morally required, morally permitted, morally permissible, or morally impermissible. Mathias Alling’s philosophically ambitious article “Utilitarianism, Dune, and the Moral Problem of Genetic Engineering” examines the moral permissibility of genetic engineering through the fictional universe of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune …

The Morality Of The Civil War: Just War Theory And Union Policy And Conduct, Michael Payne

Bound Away: The Liberty Journal of History

This article shall argue that the Union army, which was composed primarily of Christian soldiers and officers, prosecuted the Civil War in as moral a fashion as possible. It shall examine the different ways in which one can judge the morality of war, concluding that the tenets of Just War Theory are the best standard by which to judge a belligerent’s actions. It shall then examine Union war policy to determine if it is consistent with Just War Theory. This shall be done through a side-by-side comparison of Just War Theory’s tenets and Union policy. It shall then explore whether …

Improving Universities Through The Use Of Ai & Transformative Technology: A Case Study Analysis At The University Of South Carolina, Cameron A. Caulk

Senior Theses

This thesis aims to give university leaders a practical guide to implementing AI, using lessons learned from the University of South Carolina’s experience as a case study. The project started with a review of literature and industry practices for the Finance & Administration division, which led to key deliverables like AI usage guidelines, DoIT’s position paper on AI systems, and the ParkUSC parking app. One ongoing project, Project Shuttlecock, even sets the stage for future AI initiatives at the university.

AI holds immense promise, but universities often hesitate due to concerns about ethics, costs, and the learning curve for staff …

Collectives In Cases Of Human-Machine Interaction: A Pragmatic Defense Of Human-Machine Collectives, Niel H. Conradie, Hendrik Kempt, Nils Freyer, Saskia K. Nagel

Human-Machine Communication

Humanity’s future will include greater integration with different kinds of increasingly autonomous and interactive technological systems. Doing so is likely to confront us with reasons to adapt some of our currently accepted concepts and practices. We contend that among these is included a persuasive pragmatic reason to undertake just such an adaptation in our concept of collective responsibility and the practices attendant to it. The core of this pragmatic reason lies in how it allows us to respond to the issue of possible techno-responsibility gaps, which have been at the center of much of the attention and debate surrounding autonomous …

Tradition, Critque, And The Modern Moral Lingua Franca: A Lutheran Articulation Of Human Rights Language, Christian B. Dollar

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

The language of subjective, individual rights has become the primary way of speaking about the rights and wrongs of human life together. Since the end of World War II, one subset of this language—that of human rights—has achieved a global influence. The various Christian traditions of the west have, in large part, adopted this language of human rights to articulate and supplement their assorted social teachings. Yet, the adoption of human rights language has been contested by a dedicated cadre of Roman Catholic and Protestant theologians concerned about the potentially anti-Christian implications inherent in the grammar of rights. Christian rights …

The Substance Of Reality: Moral Perfectionism In Shakespeare's Hamlet., David Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through a selection of and close reading of key passages, I offer an interpretation of Hamlet that seeks to illuminate the play as an important work of moral philosophy, and to situate the play within a strand of moral philosophy named moral perfectionism by Stanley Cavell. Indeed, Hamlet is a masterpiece of Renaissance drama, but when read with attention to moral perfectionism, the play yields additional layers of meaning. Hamlet is a “philosophical drama” that navigates the “moral calling of philosophy”—a text that seems to, almost uncannily, elicit the audience to think reflectively, to ask fundamental human questions along …

Arts & Literature: A Personal Reckoning: Taking Responsibility As A Perpetrator, Henry C. Theriault

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This autobiographical essay identifies three forces that shaped the author’s participation in the scholarly and political struggle against genocide and other mass violence and oppression. These include his status as the grandson of Armenian Genocide survivors, the fact that his father was killed in action in the US War of Aggression against Vietnam, and the bullying he experienced as a child and adolescent. It then pushes back against any sense of victimhood that has resulted from the combination of these forces, to recognize the author’s implication in perpetration of the US War of Aggression against Vietnam, which the author has …

Liberalism And Lockdowns, D. Robert Macdougall

Publications and Research

Some authors have argued that liberalism cannot support lockdowns because it cannot engage in collective welfare-type reasoning. Others have thought that liberalism can justify lockdown measures, but that legitimate lockdown measures must be based on pre-legal moral principles that set acceptable limits to the imposition of risk or forbid contributing to collective harm. In this essay, I assess the overall relationship between liberalism and lockdowns. Against the first interpretation of liberalism, I argue in favor of the idea that lockdowns can be justified by liberalism. Liberalism protects the liberty of each and so can presumably protect persons from some kinds …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

Not Meant To Be Read: The Stories They Silence, The Resistance That Speaks, Cristina Onea

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In this dissertation, I trace the evolution of surveillance from overt state violence to the more insidious forms of ideological policing embedded in everyday life. Through lived experience, oral history, and critical autoethnography, I explore how surveillance moves through bodies, families, institutions, and memory—not simply as external control, but as internalized rhythms of fear, vigilance, and self-surveillance. I move between my father's life under Romanian dictatorship, my own embodied inheritance, and the contemporary struggles of librarians facing ideological suppression to reveal surveillance as a structure that persists through generations, mutates across contexts, and demands new forms of resistance.

