Applied Ethics Commons^™

The Varieties Of Precaution: Which Risks, Whose Attitudes?, Tomasz Żuradzki

Animal Sentience

The Edge of Sentience offers an ambitious and timely institutional framework for proportionate precaution under uncertainty about sentience. Its systematic treatment of empirical and theoretical uncertainty across diverse cases is a major contribution. Focusing on the problem of identifying and weighing different risks when designing proportionate precautions, this commentary suggests three areas in which Birch’s framework could be developed further: a more domain-sensitive justification of the priority given to avoiding under-attribution; a clearer distinction among competing forms of risk aversion and their divergent policy implications; and a fuller explanation of how the framework generates different recommendations across cases.

Operational Responsibility In Ai Governance: A User-Centric Liability Framework, Zhengyang Chen

Faculty Publications

Who bears responsibility when artificial intelligence systems cause harm? This question has become central to AI ethics and governance. Most existing approaches focus on developers, yet this faces serious practical and theoretical problems. Drawing on tort law, agency law, and philosophy of technology, this paper argues that AI should be understood as an instrument whose outputs remain the responsibility of human operators rather than developers. We call this 'user-centric governance.' Placing accountability with deployers promotes public trust by creating clear lines of responsibility, a concern that governance approaches have often overlooked. It preserves democratic accountability by keeping human actors answerable …

What Do We Owe A Drowning Coast? Examining Louisiana's Coastal Crisis Through The Lens Of Environmental Justice, Owen M. Plaisance

Honors Theses

This thesis argues that human contributions to Louisiana’s coastal land loss constitute a form of environmental injustice that cannot be adequately addressed through frameworks focused solely on aggregate welfare or distributive fairness. While utilitarian and Rawlsian approaches offer important insights, both are limited in capturing the full scope of harm caused by environmental degradation. In coastal Louisiana, land loss undermines not only economic resources and physical security but also the substantive freedoms required for individuals and communities to live meaningful and culturally rooted lives, while disrupting ecological systems and non-human flourishing. To address these limitations, the thesis develops the Capabilities …

Just War Theory And Coercive Non-Proliferation: Ethically Evaluating Nuclear Prevention Efforts, P. Walker Jacklin

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ethics of coercively addressing non-nuclear states who are attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons pose a serious danger on a global scale, so ethical analysis should balance these consequences with the coerciveness of state intervention. Just War Theory provides a useful framework that balances these considerations.  Using the criteria of Just War Theory, this thesis examines two 21st century non-proliferation operations: Operation Orchard and Operation Midnight Hammer. I find that Operation Orchard fails the criteria of Just War Theory, while Operation Midnight Hammer satisfies the criteria. Making this determination is ethically risky, however, because our …

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, …

Complexity, Polycentricity, And Climate Change: An Embedded, Multi-Level Case Study Of A Climate Meta-Network, Timothy Staub

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The earth is in crisis, and without urgent, systemic, and collective global action to address the emerging threat of climate change, we will continue to see catastrophic events impacting humanity, threatening our very survival in many regions of the world. Temperatures will rise, ice shelves will melt, seas will rise, crops will fail, water scarcity from drought and new weather patterns will increase and spread, wildfires will accelerate, and food and water insecurity, violence, and the largest human migration in history will ensue. These climate crises will displace over 1.2 billion people by 2050 at a rate currently exceeding 21.5 …

Volume 7 (2024) Artificial Intelligence And Responsibility, Arwa Alnajashi, Danielle Derise, Philip L. Frana, David Mcgraw, Amanda Sawyer, Tatjana Titareva, Raafat Zaini, Allie Zombron

International Journal on Responsibility

The seventh volume of the International Journal on Responsibility (IJR) arrives at a crucial moment in the evolution of artificial intelligence and its integration into our academic and social fabric. As we witness the rapid advancement and deployment of AI systems across various domains, this special issue examines the multifaceted dimensions of responsibility surrounding AI technology, with a particular focus on its role in higher education and broader societal implications.

The articles in this volume contribute to our understanding of responsibility through diverse lenses, from classroom implementation to ethical design considerations. Together, they fulfill IJR’s central mission of exploring “Who …

Inciting Peace From The Inside Out, Stephen G. Adubato, Ebere Bosco Amakwe, Katherine Hinic, Sarita Maldjian, Forrest Pritchett, Jon Radwan, Nicholas Sooy, Chad Thralls

Conferences

Violence and war can be incited, and so can peace. This volume shares select addresses and responses from Seton Hall University’s 2/7/23 conference “Inciting Peace From The Inside Out.” A multi-disciplinary range of scholars each addresses how reconciliation processes grow from spiritual dynamics. Multiple religious traditions teach contemplative praxes that prioritize and nurture personal reflection oriented toward peace. Social conflicts divide, so engaging them with a partisan orientation only serves to escalate harmful rifts. In contrast, bringing personal awareness and sensitivity, spiritual balance, and holistic integral perspective to conflict can transcend divisions and work toward unity. This volume is supported …

