Critical Realism, the Capabilities Approach, and Marxism, all have underdeveloped theoretical problems. For Critical Realism, the ceteris paribus clause, which is used to asses an ideological critique, does not properly specify what other things warrant the dismissal or acceptance of said critique. For the Capabilities Approach, a proper ontology or metaphysics is missing, and the claim that the Capabilities Approach can be metaphysically neutral is false. Finally, Marxism is good at describing the more onerous aspects of capitalism (e.g., alienation, exploitation, crisis), but it does not provide normative force for seeing these descriptions as bad. I argue that these three schools of thought, when connected through the ontology of Critical Realism, can be rendered mutually inclusive, and each theory can help address the lacuna in its respective counterpart. Critical Realism gives to Marxism and the Capabilities Approach ontological justification, and the Capabilities Approach gives to Critical Realism and Marxism normative force. And finally, Marxism gives to the Capabilities Approach a more radical, but consistent twist that furthers the goal of realizing our shared human powers.

There are different versions of the ethical approach known as “care ethics”, making care ethics more like a cluster of approaches rather than a singular one. Hence the question is not just whether care ethics is a suitable feminist ethic, but which version(s) of care ethics feminists should endorse. Considering which versions of care ethics are capable of recommending the sort of political activism that is required for progressive political change goes some distance in answering this question. The concern about whether care ethics can recommend the political activism needed for feminist aims arises because such activism exposes those the activist has intimate relationships with to various sorts of harm. I argue that when construed as an ethical theory that incorporates a decision procedure for generating correct conduct, care ethics recommends against the sorts of actions that are required of political activists and for the practical goals of feminists. Construed as an ethical framework that has the more modest concern of providing conceptual orientation and critical tools for interpreting and reflexively interrogating the ethical landscape, however, care ethics can overcome the challenge presented by political activism when including what Bernard Williams calls “ground projects” amongst its available tools. However, because feminist care theorists and others sympathetic with care ethics have criticized aspects of Williams’ account of ground projects, I first respond to these concerns in order to accommodate these criticisms and demonstrate that I am not importing something into care ethics as a framework that does not have a place there.

The goal of this thesis is to influence a re-evaluation of self conceptions in America in order to influence an alternative relational understanding of one’s self and others. This thesis begins based on the premise that individualism is a prominent aspect of American societies meaning its member’s understandings of their selves are self-centered, often non-empathetic, and in general more concerned with their own lives than that of others. The first half of this thesis is dedicated analyzing the American situation through an analysis of the sources of individualism and proving that individualism is actually an illusion that individuals falsely believe in. American Pragmatists John Dewey and George Herbert Mead are primarily discussed to offer a more socially oriented understanding of the self that begins the process of this thesis in defending a relational model of selfhood. The second half of this thesis introduces Ancient Chinese philosophy where the relationally constituted model of self is thoroughly fleshed out. An analysis of Confucian and Daoist philosophy is given to explain those traditions unique vocabulary and drastic differences from traditional Western theories of morality and self-understanding. The third half of this thesis uses an hybrid self conception derived from a combination of Pragmatist and Chinese thought to argue the Philosophy For Children (P4C) pedagogical model is the medium in which Americans can learn to re-evaluate their selves starting with educating their children. P4C is shown to be itself a model of relationality where children begin from younger ages to be more other-focused, empathetic, and communally involved.

This thesis attempts to provide a coherent view of the idea of ‘justice as fairness’ and, in particular, the ‘difference principle’ expressed by John Rawls in A Theory of Justice. The main focus of the thesis is the difference principle and its limits. Rawls’s conception of ‘justice as fairness’ is based on the thought experiment of the ‘original position’ in which people, considered as free and equal, deliberate under an imagined ‘veil of ignorance,’ i.e. not knowing which social roles or status they would occupy in their society. Rawls then argues that in the original position people come up with two major principles of justice, understood as principles that would be acceptable to people treated as free and equal. The second principle entails the so-called ‘difference principle,’ according to which the inequalities of, say, wealth and authority are just and fair only if they lead to compensating benefits for everybody and particularly the least advantaged. The thesis proceeds, then, by probing whether compared with other theories, , including a discussion of Dahl’s theory of democracy, Rawls’s difference principle could be a proper answer to one of the main questions of social justice. The questions is: how the economic fortune in a society should be distributed among citizens. However, despite Rawls’s aim to develop the difference principle as a practical normative theory, it fails to give us a pragmatic answer. The reason is: the statement of the difference principle fails to take into account one crucial point: to wit, the matter of time. The thesis develops two empirical economic scenarios to illustrate that there is a trade-off between the interests of the poor in short and long period of time. However, this important issue is not considered and discussed by Rawls which makes the theory inapplicable.

This thesis addresses primary concepts in the humanitarian intervention debates. I argue that humanitarian intervention is a perfect duty. The global community has a moral obligation to act decisively in the face of extreme human rights abuses. There are two contrasting theoretical perspectives regarding international relations and humanitarian intervention: statism and cosmopolitanism. These contrasting perspectives contest the relative value of state sovereignty and human rights. Some of the most prominent ethicists in the debate have determined states have a “right” to intervene militarily in the internal affairs of other states to halt severe human rights abuses but there is no “duty”to intervene. These conclusions are largely based upon consequentialist considerations. This thesis argues a deontological perspective is essential. References to events Rwanda, Darfur, and Kosovo are made. There is a critical role for preemptive actions to play in addressing humanitarian crises and calls for global justice.

