Within the area of animal ethics, there has been ongoing discussion around whether people in developed countries are justified in consuming animal based products or not, some argue that we are, and some argue that we aren't. In this paper I present a kind of middle-way position in response to the ongoing discussion, in which I argue that a decent chunk of a population in developed countries are justified in consuming certain animal products, but only so far as the exclusion of these animal based products would cause harm to the boycotter. Many of the arguments that are raised in order to defend the consumption of animal products, often rely on controversial assumptions or stances in order to make their claim. In this paper I attempt to distance myself from these types of arguments, by giving an argument that only relies on already commonly held moral beliefs that we all already take to be true, and the argument I make is therefore just an extension of a moral belief that we already have, which is that it is morally justifiable to consume animal products in order to avoid a personal harm. The claim very simply put is the following: We already believe that a person is morally justified to consume animal products from animals that yield relatively low amounts of food in order to survive, if we take this to be true, then we should also believe that a person is morally justified to consume animal products from animals that have a much greater yield of food, but where the food is used not to survive, but to avoid personal harms that stem from boycotting animal products. To give a more precise description on why the former (to survive) entails the latter (to avoid harms from boycotting) is because firstly, the amount of harm that's being done to the animal to avoid both cases is the same, and secondly, the level of harm that's being prevented by consuming the products that come from that animal are also the same. I conclude therefore, that if we want to remain morally consistent, we should accept the latter case to also be justified, which is that we are justified in consuming animal products in order to reduce a personal harm, but only so far as those harms would be prevalent if the person where to exclude animal based products from their diet.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The complex ethical dilemmas created by advanced technological medicine and problematic doctor-patient relationships have lead to an increasing interest in medical ethics education since the 1980's. The Medical School of the University of Pretoria has embarked on a new undergraduate medical curriculum in 1997. Ethics is educated in a longitudinal fashion over the six years of the medical curriculum and has focussed largely on the principal-based approach as described by Beauchamp and Childress. The research participants were the first final year class of this new curriculum, while the facilitators were medical educators or philosophers. The major finding was that the students were not yet able to identify ethical dilemmas with ease, although they were successful in the application of the principal-based approach to the vignettes of the study. The students did not cope well with the uncertainty created by ethical dilemmas and sought to solve the situation by creating boundaries provided by medical law. Therecommendations of the study are that the theoretical component of the ethics curriculum should: 1) include more approaches to ethics, than only the principal-based approach; 2) address daily experienced ethical dilemmas during the study years in small group discussions; 3) and implement a portfolio assessment which can serve as a tool for students to track their own development in reflection on ethical dilemmas. In conclusion, the question remains whether we are currently ready to come ""face to face" with the "other" as Levinas argues or are we still divided into "only two classes of mankind in the world - doctors and patients" as remarked by Kipling in the 19th century. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die komplekse etiese dilemmas, veroorsaak deur hoogs gespesialiseerde tegnologiese medisyne en die problematiese dokter-pasiënt verhouding, het gelei tot 'n verhoogde belangstelling in mediese etiekonderrig sedert die 1980's. Die Mediese Skool van die Universiteit van Pretoria het in 1997 'n nuwe voorgraadse mediese kurrikulum geïmplimenteer. Etiek is op 'n longitudinale manier onderrig oor ses jaar in die mediese kurrikulum en het gefokus op die beginsel-benadering soos beskryf deur Beauchamp en Childress. Die navorsingsdeelnemers was die eerste finale-jaar klas van die nuwe kurrikulum, terwyl die fasiliteerders mediese dosente of filosowe was. Die hoofbevinding van die kurrikulum was dat die studente nie die etiese dilemmas met gemak kon identifiseer nie, alhowel hulle suksesvol die beginsel-benadering kon toepas op die gevallestudies. Die studente hanteer nie onsekerheid, veroorsaak deur die etiese dilemmas, met gemak nie en probeer om die saak op te los deur die skep van grense verskaf deur mediese reg. Die aanbevelings van die studie is dat die teoretiese komponent van die etiekkurrikulum die volgende moet bevat: 1) bekendstelling aan meerdere benaderings tot die etiek, bo en behalwe die beginsel-gebaseerde benadering; 2) aanspreek van die daaglikse etiese dilemmas gedurende die studiejare in kleingroepbesprekings; 3) en die implementering van 'n portfolio-evaluasie, wat kan dien as 'n instrument vir die studente om hul eie ontwikkeling aangaande nadenke oor etiese dilemmas na te gaan. Opsommend, die vraag is steeds of ons tans gereed is om "aangesig-tot-aangesig" te verkeer met die "ander" soos Levinas redeneer of is ons steeds verdeel in "slegs twee klasse van menswees in die wêreld - dokters en pasiënte" soos opgemerk deur Kipling in die 19deeeu.

