Applied Ethics Commons^™

Beyond Self-Defense: A Critical Analysis Of The Biden Administration’S Application Of ‘Just War’ Theory In The Israel-Hamas War, Thomas Elias

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Abstract

The Israel-Hamas war has ignited critical questions regarding the justification for violence, particularly the right to self-defense. Harm to Palestinian noncombatants and the conflict’s prolonged duration has contributed to critiques and doubts about Israel’s military operations and the Biden administration’s substantial military aid post-October 7th. The war’s extensive destruction and dehumanization creates a stark tension with the Biden administration’s invocation of just war theory. This paper critically analyzes the Biden administration’s use of just war theory in supporting the Israel-Hamas war, investigating how Christian theological ethics on just war and self-defense have been utilized and misapplied since October 2023. …

See-Judge-Act In The Age Of Viral Violence: Moral Agency, Praxis, And Social Media, Thomas Elias

Graduate Student Research Symposium

More and more, young adults are encountering war and violence through an unrelenting stream of social media images and videos: bombed apartment blocks, civilians fleeing airstrikes, and acts of political violence. Psychological research links exposure to unfiltered depictions of war with heightened trauma symptoms. In the age of social media, people undergo the moral processes online in response to war, terror, and injustice. While these platforms amplify global awareness, they also strain the capacities of moral agents to see clearly, judge responsibly, and act meaningfully. Drawing on Catholic social thought, digital ethics, and psychological research, this project explores how viral …

Patriotism, Philia, And Stereotyping During World War Ii: Correspondence Between Black Composers, Selise Phillips, Joi Carr

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The 20th century was a monumental time for Black composers, especially for those in the UK. Rudolph Dunbar was the first black musician to perform at Royal Albert Hall in London, England. During this time, correspondence between him and William Grant Still, a famous black composer based in America, exists. Still’s rhetorical choices in these letters demonstrate the attitudes of these composers, specifically Still, and how these choices reflect the success of Dunbar’s career. Still, whose compositions started gaining traction in the 1930s, often praised Dunbar for his achievements. These letters all take place during World War II and during …

Statistical Inference Is Not Moral Reasoning: The Case Against Ai On Hospital Ethics Boards, Elan J. Haronian

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

As generative AI becomes more integrated in healthcare, it seems inevitable that AI will eventually be used on hospital ethics committees. However, before implementation, their roles need careful consideration. Although AI promises to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and reduce human workloads, there are important ways in which it is limited, especially when human emotion and connection are crucial, as in clinical ethics boards.

In this paper, I highlight several problems preventing AI from being useful on hospital ethics boards. These include issues of opaque reasoning (the “black box” problem), liability, transparency, privacy, and consent. While there are proposed frameworks for …

Remixing Labor: The Lockean Proviso In The Age Of Ai, Xavier Schultze

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Disconnection Capital: The Privilege To Unplug, Wishy Kane

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Sticky Agencies: How Gamification And Enshittification Trap And Exploit Us, Frankie Knuckles

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Domestic Violence Punishments In The Nfl, Jesse Lichti

Student Scholar Showcase

The way that professional athletes are punished for violent crimes is something that the leagues need to put an emphasis on. As media coverage has risen in regards to athletes being violent, specifically against women, the fans understanding of its severity has risen along with it. As currently constructed, the NFL allows for too much bias, lacks deterrence, and does not focus on helping the athletes. These are the main points that my presentation focus on. In the next CBA, something like my idea needs to be put into place. This can then be extended to all violent crimes in …

A Counterfactual Model Of Plagiarism, Garrett Pendergraft Ph.D., Arik Chu

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

Abstract: How are we to understand plagiarism? In early 2024, controversy broke out over plagiarism accusations against Harvard’s former president, Claudine Gay. The plagiarism accusations against Gay were the beginning of the politicization of plagiarism claims. During this crisis, plagiarism seemed to entail terrible wrongdoing, no matter the form or extent. Garrett Pendergraft, with research assistance from Arik Chu, provides a counterfactual model of understanding the relationship between plagiarism and ethical wrongdoing: a particular instance of plagiarism is wrong to the extent that removing it from history would make a big difference. The counter-factual model of plagiarism gives an intuitive …

Tradeoffs Of Generalization, Kyra M. Abrams, Peter T. Darch

I-GUIDE Forum

Models used in geospatial data science are often built and optimized for a specific local context, such as a particular location at a point in time. However, upon publication, these models may be generalized beyond this context, reused in research simulating or predicting other times and places. Without sufficient information or documentation, bias embedded in these models can in turn result in bias in the reuser’s research outputs. Drawing on a long-term qualitative case study of aging dams researchers and developers of models used by these researchers, we find significant documentation gaps. We combine a literature-based genealogy with interviews with …

The Ethics Of Customizable Ai-Generated Pornography, Aaron Yarmel, Jonathan Lang

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

The Ethics Of Ai And Robotics In Kitchens And Food Systems, Rachel Robison-Greene

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Ai, Domination And Control Of Humanity's Future, William D'Alessandro

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

A Cyborgian Middle Way Between Ai Alignment And Ai Fairness, Zach Peck

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Moral Responsibility Gaps For Medical Ai: An Analysis Of Physicians' Perspectives, Jared Nathaniel Smith

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Ai Responsibility Gap: Not New, Inevitable, Unproblematic, Huzeyfe Demirtas

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Bearing The Moral Weight: What's Lost When Ai Decides, Christine Susienka

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Brain/Computer Interfaces, Relational Ethics, And The Habitus Of Ableism, Rosie Wilkinson '06

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Conscious Ai And The Climate Crisis, Griffin Kiegiel

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Experience Machines And Experiencing Machines, Patrick Mckee

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Superintelligence And Suicide, Ricky Mouser

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Artificial Intelligence, Human Cognition, And Human Rights: Employee Infantilization And Organized Immaturity With Bossware Platforms, Jo Ann Oravec

Midwest Ethics Symposium

No abstract provided.