While journalistic ethics exists in the Untied States today, it works primarily to address dilemmas in the profession, as opposed to working to comprehensively understand journalism in relation to its public duties. This role in United States journalism is not only misunderstood by the majority of journalists working in the media industry, it is also misunderstood by the public. This misinterpretation is directly linked to the concepts of cultural separation between the 'natural' laws that run the market place and those things in society that influence everything else. In this sense, journalism has become an industry working in the market place. Essentially, the product of completely corporatising the media industry has created a gap between the role of journalism in a democratic society and the current state of journalism in the United States. That said, the relationship between the media and democracy can be traced back through the history of United States democracy and the subsequent history of journalism as a profession that was an essential part to keeping the public sphere of democratic debate healthy. A section of journalists, public journalists, currently attempt to heed the public responsibility needed to create this space for democratic debate. However, these journalists, though earnest in their pursuit to rebuild the type of journalism needed to create this democratic sphere, cannot reach the masses effectively without more funding and more autonomy. Likewise, the public broadcast station (PBS) in the United States could be enhanced in many ways with more funding and more autonomy. Such funding and autonomy for media in the United States could come from a tax-payer funded public broadcast station. And though not all media need to bear the responsibility of journalism focused on public life and politics, a section of the mass media should commit itself to creating a sphere to enhance democratic debate. This thesis explores the necessity of a government funded mass media source in the United States. Given that United States media and democracy are inherently linked, as I will aim to show through the development of democratic history and the development of liberal democracy in the United States today, the ethical need for a media source that can fulfil its democratic duties.

(in English): The thesis deals with the problem of induced abortions. It focuses on, and offers an analysis of, common ways in which abortion has recently been defended in the Czech Republic. In an examination of usual lines of defence of abortion, a description of ongoing philosophical debate about morality of abortion is employed. Arguments founded on bodily integrity and drawn from general feministic positions are attacked with the aim to show that all these ways of defending abortion elude the crucial problems such as the moral status of a fetus, father rights, the nature of discourses which underlie women's choices to abort, and the consequences of the common contemporary view of abortions for women's lives. The tension between basic sexual needs and responsibility for a human life that begins is set forth as the pivotal problem. Concerning the theoretical question of the moral status of a fetus, the thesis endorses a skeptical stance. As a consequence, unassailable solution to the question of permissibility of abortions is rejected as an impossible task. Such a negative result invites a question of how, if at all,the contemporary discourse might be substantiated in which abortions are treated quite straightforwardly as permissible acts. The acquaintance with philosophical problems concerning...

Married women in the banking and management consulting firms in Nigeria encounter challenges that affect their commitment to their families while working long hours in demanding jobs. This study explores the challenges married women encounter and the impacts they have on women’s family lives, social lives, and health. I analyze primary and secondary sources to understand how organizational work culture such as long working hours, work competitiveness, and Nigeria’s unstable economy negatively affect the work-life balance of married women in banking and management consulting firms. Although participants shared the belief that their workplaces practiced “equality,” their descriptions of daily life activities indicate that women did not enjoy egalitarian conditions at work or at home. This study brings to light the challenges faced by married women and suggests how the Nigerian government can promote gender equality in the workplace through the review and amendment of the Nigerian Labor policy.

This diploma thesis describes and analyzes the ethical dimension of content marketing practice on social networks. The rapid pace of technological progress, shaping the birth of participatory Web 2.0 and social networks, has led to an ever-increasing gap between the everyday online experience and the discourse of applied ethics. Three main goals of this thesis are met. First, current academical knowledge (and its limits) in the field of marketing and information ethics is described. Secondly, with the help of Luciano Floridi's Information Ethics, a unified ethical framework for assessing specific moral dilemmas on social networks is constructed. Lastly, this framework is verified in an extensive Reddit case study, where each of the six pillars of the constructed ethical framework (which affects fundamental parameters and manifestations indicating unethical activity) are tested on manifestations of unacknowledged marketing activity. At the same time, the existence and emergence of the so-called ethical vacuum are illustrated, indicating that there is a need to update the theoretical approaches of applied ethics for the specifics of social networks and the infosphere in general.

Governmental sovereignty is created and maintained by mutual respect for the rule of law by the government and citizens. To maintain legitimacy, a government must act within the bounds of the contract that created it. Otherwise, the relationship founded by said contract would be nullified, as would the duties and obligations that flow from that relationship. Torture exemplifies an ultra vires act used by the United States to show the consequences of over-extended authority on political legitimacy and the rule of law. Founded on the philosophies of Hugo Grotius, Thomas Hobbes, and Christine Korsgaard, this research investigates the nature of a government, its authority, and the laws that it must obey. By considering the role of a government as an artificial man or a representative agent, I argue that regardless of the limits or lack thereof for governmental power, the self-interest of a government illegalizes any action that violates its founding documents. If a government does commit such an act, the rule of law is negatively affected, and political legitimacy and authority are damaged. This behavior, when repeated and unamended, will destroy the relationship between the people and their government, diminish the contract, and return the people to a state of nature.