This thesis provides an ethical analysis of imprisonment as a mode of punishment. Consisting in an introduction and four papers the thesis addresses several important questions concerning imprisonment from a number of different perspectives and theoretical starting points. One overall conclusion of this thesis is that imprisonment, as a mode of punishment, deserves more attention from moral and legal philosophers. It is also concluded that a more complete ethical assessment of prison conditions and prison management requires a broader focus. It must include an explicit discussion of both how imprisonment directly affects prison inmates and its negative side-effects on third parties. Another conclusion is that ethical discussions on prison conditions should not be too easily reduced to a question about how harsh or lenient is should be. Paper 1 argues that prisoners have a right to privacy. It is argued that respect for inmates’ privacy is related to respect for them as moral agents. Consequently, respect for inmates’ privacy is called for by different established philosophical theories about the justification of legal punishment. Practical implications of this argument are discussed and it is argued that invasion of privacy should be minimized to the greatest extent possible, without compromising other important values or the rights to safety and security. It is also proposed that respect for privacy should be part of the objective of creating and upholding a secure environment. Paper 2 discusses whether the collateral harm of imprisonment to the children and other close family members of prison inmates may give rise to special moral obligations towards them. Several collateral harms, including decreased psychological wellbeing, financial costs, loss of economic opportunities, and intrusion and control over their private lives, are identified. Two perspectives in moral philosophy, consequentialism and deontology, are then applied in order to assess whether these harms are permissible. It is argued that from either perspective it is hard to defend the claim that allowing for these harms are morally permissible. Consequently, imprisonment should be used only as a last resort. Where it is deemed necessary, it gives rise to special moral obligations. Using the notion of residual obligation, these obligations are then categorized and clarified.                 Paper 3 focuses on an argument that has figured in the philosophical debate on felon disenfranchisement. This argument states that as a matter of democratic self-determination, a legitimate democratic collective has the collective right to decide whether to disenfranchise felons as a way of defining their political identity. Yet, such a collective’s right to self-determination is limited, since the choice to disenfranchise anyone must be connected to normative considerations of political significance. This paper defends this argument against three charges that has been raised to it. In doing so it also explores under what circumstances felon disenfranchisement can be permissible. Paper 4 explores the question of whether prison inmates suffering from ADHD should be administered psychopharmacological intervention (methylphenidate) for their condition. The theoretical starting point for the discussion is the communicative theory of punishment, which understands criminal punishment   as a form of secular penance. Viewed through the lens of the communicative theory it is argued that the provision of pharmacological treatment to offenders with ADHD need not necessarily be conceived of as an alternative to punishment, but as an aid to achieving the penological ends of secular penance. Thus, in this view offenders diagnosed with ADHD should have the option to undergo pharmacological treatment. / <p>QC 20170110</p>

Richard Mason proposed a social framework for addressing the major ethical issues of the information age in his pivotal 1986 article “Four Ethical Issues of the Information Age.” In 2006, Alan Peslak validated the framework by measuring the current attitudes of students, IT professionals, and university faculty and staff toward the four key issues proposed by Mason: privacy, accuracy, property, and accessibility (referred to as PAPA). This study continues this inquiry into the seven-year period after Peslak’s research. Previously collected data was analyzed for 312 university computing majors taking a senior-level ethics course where Mason was taught and discussed. Demographic influences as well as differences over the period were considered. A single exam question administered consistently over the period was the focus. Results indicate, with Mason’s framework as a foundation, computing students can identify all of Mason’s ethical issues, selecting privacy as the most relevant issue of concern in their current environment. Age, gender, and computing work experience resulted in no differences in selection of relevant PAPA factors. All genders, all age groups, and all levels of computing work experience select privacy as the most relevant factor for society today. Privacy increased in importance over the seven-year period as the primary ethical issue for computing students. The ever-changing technology environment and new threats to society posed by these changes is discussed, including social networks, data breaches, consumer privacy, internet neutrality, and emerging technologies.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is the nonprofit governing body of college athletics. They oversee three distinct divisions of competition containing over 430,000 student athletes and over 1,000 member institutions.[1] Their primary task is to ensure all student-athletes and the universities they attend adhere to the extensive rules and regulations outlined in the Associations manual, namely, to abide by principles of amateurism, defined by the Association as agents that do not receive any payment above travel expenses or a grant-in-aid scholarship for competing in sports endeavors. The problem is the NCAA is currently financially and academically exploiting college athletes. The Association possesses an inordinate amount of control over young men and women, and they exercise this power to exploit their unrecognized labor force and generate billions of dollars in revenues, while restricting the amount of compensation the athletes receive to a number well below what the free market will bear. College athletes are not receiving any of the money they produce, and most will not benefit in any real way from the educational product they are provided. The system must be reformed. The first step will be to eliminate financially defined amateurism along with the NCAA’s expansive rulebook. Second, student athletes should be allowed to set their own course load. This includes not taking any classes if they choose, thus ending the charade that athletes are recruited to campus as students first, even when it is clear many have no interest in academics. Third, courses should be tailored to pique the interest of athletes, namely offering majors in sports. Finally, university athletic departments need to be scaled down to truly comply with Title IX requirements and stop wasting exorbitant sums of money. The hypocrisy and deception must end. [1] “About the NCAA,” National Collegiate Athletic Association, 2013, http://www.ncaa.org/.