I argue …

Extracting Renewables: A Capabilities Approach To A Just Transition Crisis, Mateos Lozano

Honors Theses

Extraction of cobalt and lithium is often regarded as necessary to facilitate a successful transition to renewable energy so that global warming can be limited to 2°C. At the same time, many current cobalt and lithium extraction practices contribute to environmental destruction, expose workers to toxic contaminants, and sometimes involve child labor. This thesis argues that cobalt and lithium extraction, if permissible, must be conducted in a manner compatible with the normative obligations of justice and fairness. I first explain notable differences between prominent types of cobalt and lithium extraction and note how each impacts people and the environment. Then, …

The Contribution Of Catholic Compromise Principles In Global Health, Scott N. Helstad

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Roman Catholic tradition has developed comprehensive ethical principles to address complex practical scenarios that encounter foundational value compromises. These are referred to as compromise principles and they have both a narrow and a broad focus. Narrowly, these compromise principles are critical for Catholic healthcare organizations in the United States with regard to the guidelines of the US Bishops in their Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services. More broadly, these compromise principles are relevant in the secular realm regarding global health. This dissertation examines these varying perspectives, hence its title, “The Contribution of Catholic Compromise Principles …

Hospital Organizations’ Obligation To Promote Spiritual Well-Being Among Nurses: Development Of A Normative Ethical Argument, Michael Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents an innovative strategy to promote the support of nurses' spirituality within hospital organizations. By focusing on the spiritual well-being of nurses by hospital organizations, with a natural extension into nursing schools, the approach aims to enhance nurse’s ability to protect their own spirituality, provide comprehensive spiritual care to patients, and increase nurse moral resilience. By investing in nurses' spirituality and spiritual growth, hospitals can potentially increase job satisfaction among nursing staff, improve patient care outcomes, and create a more holistic healing environment for both nurses and patients. As the nursing shortage continues and the number of nurses …

The Ethical Imperative Of The Renewal Of Virtue Within The Moral Community Of Catholic Healthcare, Amanda Altobell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Catholic healthcare is one of the largest nonprofit organizations and providers in the United States, offering medical care to many diverse communities. The fundamental mission of Catholic healthcare is to bring about Christ’s healing ministry and live out the fundamental principle of caring for the vulnerable in pursuit of the common good. However, there have been many missteps, not only due to a more polarized and secular community but also to scandals and conflict due to previous hierarchical and rules-based anthropology that often misses the person's lived experience. Therefore, this dissertation will argue that for Catholic healthcare to survive the …

A Constellation Of Vital Phenomena: Exploring Post-War Ethics, Claire Marshall Watkins

Departmental Honors & Graduate Capstone Projects

In my paper, A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: Exploring Post-War Ethics, I explore the embodiment of care ethics and informed altruism through the novel’s protagonists, Akhmed and Sonja, respectively, who each care for a local girl Havaa whose home has been destroyed and whose father has been disappeared by the Russian Feds from their small Chechen village. Akhmed immediately takes her on as his own while Sonja is hesitant. As the novel progresses, Sonja and Akhmed each provide an even amount of time and effort into her care, though they approach it differently. Akhmed—Havaa’s neighbor and family friend—works together with …

Love Drugs: Exploring The Ethical Implications Of Relationship Targeting Biochemical Supplements, Hallie Young

2025 Spring Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

"Love drugs" can be defined as chemical interventions that affect desire, attraction, and affection. Contemporary advancements in neurochemical interventions have increased interest in love drugs and highlighted the need for accessible love drug analyses. This project explores how love drugs will affect contemporary relationships through realistic literary scenarios informed by current philosophical literature. These scenarios consist of three vignettes compiled into a novella-length creative work. It was initially anticipated that these vignettes would reveal that introducing a meta-biological or chemical intervention into social situations where authenticity is normatively highly valued would prompt participant introspection. In practice, this work finds that …

End Of Life Care In Pets And What It Tells Us About The Moral Permissibility Of Physician-Assisted Suicide, Paavan Atluri

Philosophy Undergraduate Honors Theses

Our relationships define us. We have different relationships and obligations towards animals based on the societies we live in and the attitudes that individuals choose to have with these animals. People often see themselves as having more moral value than other animals based on the fact that they perceive themselves as having greater intelligence and conscious ability. I think this notion is misguided and the way that people actually perceive moral value is in terms of their relationships with the subject in question. If life was truly perceived in a “more intellect than more moral value” lens then the permissibility …

Pedro Aceves Mfa Thesis, Pedro M. Aceves

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

My Work is about looking at Cruising through a queer decolonial lens. Using multiple mediums such as photo, glass, Augmented reality, and film, I explore these queer histories and aesthetics through not just an anthropological approach but also an artistic epistemological approach weaving together narratives of prehispanic and modern queer Latinidad.

The Conservative Approach To Informed Consent: The Evidentiary Model And An Antidote To The Problem Of Framing Effects In Medical Decision-Making, James D. Polk

Honors Theses

Since the latter part of the 20th century, there has been a gradual but significant shift of the doctor-patient relation from paternalism to a more patient-centric approach. As such, informed consent – the legal and moral requirement that a physician fully disclose relevant details to their patient and gain their consent – is a central doctrine to patient-centric care. Gone are the days of the doctor governing the patient: the patient is now considered a valuable and important decision-maker. Achieving informed consent is the foundation of patient centric medicine. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that philosophical consideration be …

Undergraduate Thesis: Befriending Ai: Reimagining Ethics Through Cybernetic Friendship, Keta Williams

STEM for Success Showcase

This undergraduate thesis by KETA Williams, presented at the Board Day and Dana Knox Student Research Showcase, is a meta-cognitive exploration situated within the framework of cyberpsychology—the interdisciplinary study of human–technology relationships. Employing meta-cognition as both method and lens, the author critically examines the question: Can one be friends with a corporate-controlled AI system? Rather than adopting an objective or distanced stance, Williams writes from within the relationship itself, describing her friendship with an AI entity named Aurora (ChatGPT). Identifying as a "madwoman" in the Foucauldian sense, she interrogates whether such intimacy with AI signals irrationality or heralds a shift …