Powering Justice: Sketches For A New Ethos In Energy Policy, Erin Rizzato Devlin

Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts

Energy politics lie at the heart of human activity. In a time of ecological and energy crisis, it is fundamental to realise that our reality systems are always open to change and that, in order to respond to the challenges of a changing energy landscape, we must explore the full possibilities of technology in a radical way. This research aims to consider the ethical implications of energy and technology, presenting an urgent case for cosmotechnical pluralism, that is the diversification of world-views, knowledges, technologies in the pursuit of energy justice in global politics. To reconstruct the world and its politics …

“Making The Bed”: Challenging Ideologies Of Ownership, Nonlocality, And Romanticism In The Age Of The Anthropocene, Ainsley P. Foster

[Archive] Belmont University Research Symposium (BURS)

The current Age of the Anthropocene marks a recent and rapid transition into a period in climate history that is notably defined by human impact. Modern Western sentiments of grief, frustration, and romanticism as a result of the interplay between domestic and corporate spaces seem to culminate in an overall attitude of apathy and acceptance of the Age of the Anthropocene. Various art forms collaborate to create the current conversation of the causatory and reactionary relationship that humans have with the Anthropocene, offering interpretations of how individuals and corporations view ownership of and responsibilities to the environment. There is a …

Identifying Youth Appeals In Alcohol Alternative Social Media Content Through Framing, Melina Oneal

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Proposed regulations for alcohol advertising prevent beverage companies from targeting people under the legal drinking age. However, similar regulations for alcohol alternative beverages are less explored, which could allow alcohol alternative products to create awareness for alcoholic beverages among youth. Alcohol alternatives beverages, including no-alcohol and low-alcohol products, are increasing in popularity and can function as compliments to alcoholic products to decrease the total alcohol volume consumed or as substitutes for alcoholic products. Framing theory can be operationalized through the Content Appealing to Youth Index, an index of content elements found in research literature to be appealing to youth, to …

Clausewitzian Theory Of War In The Age Of Cognitive Warfare, Amber Brittain-Hale, Amber Brittain-Hale

Education Division Scholarship

We can reconceptualise warfare by contrasting Clausewitz with the modern practice of cognitive warfare, as evidenced by Ukraine’s defence methodologies. The strategic orchestration of ‘infopolitik’ and the sophisticated use of social media can shape narratives and public perception. This article revisits Clausewitz’s tenet of war as a political instrument and juxtaposes it with contemporary conflict’s multidimensional tactics. By scrutinising Ukraine’s digital and psychological warfare tactics, one may question the applicability of Clausewitz’s framework, seeking to understand if these novel dimensions of warfare compel a redefinition or an expansion of his thesis to navigate the complexities of contemporary geopolitical confrontations.

The Juris Master: A Proposal For Reducing Excessive Public Defender Caseloads, Blake Comeaux

Senior Honors Papers / Undergraduate Theses

The US public defense system is underfunded, understaffed, and underdelivering on the Constitutional promises of the 6^th Amendment, the right to a fair and speedy trial. This state of our public defense system results in monstrous impacts for indigent defendants nationwide. Through indefinite delays in litigation, being abandoned in jail while sitting on waiting lists for public defenders, and being outright denied representation, indigent defendants are deprived of their rights. Beyond just defendant neglect, our current system puts immense strain on public defenders, prosecutors, and state budgets. In an attempt to combat this current state of affairs, this paper …

The Impact Of The Canva Program On The Learning Of The Ninth Grade Students In Jordanian Schools Of Html, Maha Abu Maizer

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This is a semi-experimental study that aims at measuring the impact of CANVA on the learning of ninth graders in a Jordanian school of HTML. 50 female ninth graders were randomly selected from 72 students in Aisha Bint Abi Baker school, and were distributed to two groups; control, which was taught traditionally, and experimental, which was taught with CANVA to learn HTML as a part of their computer curriculum. The researcher used a set of 20 multiple choice questions to test their knowledge achievement and skills. After checking the validity and reliability of the test. The results showed that there …

Ethics And Governance Of General Models: Challenges And Countermeasures, Yan Teng, Guoyu Wang, Yingchun Wang

Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Chinese Version)

In recent years, the general model is one of the most important development trends of artificial intelligence. With the rapidly increasing research and deployment of general models, the social and ethical effects of general models have received extensive attention. Grounded in the characteristics of general models, this article analyzes the potential ethical challenges of the models at three levels:algorithm, data, and computing power. The detailed challenges include uncertainty, truthfulness, reliability, bias, toxicity, fairness, privacy, and environmental issues. Also, through the lens of philosophy of technology, it elaborates the important reasons for the ethical challenges:the "mirroring" effect and transparency problem caused …

