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Newsletter: The Center For Professional Ethics, Fall 1994, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Director's Corner by Robert P. Lawry
• Doing Ethics
• Comments on "House for Sale"
• A Response to "House for Sale" by Jean Calhoun
• Notice: Prominent Author and Law Professor to Address C.W.R.U.
• Goodbye....
• Welcome....
• New & Notes

True Blue? Whether Police Should Be Allowed To Use Trickery And Deception To Extract Confessions, Laure Hoffman Roppe

San Diego Law Review

This Comment addresses whether or not, and if so, to what extent, police should be allowed to use trickery and deception to extract confessions from criminal suspects. It surveys the deceitful interrogation tactics included in the term "trickery" and summarizes the psychology of confessions. Major developments in the law regarding coerced confessions are analyzed and the author explores the policy arguments for and against the use of deception in police interrogations. The author recommends the prohibition of specific forms of trickery and offers an analytical approach as to whether a confession is admissible.

An Index And Table Of Contents To The Ali Reporters' Study On Enterprise Responsibility For Personal Injury, Jeffrey O'Connell, Alexander S. Glovsky

San Diego Law Review

In 1986, the American Law Institute (ALI) published a report to analyze and appraise the state of the tort system and to recommend reform. This study lacked crucial aids that could make it more accessible: it was devoid of any index and the table of contents did not contain any subheadings. The authors of this Article created an index and a comprehensive table of contents, in order to make the report more "user friendly." This Article contains a brief description of the 1986 ALI Reporter's Study, followed by an expanded table of contents and an index.

Deference, Tolerance, And Numbers: A Response To Professor Wright's View Of The Sentencing Commission, Kevin Cole

San Diego Law Review

The United States Sentencing Commission promulgates the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which greatly constrain judicial discretion in choosing the sentence for federal crimes. One commentator, Professor Ronald Wright, has argued that the willingness of the courts and Congress to defer to a guideline promulgated by the Commission should depend on whether the Commission has justified the guideline by reference to empirical evidence. This Article explores the theoretical and practical difficulties of giving such effect to empirical justifications.

The Economics Of Federalism And The Proper Scope Of The Federal Commerce Power, Jacques Leboeuf

San Diego Law Review

The study of the economics of federalism has emerged as a distinct field. While the insights of that study have been applied in understanding the logic behind the dormant commerce clause, they have not been used in analyzing the affirmative scope of the federal commerce power. The author suggests that the economics of federalism can provide both a justification for and a limitation upon the federal commerce power. Specifically, he suggests that the federal government ought to be able to regulate only those areas of commerce where state regulation would be inefficient due to externalities. Furthermore, he argues, this conception …

Review Of: The Genetic Frontier: Ethics, Law, And Policy (Mark S. Frankel & Albert Teich Eds., American Association For The Advancement Of Science 1994), Suzanne A. Sprunger

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of: The Genetic Frontier: Ethics, Law, and Policy (Mark S. Frankel & Albert Teich eds., American Association for the Advancement of Science 1994). Acknowledgments, appendix, contributors, figures, index, introduction, notes, references, tables. LC 93-37230, ISBN 0-87168-526-4. [260 pp. Paper $22.95. 1333 H St., NW, Washington DC 20005.]

[Book Reviews Of] Trust The Truth: A Symposium On The Twentieth Anniversary Of The Encyclical Humanae Vitae, Edited By Russell E. Smith And The Doctor And Christian Marriage, By H.P. Dunn, M.D., J. Daniel Mindling, Eugene F. Diamond

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Ethical Decision-Making Strategies Of Supervisors Of Psychology Interns, Judith L. Juhala

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was the ethical decision-making justifications of internship site supervisors regarding hypothetical supervisory dilemmas and explored the relationship between these justifications and selected demographic variables of supervisors. More specifically, supervisors' utilization of decision-making justifications of autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, and fidelity when asked to defend their resolutions of supervisory ethical dilemmas were examined. In addition, there was an examination of the relationship between the justifications utilized and selected demographic variables including type of educational training, gender, level of professionalization, years of experience, and type of internship site in which the supervisor was employed. Four hundred questionnaire …

Challenges For Compatibilism, Kenton Machina

Faculty Publications - Philosophy

In order to show that persons can be morally accountable even though their choices are at least potentially explainable in a scientific way, the standard compatibilist position holds that causal determinism is compatible with some type of freedom or autonomy moral responsibility requires. This paper shows that even if causal determinism is indeed compatible with that sort of freedom, that cannot prove contemporary scientific explanations for choices are compatible with moral responsibility. In other words, this paper argues that much of the debate over free will, autonomy, and determinism cannot establish compatibilism. Recognition of this point leads us to seek …

Maxims In Kant's Moral Philosophy, Nelson T. Potter Jr.

