Ethics and Political Philosophy Commons^™

From Hiroshima To Baghdad: Military Hegemony Versus Just Military Preparedness, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

In this paper I question the morality of U.S. military supremacy or hegemony in terms of what constitute the legitimate use of military force and the proper preparation for using such force. I first discuss in a somewhat synoptic fashion how American hegemonic military force (from its very beginning with the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima) has been justified in dishonest ways and wrongly executed. Next, I show that Just War Theory (JWT) needs to be revised in order to come to a convincing assessment of U.S. military hegemony and its use of military force. This leads me …

Truth And Healing A Veteran's Depression, Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

Comments on an article by Christopher Bailey (see record 2009-24345-002). Dr. Christopher Bailey portrays an American veteran, Colin, who slips into a "serious but not severe" depression upon returning from the Iraq War, After ruling out post-traumatic stress disorder, the psychiatrist comes to believe that Colin's depression is tied to his feelings of being a wimp, of not having "done his part or proven his manhood," and of losing his chance to become a hero because he had been assigned non-combat duty—feelings that the psychiatrist glosses (misleadingly?) as a "painful lack of wounds." (I speak of the "the psychiatrist," rather …

Break The Sky: An Exploration Of Ethics With Swords And Superheroes, Kris Miranda

Honors Theses

In an extended piece of speculative fiction (specifically, a cross between the sword-and-sorcery and superhero genres), I try to explore the complexities of ethical deliberation in difficult circumstances. Through my protagonist I also present an “alternative” to Enlightenment ethics. I’ve referred to this alternative as an “ethics of the badass and the beautiful,” a little (but only a little) jokingly. The reason for doing all of this through fiction, and not a conventional philosophical paper, is that I believe my ethical education started in stories, and it’s still in good stories and the creative exploration of concretely realized personalities (as …

The Truth About Kant On Lies, James E. Mahon

Publications and Research

In this chapter I argue that there are three different senses of 'lie' in Kant's moral philosophy: the lie in the ethical sense (the broadest sense, which includes lies to oneself), the lie in the 'juristic' sense (the narrowest sense, which only includes lies that specifically harm particular others), and the lie in the sense of right (or justice), which is narrower than the ethical sense, but broader than the juristic sense, since it includes all lies told to others, including those who are bent on harming innocent others.

Teaching Engineering Ethics By Conceptual Design: The Somatic Marker Hypothesis, Brad Kallenberg

Theology and Religious Studies Faculty Publications

In 1998, a lead researcher at a Midwestern university submitted as his own a document that had 64 instances of strings of 10 or more words that were identical to a consultant's masters thesis and replicated a data chart, all of whose 16 entries were identical to three and four significant figures. He was fired because his actions were wrong. Curiously, he was completely unable to see that his actions were wrong. This phenomenon is discussed in light of recent advances in neuroscience and used to argue for a change in the standard way engineering ethics is taught. I argue …

Asca Code Of Ethics And The Relevance Of Eastern Ethical Theories, Amy Cook, Rick Houser

Counseling, School Psychology & Sport Faculty Publication Series

As schools become increasingly diverse through immigration and growth of minority groups, it is important that school counselors incorporate culturally sensitive ethical decision-making in their practice. The use of Western ethical theories in the application of professional codes of ethics provides a specific perspective in ethical decision- making, but may not provide school counselors with a broad cultural perspective. We discuss the use of Eastern theories of ethics (Taoism and Hinduism) and their relevance to the ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors to inform school counselors’ work with Asian immigrant students.

Republicanism And Crime, Richard Dagger

Political Science Faculty Publications

These are but two of the difficult questions that arise when one examines the claim that crime is a public wrong. I take it, though, that their difficulty is an indication of the importance of thinking through the presuppositions and implications of this conception of crime, not a reason to abandon it. A thorough 'thinking through' is too large and complex a task for this chapter, but it is possible to make a case here for the right way to proceed with such an undertaking. That right way, in my view, is to look to the republican tradition of political …

Peace Is Not Perpetual, Autonomous, Or Rational, Danielle Poe

Philosophy Faculty Publications

When I write about and teach Immanuel Kant, I am always impressed and seduced by the beauty and neatness of his work. After all, Kant makes morality a science; answers are clear and distinct, black and white. Individuals make ethical decisions by using reason according to universally accessible principles. People should do the right thing, not because it is easy, not because it makes them feel good, and not because they have been raised to do so. People should do the right thing because it is their duty, and they determine their duty by asking, "Can I universalize my action?" …