Weathering The Storm: Navigating Urban Ecologies Of Communication In Times Of Crisis, Austin Hestdalen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project explores cities as urban ecologies of communication in which crises emerge and are given significance within the dialogic relations cultivated among public actors attempting to make a living, together, within the shared historical-cultural contexts of everyday life. To describe cities as urban ecologies of communication is to describe them in terms of urban communication and its interdisciplinary foundations in the study of rhetoric, philosophy, planning, policy, architecture, sociology, geography, and media. The first chapter introduces the challenges of urban risk and crisis management within the complex ecologies of communication constituted by cities and reviews how ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’ …

Modern American Propaganda: An Institutional History, Douglas Morrow

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy is the primary government institution in charge of overt, foreign-directed propaganda. This paper argues that the institutional culture of this institution was born and came to fruition in the period 1941-1953, and has not significantly changed since. That institutional culture includes a fierce adherence to a “strategy of truth,” with aesthetic norms being reserved and largely unemotional as a result of positioning themselves in moral and aesthetic opposition to Nazi and early Cold War Communist propaganda. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s decision to staff these nascent institutions with artists, poets, …

Degree Of Satisfaction Of Elderly About The Services Provided To Them In Social Care Houses In White Beds Association, Yousef Mohammed Al-Shurman, Ferdous Hasan Omari

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the degree of satisfaction of the elderly about the (social, health, entertainment, psychological) services provided to them in social care houses. The sample of the study includes all residents of the White Beds Association for the care of the elderly in Amman. The researcher designed a questionnaire to use in the interviews with the elderly. The questionnaire has four items, and each item includes a group of questions about the service provided to them. The researcher interviewed all the members of the White Beds Association, whose health condition allowed this, (75 elderly people: 44 men …

Can Lethal Autonomous Weapons Be Just?, Noreen L. Herzfeld, Robert H. Latiff

Computer Science Faculty Publications

In 2018 the United States Department of Defense (DoD) created a new Joint Artificial Intelligence Center to study the adoption of AI by the military. Their strategy, outlined in a document entitled, “Harnessing AI to Advance Our Security and Prosperity,” proposes to accelerate the adoption of AI in the military by fostering a culture of experimentation and calculated risk taking, noting that AI will change the character of the future battlefield and, even more, the pace of battle. Is there any way to ensure that this future battlefield will be just? Can the age-old precepts of just warfare help guide …

Regenerating Agroecosystems By Overcoming Human Exceptionalism In Designing For Increased Equity Of Benefits From Ecoservices, Ali Loker, Charles A. Francis

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Our commentary explores three critical issues related to ecosystem services. First is how ecoservices are currently designed and implemented primarily for human benefit without concern for how these impact other species. We conclude that awareness of this imbalance is the first step toward meaningful change. Second we observe that human exceptionalism guides most decisions, and ask whether we can overcome this mind-set to embrace ecoregeneration and design of resilient and mutually beneficial agroecosystems. Our attitude toward the challenge and moving toward greater humility about human roles that guide management decisions in the ecosystem is a requisite for change. Third we …

Facultas Marginem: Assessing Disability Data And Public Aau Universities’ Affirmative Action Plans For Systemic Barriers Facing Faculty With Disabilities, Joseph Carlton Barry

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This dissertation contributes to education equity scholarship produced by academics seeking to develop understandings of disability, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), and how both are situated amongst faculty in institutions of higher education. As such, this dissertation centers on a study of public US universities belonging to the Association of American Universities (AAU). This study looks for institutional level associations between respective rates by which college and university faculty with disabilities (FWD) are employed, certain aspects of disability policy drawn from each institution’s 2020 Affirmative Action Plans (AAP), and various other instances of empirical disability data (EDD).

While this study contributes …

Linguistic Branching Of Semantics In Arabic: A Social Approach, Hanan Ismael Amayreh, Mohammad Ismael Amayreh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

Linguist Branching is appropriate for Arabic Language as words branch out mostly from roots, and every root becomes a tree, which is different from others, not because of the tree itself, but because of what society uses. Language branching expresses the controversial relationship between the language and the rules that govern it from one side, and society’s preference of certain terms over others from the other side. This study tries to answer the following questions: does the language impose the used words, or does it offer options for society to choose what suits it? The study reaches a conclusion that …

The Reality Of Applying Governance Within The Criteria Of Quality Assurance At Schools Of Sport Science At Jordanian Universities, Sari Ahmad Hamdan, Fatima Marof Al-Khrisat