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

It has been noticed in the English-language literature concerning Kant's ethics, at least since Marcus Singer's extended discussion in later chapters of Generalization in Ethics! that the concept of a maxim plays a central role in the application of the categorical imperative, and that it is, for that reason, if not for others, worth detailed attention. In the present essay I wish to consider the Kantian concept of maxim in a broader context.

Newsletter: The Center For Professional Ethics, Spring 1994, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Director's Corner by Robert P. Lawry
• Ethics Day 1995: Ethics and Computers by Pete Simmelink, Jerod Tufte and Sam Harmon
• Doing Ethics! "House for Sale"
• Comments on "Benevolence"
• First Comment by Marty Krist
• Second Comment by Rev. John L. Brown
• News & Notes

Current Literature, Catholic Physicians' Guild

The Linacre Quarterly

Material appearing below is thought to be of particular interest to Linacre Quarterly readers because of its moral, religious, or philosophic content. The medical literature constitutes the primary, but not the sole source of such material. In general, abstracts are intended to reflect the substance of the original article. Contributions and comments from readers are invited. (E.G. Laforet, M.D., 170 Middlesex Rd. Chestnut Hill, MA 02167.)

[Book Review Of] Principles For A Catholic Morality, By Timothy E. O'Connell, William E. May

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.

Human Rights In The Social Sciences, Erika Loerner Friedi

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

This paper was originally presented as a Western Michigan University Faculty Scholar Lecture. The Ethics Center is grateful to the Faculty Scholars' Committee and to its chair, Prof. Ernst Breisach, for allowing us to publish it.

Narrative, Luck, And Ethics: The Role Of Chance In Ethical Encounters, In Literature And Real Life Experiences, Nona Lyons

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented to the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society - March 9, 1993.

Moral Addicts, Anthony Cunningham

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Moral exemplars are often depicted as those who go to extraordinary lengths in preventing suffering and eradicating injustice. Thus, figure like Gandhi, Mother Theresa, and Martin Luther King are apt to be identified as moral saints in the sense of being the morally best people. However, any adequate conception of moral excellence must be broader and more complex.

A Review Of Eleanor L. Brilliant, "The United Way: Dilemmas Of Organized Charity", Mike W. Martin

Philosophy Faculty Articles and Research

"The United Way: Dilemmas of Organised Charity" explains the inner workings of the organization whose shine was so recently dulled by scandal. According to a recent "New York Times" article, "Revelations of high expense-account living and questionable management practices by William Aramony, president of the United Way of America - forced him out of his position as leader of the nation's largest network of charities". (Jan. 28, 1992).. The United Way has always embodied the spirit of voluntarism that George Bush encourages with his vision of "a thousand points of light". Since its inception more than one hundred years ago, …

Newsletter: The Center For Professional Ethics, Winter 1994, Case Western Reserve University

Center for Professional Ethics

Table of Contents:

• Director's Corner by Robert P. Lawry
• Carter Lecture a Success
• Save the Dates
• News & Notes

Review Of Essays On Kant's Political Philosophy, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

Article reviews the book "Essays on Kant's Political Philosophy," edited by Howard Lloyd Williams.

Hermann Cohen’S Political Philosophy And The Communitarian Critique Of Liberalism, Harry Van Der Linden

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

My main aim here is to examine what the significance is of the communitarian critique of liberalism for Hermann Cohen's political philosophy. I will conclude that Cohen's socialist Kantianism can successfully meet this critique. Also, I will argue that his political philosophy can better deal with some of the problems that communitarians detect in our Western democracies than can communitarianism itself. One crucial reason for this is that Cohen completes the original Kantian liberal project by making all agents fully autonomous in the economic sphere.