Lip(S) Service: A Socioethical Overview Of Social Media Platforms’ Censorship Policies Regarding Consensual Sexual Content, Sage Futrell

Cybersecurity Undergraduate Research Showcase

The regulation of sexual exploitation on social media is a pressing issue that has been addressed by government legislation. However, laws such as FOSTA-SESTA has inadvertently restricted consensual expressions of sexuality as well. In four social media case studies, this paper investigates the ways in which marginalized groups have been impacted by changing censorship guidelines on social media, and how content moderation methods can be inclusive of these groups. I emphasize the qualitative perspectives of sex workers and queer creators in these case studies, in addition to my own experiences as a content moderation and social media management intern for …

The Hermeneutics Of Nudging: The Reciprocity Between Transhumanism And Nudging, Ian Doherty

Graduate Student Research Symposium

This paper investigates and evaluates the implications of nudging someone toward transhumanism. Transhumanism offers a path to alleviate suffering and transcend our physical and mental limitations. Transhumanist technologies consist of alterations like genetic modification, neural implants, and molecular nanotechnology. These technologies are meant to give people full morphological freedom over their bodies. Although transhumanism remains a largely unknown movement, this is where nudge theory can help raise its prominence. Nudge theory aims to help people make better choices, and aid them in making better decisions related to their health and lifestyle. If paired correctly, transhumanism seems to be a perfect …

A New Directive: An Ethical Analysis Of The Ethical And Religious Directives And Catholic Healthcare Mission To Promote And Sustain Catholic Healthcare, Noah Dimas

Graduate Student Research Symposium

At the heart of all Catholic healthcare is the mission and duty to further the healing ministry of Jesus Christ and care for one’s neighbor to uphold human dignity. However, some in Catholic healthcare may not fully know nor understand these foundational Catholic teachings. As such, these healthcare professionals can turn to a simple but rich guide in giving direction to these healthcare professionals, the USCCB’s Ethical and Religious Directives. This document acts as both a primer and set of guidelines regarding Catholic doctrine, the Catholic moral tradition, and how both inform the Catholic response to common ethical concerns. However, …

Ethical Ramifications Of Xenotransplantation Research And Justification For Potentially Deadly Study Participation, Scott Dyer

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Recent leaps in medical technology now allow humans to utilize organs of animals, specifically pigs, in xenotransplantation procedures. As this science advances, ethical quandaries that must be grappled with will arise while additional clinical trials must be done. Due to the infancy of this technology, science must be cautious in how it moves forward. However, I also argue that anyone, as long as they are of sound mind and deemed to be of proper decision-making capacity, can justifiably participate in any research they want, no matter how deadly the potential consequences. A participant in such research may be getting much …

Witnessing Anew: Human Rights Advocacy For Migrants At The U.S. Southern Border In Covid-19 Times, Ellen Maccarone

Biennial Conference: The Social Practice of Human Rights

In this paper I provide a case study of transnational migrant advocacy done by the Kino Border Initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shortly before the pandemic I spent a week with KBI for an immersion experience part of which focused on the ideas of human rights advocacy and witnessing. “Witness” in this context has both a spiritual/moral dimension and an experiential one that can form a foundation for advocacy. Using accounts of migrants to inform and humanize changed when interpersonal witnessing became impossible during the pandemic. This increased the levels of human rights abuses experienced by migrants and limited the …

Civil Disobedience From A Biblical Perspective, Gabriel Reed

Helm's School of Government Conference - 2021-2024

To say that civil disobedience is a complicated topic is to severely understate the topic. It is a subject matter that has derived many different and disparate opinions, points of view, and public policies. Specifically, within America today, we observe calls for civil disobedience from both sides of the political spectrum, over several divergent political ideals. These issues are, primarily, driven from both sides’ desire to provide protection and provision for the oppressed and those who cannot necessarily speak for themselves. The definition of who is necessarily oppressed and whom their oppressors are varies from person to person, regardless of …

Catholic Terminal Sedation-A New Framework For Providing Terminal Palliative Sedation As A Requirement In Catholic Healthcare Organizations, Noah Dimas

Graduate Student Research Symposium

The present attitudes surrounding death and dying in the United States have been trending toward the acceptance of so-called “Assisted Death” interventions at the end-of-life (EoL), specifically Physician-Assisted Suicide. The acceptance of these interventions is rooted in the notion of autonomy within the American culture of medicine that generally states a patient is allowed to request whatever medical interventions they wish. As such, legislative bodies around the United States have begun to legalize Assisted Death in response to the regularly cited desire to die peacefully and without pain from an expected terminal illness. However, for Catholic healthcare organizations, there is …

Moral Character Development Paradigms And Practices For Adventist Educators: Phase 1-Professionals, Duane Covrig, Janet Ledesma, Stanley Patterson

Andrews University Teaching and Learning Conference

Moral character development has long been a concern of educators. A recent resurgence of scholarship in neuro-biology and cognitive science has further energized this interest. How can this research and best practices be integrated into faith based high school and college curricular and co-curricular programming? We highlight key trends and resent discoveries and discuss promising practices, starting with professional development programs. We also offer a new paradigm of “moral health and well-being” that promises to involve the head (moral thinking), heart (emotions) and hand (behavior and actions) in this important learning process.