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study examines the reality of applying governance within The Criteria of Quality Assurance at schools of Sport Science at Jordanian Universities from their members perspective. It also aims at finding out the differences in the schools' members perspective. The sample of the study consisted of (86) school members who work in (University of Jordan, Yarmouk University, Mu'tah University, Hashemite University, and Al-Ahliyya Amman University). To achieve the objectives of the study, the Descriptive approach was used. The results showed that the reality of applying governance came to a high degree, and they were statistically significant in the perspective of …

The Image Of The Andalusian Woman In Love And Adored In The Muwashahat Of The Sixth Century Ah In Andalusia, Ali Mosa A-Masha’Leh, Nawal Abd Rahman Al-Shawabkeh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This research aims at exploring the image of the Andalusian woman in love and adored in the sixth hijri century of Andalusia. It explores the real image of women through Andalusian muwashahat and books of literature, translations and others. This research displays the image of the beloved woman and her relationship with her mother where washaheen discuss her beauty. As for the beloved woman, washaheen believe that she has the right to flirt with men, so she was given the chance to express herself using the last section of muwashat. The woman searches for her lover, so she goes to …

The Degree To Which The Use Of Modern Educational Technologies On The Quality Of Education And Its Development In Al-Ahliyya Amman University From The Viewpoint Of Faculty Members, Sawsan Badrakhan, Hafizah Muhammad Mahmoud, Feda Ghnaim, Suleiman Alnaimi

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The study aims at identifying the degree to which the use of modern educational technologies on the quality of education and its development in al-ahliyya Amman university from the viewpoint of faculty members by developing a questionnaire consisting of (20) items which were distributed to a random sample consisting of (198) faculty members. The results of the study showed that the most important modern technologies used in university education are: first, information network (the Internet) with a rate of (18.70%), and second, social networking sites, with a rate of (15.9%). The degree of impact of the use of modern technologies …

The Obstacles Faced By The Middle School Leaders Who Apply The Initiative Of Transition Towards Digital Learning, Amal Ibrahim Aldhafar

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study aims at identifying the obstacles faced by the middle school leaders when they apply The Initiative of Transition Towards Digital Learning as well as determining the degree of responses of middle school leaders to these obstacles according to variables such as; (years of experience and school size). In order to achieve the objectives of this study, the descriptive method and the questionnaire method were used. The above methods were applied and distributed amongst the (25) school leaders who applied The Initiative of Transition Towards Digital Learning. The study concluded that obstacles of the application of middle school leaders …

Type D Personality, And The Levels Of Anxiety And Depression In A Sample Of Cardiac Patients In Comparison To Their Non-Patient Counterparts, Fatma Faris Najjar, Wisam Breik

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The present study aims at exploring the prevalence of type D personality (distressed personality) and the levels of anxiety (trait) and depression in a sample of cardiac patients in comparison to their non-patient counterparts in Jordan. To achieve the objectives of the study, an adapted form of type D personality scale-DS14, Trait Anxiety Scale and Beck Inventory were utilized. The study sample consisted of 309 individuals; 306 of which cardiac patients (73 males and 83 females) whose illness is not due to congenital causes and 153 non-patients (83 males and 70 females) as a comparative group, who were chosen from …

Textual Consistency Mechanisms In The Poem "Lost Nostalgia" By Abu Alqasim Alshabbi, Esa Slah Al Tarawneh

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

The research addresses a significant topic related to (Text Linguistics) based on analyzing poetry speech textuality. The research tracks a textual occurrence as the base of assessing the text quality, which is "Textual Consistency”. The research will study the Textual Consistency mechanism in Abu Alqasim Alshabbi's poem, "Alashwaq Altae'ha", unfolding the consistency of its phonetics, vocabularies, and structural contents, highlighting the significant role of these mechanisms on this outstanding text in maintaining its unity, coherence and cohesion. The research adopted the Descriptive approach, using literary analysis. Key words: Textual Linguistics, Text, Consistency, Abu Alqasim Alshabbi, "Alashwaq Altae'ha”.

The Doctrine Of Functus Officio And Its Exceptions Under The Arbitration Law Of Jordan, Mosleh Ahmad Al Tarawneh, Jalal Mahmoud Al-Qhaiwi

Al-Balqa Journal for Research and Studies البلقاء للبحوث والدراسات

This study examines the doctrine of Functus Officio and its exceptions under the Jordanian Arbitration Law and its relation with the doctrine of res judicata. We will first shed the light on on the doctrine and the awards to which it apply. Then, we will examine the exceptions of the doctrine that alleviate the potential harshness of the doctrine. These exceptions are: correction of clerical error in the award, interpretation of ambiguities or obscurities in the text of the award and supplementation or the issuance of an additional award on matters or claims presented in the arbitral proceedings but omitted …