Kant On Obligation And Motivation In Law And Ethics, Nelson T. Potter Jr.

Department of Philosophy: Faculty Publications

It is quite clear that a positive law must have some motivation connected with it, as specified in a penalty, at least a criminal law must, as opposed to a law appropriating funds or a law authorizing persons to make use of certain legal possibilities, such as a will, a limited liability corporation, or marriage. Some ten years ago Nebraska's state legislature passed a law requiring the wearing of a motorcycle helmet while riding a motorcycle on the state's roads, and the Governor signed it into law. Only some time after this process had been completed was the defect of …

Can We Share Ethical Views With Other Religions?, Robert Hannaford

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented to the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society, October 7, 1993.

Grounds For Political Judgment: The Status Of Personal Experience And The Autonomy And Generality Of Principles Of Restraint, Kent Greenawalt

San Diego Law Review

This Article addresses three perplexing problems about proposed principles of self-restraint for political decision and advocacy within liberal democracies. It considers the nature of convictions that are based on highly personal experiences and asks what their political status should be. It explores the subtle relationship between proposed principles of restraint and overarching religious and other comprehensive views. It argues that a plausible principle of restraint must appeal to people with various religious and other comprehensive views and must be suited to the particular conditions of a given society.

The Place Of Religious Argument In A Free And Democratic Society, Robert Audi

San Diego Law Review

This Article provides an account of the notion of a religious argument, distinguishes several roles of religious arguments in a liberal democracy, and defends a set of principles for their proper use in such a society. The author argues that it is appropriate that citizens apply a kind of separation of church and state in their public use of religious arguments, especially in advocating laws or public policies that restrict liberty. More specifically, the author contends that whatever religious arguments one may have in such cases, one should also be willing to offer, and be to a certain extent motivated …

Religious Morality And Political Choice: Further Thoughts--And Second Thoughts--On Love And Power, Michael J. Perry

San Diego Law Review

This is an Article written by the author of the book Love and Power: The Role of Religion and Morality in American Politics. In this Article, he returns to an inquiry already addressed in Love and Power. He asks the question: should Americans accept an ideal of political choice according to which a citizen ought not make a controversial political choice if the choice cannot be defended without relying on a religious belief that at least some opponents of the choice reject? The author responds with a resounding no, arguing that we should not accept such a political ideal. He …

Constructing An Ideal Of Public Reason, Lawrence B. Solum

San Diego Law Review

In deciding to what ideal citizens should aspire in political debate, some people contend that an ideal of political morality should mirror the freedom of expression. This Article undertakes the construction of an ideal of public reason. It begins with an investigation of the term "public reason." The author considers various possibilities for an ideal or normative standard of public reason. As each option is considered, some possible formulations are discarded and additional specifications are added. He concludes with the ideal that is constructed through this process of elaboration, evaluation, and elimination.

Liberalism, Religion And The Unity Of Epistemology, Larry Alexander

San Diego Law Review

This Article focuses on the relation between liberalism and religion. Professor Alexander argues that liberalism is itself just a sectarian view on the same level as the religious and other views that it purports to be neutral about and to tolerate. The Article shows that liberalism is a rejection of all illiberal religious tenets. It further contends that liberalism cannot make out its case for excluding religious arguments from shaping public policy. It concludes that to the extent liberalism is defined by or rests on the insulation of public policy from religious views, liberalism is undermined by its failure to …

Book Review, Cynthia Dash

RISK: Health, Safety & Environment (1990-2002)

Review of: DONALD C. LEE, TOWARD A SOUND WORLD ORDER: A MULTIDIMENSIONAL HIERARCHICAL ETHICAL THEORY. (Greenwood Press 1992). [240 pp.] Bibliography, index, notes, preface. LC: 91-440942; ISBN:0-313-27903-9. [Cloth $42.95. P.O. Box 5007, Westport CT 06881.]

Why Does Utilitarianism Seem Plausible?, John Dilworth

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Presented to the WMU Center for the Study of Ethics in Society - May 27, 1993.

[Book Review Of] What Kind Of Life. The Limits Of Medical Progress, By Daniel Callahan, Robert J. Barnet

The Linacre Quarterly

No abstract provided.