Exploring The Foundations Of Dworkin's Empire: The Discovery Of An Underground Positivist, Brian Mccall

Faculty Articles

This review essay examines the jurisprudence of Ronald Dworkin as presented in the anthology: Exploring Law's Empire: The Jurisprudence of Ronald Dworkin, edited by Scott Hershovitz. Notwithstanding the influence Dworkin's jurisprudence has had on the reconsideration of moral reasoning within legal reasoning, the essay concludes that at its foundation Dworkin's jurisprudence is based upon Legal Positivist principles. The essay first summarizes the jurisprudence of Dworkin and then contrasts his jurisprudence with traditional Natural Law Legal Theory and finally exposes the Positivist foundations of Dworkin's Legal Empire.

Teaching Economics, Jonathan B. Wight

Economics Faculty Publications

Ethical considerations intersect with economics education on a number of planes. Nonetheless, in terms of curricula, only a handful of economics departments offer courses specifically focused on ethics. This chapter addresses the ways in which instructors can incorporate ethical components into teaching principles and field courses in order to broaden economic understanding and to enhance critical thinking. It examines three pedagogical issues: the artificial dichotomy between positive and normative analysis; the limiting scope of efficiency in outcomes analyses; and the incorporation of alternative ethical frameworks into public policy debates.

Governmentality, Biopower, And The Debate Over Genetic Enhancement, Ladelle Mcwhorter

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Although Foucault adamantly refused to make moral pronouncements or dictate moral principles or political programs to his readers, his work offers a number of tools and concepts that can help us develop our own ethical views and practices. One of these tools is genealogical analysis, and one of these concepts is “biopower.” Specifically, this essay seeks to demonstrate that Foucault’s concept of biopower and his genealogical method are valuable as we consider moral questions raised by genetic enhancement technologies. First, it examines contemporary debate over the development, marketing, and application of such technologies, suggesting that what passes for ethical deliberation …

Mixed-Method Analyses Of Federal Court Decisions During 1980-2007 Involving Race And Sex Discrimination Under Title Vii Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964 And Faculty Tenure Denial Decisions In Higher Education, Jannifer Crittendon

Dissertations

Purpose

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 has become the foundation of modem federal equal employment opportunity law. The application of this law to adverse tenure decisions, however, may differ from other adverse employment decisions because of judicial deference toward institutions of higher education. This present study analyzed published federal court cases decided during the period 1980-2007 involving Title VII, tenure denial, and higher education. This will contribute to understandings of the relationship between federal courts, faculty, and higher education by analyzing the extent of a statistical association between case and/or plaintiff characteristics and case outcomes; and isolating those institutional …

Of Sweatshops And Human Subsistence: Habermas On Human Rights, David Ingram

Philosophy: Faculty Publications and Other Works

In this paper I argue that the discourse theoretic account of human rights defended by Jürgen Habermas contains a fruitful tension that is obscured by its dominant tendency to identify rights with legal claims. This weakness in Habermas’s account becomes manifest when we examine how sweatshops diminish the secure enjoyment of subsistence, which Habermas himself (in recognition of the UDHR) recognizes as a human right. Discourse theories of human rights are unique in tying the legitimacy of human rights to democratic deliberation and consensus. So construed, their specific meaning and force is the outcome of historical political struggle. However, unlike …

Secularism, Religion, And Liberal Democracy In The United States, Kent Greenawalt

Faculty Scholarship

This essay is divided into three categories: some brief remarks about forms of secularism, an outline of American constitutional law as it relates to religion, and a discussion from the standpoint of political philosophy of the proper place of religion (and other similar perspectives) in making political decisions within liberal democracies. Because the audience for whom the oral comments from which the essay is derived was mainly non-American, the middle part of the essay sets out many propositions familiar to anyone acquainted with this branch of constitutional law. And because of the informal nature of the original presentation, I offer …

When Does Might Make Right? Using Force For Regime Change, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

Should states use force to bring about regime change? International law recognizes no such grounds. This paper seeks to provide guidance from moral theory. The aim of this paper is to identify the moral grounds for the use of armed force by one state or a group of states, against another state, when the intention of the intervening states is to achieve a fundamental change in the character of the political and legal institutions of the other state. Lawyers tend to place the argument for regime change intervention within putative humanitarian intervention doctrines. The moral justification for humanitarian intervention is …