In a world bombarded with advertisements, it may be difficult for the development of an authentic self. Authenticity is a mode of existence in which there is ownership in the sense of self, while at the same time being able to present this sense of self to others. To be authentic is to act and live in a way that expresses a genuine concern for the self in which projects and goals pursued. The sense of self is the feeling of genuineness of the self and representing this self requires actions that correlate to these feelings. Advertisements act as communication to the public in an attempt to persuade people to purchase products. The tactics that advertising agencies use cause people and society to internalize these messages, in effect, influencing the way people experience the world. Thus, advertising can have a harmful effect on an individual by hindering the development of an authentic self. I will first explain the concept of authenticity, following a discussion of how people organize experience by means of George Mead’s concept of the ‘I’ and the ‘me.’ I will then provide a description of Martin Heidegger’s account on authenticity in juxtaposition with Sartre’s contrasting forms of inauthenticity by means of bad faith. Finally, I will discuss the damaging effects that advertising has to authenticity, and suggest ways to successfully exist in a world full of these advertisements.

In what follows, I highlight negative environmental perspectives and actions based on traditional patterns of Western dualist thought with the ultimate aim of developing an alternative way of relating to the environment and the ‘other’, in general. In pursuit of such an alternative, I utilize embodied artistic practices in order to present the notion that one can engage more holistically with one’s environment, and the other. Through habitual, lifelong ‚Ways‛ cultivating specific practices generally necessary to creating and to viewing art, I argue, one can refine one’s ethical awareness and action. Following the aims of care ethics’ more context and experience-oriented approach to moral concern and to treatment of the other, as well as the philosophies of Japan, and feminist philosopher, Irigaray, I show how these artistic practices form a new awareness and stance that encompasses components of care. Finally, I briefly highlight how art has been used for positive activism.

This piece provides an application of care ethics to the typical American diet. In the first chapter, the problems surrounding the Standard American Diet are discussed at both the individual, familial, global, animal, and environmental levels. The second chapter provides an overview of the theoretical components of care ethics, and lays a framework for analysis. The third and final chapter demonstrates how in applying many of the core principles of care, great strides can be made in remedying the numerous problems that are a direct result of typical consumption habits in the United States.

Although torture is considered universally reprehensible by law, including international law and human convention, it occurs routinely as an acceptable and efficient method for interrogation and intimidation. The questions that follow are: What kind of person engages in/commits acts of torture? If legalized, how would torture affect morality when an individual can be instrumentally utilized as a mere means-to-an-end? How does torture affect the victim, the torturer, and society as a whole? In order to answer these questions, I will use events at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Center to argue in favor of the plausibility for the concept of a non fallacious slippery slope against torture by means of theoretical and real world evidence. I will argue that each act of torture that is deemed acceptable in the eyes of any society not only corrupts the societal morality of that nation, but it also produces an increase in direct and indirect participation in such acts.

The inspiration behind this philosophical endeavor is an ethical one: interested in what it means to flourish as a human being – how to live well and authentically. Similar to medicine and how the ability to prescribe the appropriate treatment depends on first making a diagnosis, the focus of this work will to be understand the human condition and the ways in which subjectivity, one’s sense of self, is constituted. Given the general dissatisfaction with the modern metaphysical picture of the world, which analyzes the world in terms of the mutually exclusive and completely separate categories of nature/objects and society/subjects, I proceed from an alternative conceptual perspective, that of non-modernity, offered by Bruno Latour. By focusing on the actual practice of the sciences Latour develops one of his central concepts: mediation. From this understanding of the practices of mediation the world is revealed as an ontological continuum of hybrids – mixtures of human and nonhuman elements – that ranges from quasi-object to quasi-subject. Rather than being separate, nature and society are intimately interwoven and co-constituted, forming a nature-culture collective that is connected and defined by the network of relations between existing hybrids. Given this philosophical landscape of mediation, hybrids and networks, the question that I seek to address is how does this effect what it means to be human? What does it mean to human living in a hybrid world? I answer this question by articulating and developing Latour’s concept of quasi-subject. This will ultimately amount to saying that as humans, our sense of self and agency is co-constituted through our networks of relations with both humans and nonhumans. I conclude the paper by exploring some of the ethical implications that naturally emerge from such an understanding.