Cosmopolitanism, Freedom And Indifference: A Levinasian View, Eduard Jordaan

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Despite cosmopolitanism's concern for the world's poor and its concomitant heavy moral demands, cosmopolitans establish a limit to the self's responsibility for the global poor. This contrasts with Emmanuel Levinas's view that the self has an infinite responsibility for the other, a responsibility that derives from the self's questioning of the impact of his freedom on others. From a Levinasian perspective, cosmopolitanism's restriction of the self's responsibility for others creates a sphere of rightful indifference to the needs of the other; lends legitimacy to a disregard of the other; forestalls an ethical awakening to the other; constrains the achievement of …

Two Constructions Of Libertarianism, Chandran Kukathas

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The libertarian first principle—a belief in individual freedom—can lead to two different and not necessarily acceptable societies from the standpoint of liberty. One is the “Union of Liberty,” in which communities, associations, and intermediate bodies are held to rigorous standards of voluntariness (and thus face sharp limits on their internal associational freedom because of the knowledge that children will be born into them). In the other, the “Federation of Liberty,” they are not (thereby allowing children to be born into locally unfree environments).While in any free society individuals may voluntarily join together and waive some of their rights (in institutions …

The Moral Justification For Journalism, Sandra L. Borden

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University

On The Concept Of A Morally Relevant Harm, David Lefkowitz

Philosophy Faculty Publications

In this paper I explicate and defend the concept of a morally relevant harm. This concept figures prominently in common-sense and contractualist moral reasoning concerning cases where an agent can prevent harm to members of a large group or a small one, but not both. When the two harms to which members of these groups are exposed are morally relevant to one another, an agent is permitted (or perhaps required) to take into account the number of people he can save. When the harms are irrelevant, an agent should not even consider preventing the lesser harm, regardless of how many …

Compassion And Sympathy As Moral Motivation, Steven Sverdlik

Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

Politics, Culture Wars,And The Good Book: Recent Controversies Over The Bible And Public Education, Mark A. Chancey

Occasional Papers

No abstract provided.

Reply To Joseph Ellin's Of All Professions, Prostitution Is The Oldest (Except Possibly For Teaching), Michael Davis

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

No abstract provided.

Professions "Of All Professions, Begging Is The Best" A Paper By Michael Davis. Response By Joseph Ellin. Professor Davis' Reply, Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Michael Davis' original paper was presented to the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University on October 4, 2007.

"Of All Professions Begging Is The Best" - Some Problems In The Study Of Professions, Michael Davis

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Michael Davis' original paper was presented to the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University on October 4, 2007.

Of All Professions, Prostitution Is The Oldest (Except Possibly For Teaching), Joseph Ellin

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Response by Joseph Ellin to a paper by Michael Davis Professions "Of All Professions, Begging is the Best"

Concrete Containment In Late Capitalism, Mysticism, The Marquis De Sade, And Phenomenological Anthropology, Apple Igrek

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Arts and Humanities

Georges Bataille is known for being complex and multifaceted: influenced by Christian mystics as well as Hegelians and Marxists, his work is also linked with that of the surrealists and existentialists of his own mid-20th century France as well as the post-structuralists - in particular the Tel Quel collaboraters - who followed in his wake. It would be astonishing, then, if Bataille's thinking were not conflated with precisely those movements and those ideas with which he has so much in common, despite the fact that we should refuse to expect this. Much of Bataille's work was devoted to the ambivalent …

The Responsibility Of Thinking In Dark Times: Hannah Arendt Versus Hans Jonas, Lawrence A. Vogel

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Emmanuel Levinas And The Judaism Of The Good Samaritan, Lawrence A. Vogel

Philosophy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Racism And The Political Romance Of The Browning Of America, Ronald Sundstrom

Philosophy

The browning of America promises the bodily, social, and political transfor- mation of the United States, and as with all ethno-racial threats—or promises of deliverance—browning operates through the private, intimate arenas of love, sexuality, gender, family, and friendship. As a demographic idea, the “browning of America” gathers together Native Americans, African Ameri- cans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and Americans with a multiracial identity, as well as non-white immigrants. In popular culture, however, it primarily con- notes the expanding population of Latinos, and Mexican and Latin American immigrants. Secondarily, it includes the growing social and political presence of multiracial Americans, those who …

Cheating With Honor, Christian A. Pfeiffer

Business and Economics Honors Papers

The intent of this paper is to understand what leads a student to cheat within the context of a small (enrollment below 2,000 students) liberal arts college. The development of a model will examine cheating from three categories highlighted in the literature: demographics, college culture, and the perception of cheating. Demographics capture relevant personal attributes of a student such as gender, GPA, and major. Cultural variables include variables for the presence of an honor code and participation in a sport or social organization, which provide that student with a unique cultural experience. Perception variables deal with the perceptions the students …