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This thesis analyses a few selected aspects of crop biotechnology in agriculture. The thesis contains two essays; the first addresses the topic of how ethical tools can help to, especially in democratic societies, improve ethical judgments on modern biotechnologies used in agriculture and food production. The second essay explores GM crops and the question of whether engaging and promoting agriculture biotechnology would be an expression of hubris. Essay I discusses ethical tools and more specifically what makes a tool a good one. It is argued that some of the previous attempts of evaluating ethical tools are unfruitful. Myself and Per Sandin propose that ethical tools be divided into three categories with regard to their different aim(s). We suggest that the quality of an ethical tool is decided by its purposiveness, i.e. how well the tool achieves its assigned purpose(s). Essay II discusses the concept of hubris with regard to agricultural biotechnology. Several authors have claimed that supporting agricultural biotechnology is an expression of hubris. Ronald Sandler has given the argument its most structured account of yet. I argue that Sandler fails to establish a presumption against the use of GM crops and that the concept of hubris should play no role in evaluating GM crops and agricultural biotechnology. / <p>QC 20150330</p> / Mistra Biotech

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This licentiate thesis is comprised of a “kappa” and two articles. The kappa includes an account of personal autonomy and informed consent, an explanation of how the concepts and articles relate to each other, and a summary in Swedish. Article 1 treats one problem with the argument that a patient’s consent to treatment is valid only if it is authentic, i.e., if it is “genuine,” “truly her own,” “not out of character,” or similar. As interventions with a patient’s life and liberties must be justified, the argument presupposes that the authenticity of desires can be reliably determined. If the status of a desire in terms of authenticity cannot be reliably determined, discarding the desire-holder’s treatment decision on the basis that it is inauthentic is morally unjustified. In the article, I argue that no theory of authenticity that is present in the relevant literature can render reliably observable consequences. Therefore, the concept of authenticity, as it is understood in those theories, should not be part of informed consent practices. Article 2 discusses the problem of what it is to consent or refuse voluntarily. In it, I argue that voluntariness should be more narrowly understood than what is common. My main point is that a conceptualization of voluntariness should be agent-centered, i.e., take into account the agent’s view of her actions. Among other things, I argue that an action is non-voluntary only if the agent thinks of it as such when being coerced. This notion, which at first look may seem uncontroversial, entails the counterintuitive conclusion that an action can be voluntary although the agent has been manipulated or coerced into doing it. In defense of the notion, I argue that if the agent’s point of view is not considered accordingly, describing her actions as non-voluntary can be alien to how she leads her life. There are other moral concepts available to describe what is wrong with manipulation and coercion, i.e., to make sense of the counterintuitive conclusion. Voluntariness should be reserved to fewer cases than what is commonly assumed. / <p>QC 20170821</p>

In this essay, the author examines the EPIC (Ethics Practice and Implementation Categorization) framework which stated purpose is to identify and categorize strategies and teaching goals for ​​ethics and morality in video games. This is done by putting the framework into use as intended and then discussing whether it achieves its purpose, and whether it is suitable for use in teaching. The study is carried out based on the following questions:   1. What educational goals and strategies are found in the video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. 2. How is EPIC useful in finding teaching opportunities in video games? 3. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the EPIC framework?   These questions are answered by analyzing the video game Assassin's Creed: Valhalla based on EPIC. The framework is carefully studied, and the game is explored in depth. The author attempts to identify the twelve strategies and the seven teaching objectives that the framework categorizes. These touch on everything from the game's narrative features, to gameplay moments and technical game design. To facilitate the investigation and its presentation, it is divided into two main parts: overall systems and themes, and the moral dilemmas of the game. In this way, the author can give a nuanced picture of the game's content and demonstrate what EPIC is capable of when it comes to analyzing video games.   The investigation of Assassin's Creed: Valhalla is then discussed with a focus on whether EPIC achieves its purpose, what obstacles the investigation encounters, and what EPIC can be used for beyond its stated purpose.   The result shows that EPIC is a very effective tool for identifying strategies and possible teaching goals in video games. EPIC's problem is mainly that it does not function as an evaluative tool, and that it does not consider the potentially conflicting strategies. In some cases, the research shows that a simple identification of EPIC's strategies and teaching goals is not enough for a teacher to make a well-informed decision about whether the given material is suitable for teaching. A deeper analysis is required, and that is not reasonable for most teachers. The study also confirms that the design of video games creates a risk for players who do not choose to interact with the game's systems as the developer intended. Video games can present shades of gray and ambiguous questions and dilemmas that require some attention and interest from the player. In teaching environments it therefore becomes very important that the teacher assumes the role of an encouraging guide.   It should also be mentioned that EPIC considers much of the criticism leveled at several ethical theories. It has been found to be a versatile tool that tries to apply many different principles. For example, ethics of care is given a large place, which absence has been an object of criticism against previous theories and frameworks in ethics. The author suggests that EPIC is possibly better suited as a tool for game developers that wish to design games specifically for teaching ethics and morality.

I läroplanskommitténs betänkande rörande den nya läroplanen 1994 så skrevs det mycket om lärarens roll som förmedlare av värdegrunden till eleverna, vad det var som läraren skulle förmedla och i viss mån hur det skulle ske. Värdegrundsarbetet skulle ske tematiskt genom skolgången i alla ämnen och inte endast förekomma i ett eget ämne eller i religionskunskapen, som dock behöll en viss särställning rörande arbetet med etik. För att kunna förmedla de önskade värderingarna till eleverna så skulle läraren använda sig av ”den etik som förvaltats av kristen tradition och västerländsk humanism”. Betänkandet behandlar inte vad som menas med detta uttryck, men bifogar en bilaga skriven av Anders Piltz där han försöker att motivera ordavalet och vad kristen tradition innebär. När man jämför den moderna forskningen rörande värdegrundsarbetet i skolan med betänkandet och dess målsättning kan man se att samma värderingar premieras, men att demokratiaspekten har fått en mycket större roll än vad som kanske var meningen, något som kan bero på att demokrati är något som kräver mer tid att lära ut än andra värderingar som är mer naturliga, som tillexempel respekt för andra individers autonomi. Syftet med att skolan ska ge eleverna en gemensam värdegrund antyder forskningen vara för att på så sätt skapa en harmonierad medborgare som passar in i det svenska samhället. Begreppet kristen etik förekommer inte i den forskning vi funnit, men de idéer om kristen etik som ett ”hur” snarare än ett ”vad”, som läggs fram av Anders Piltz går att finna kopplingar till.

A study about the moral circumstances of the video-game This war of mine. By use of earlier research it establishes a connection between video-games and our behavior. Through that and the arguments of Michel Sicart I define video-games as an ethical object. With that as a main premise, I continue to analyze This War of Mine (abbreviated as TWoM) using normative, ethical models, with the purpose of highlighting the games underlying values. The main component of the study is divided into two parts: analysis of the games twelve, playable characters and analysis of the games rules. The results establish that the games underlying, ethical values are universalistic in nature with a tone of utilitarianism through the quantitative and contextual natures of how your actions are measured.

Denna studies syfte är tudelat. Jag ämnar beskriva och analysera olika etiska uppfattningar av matproduktion baserad på djur och dagens köttindustri. Tre olika produktionsformerundersöks. Dessa är fabriksuppfödning, human konventionell köttproduktion och ekologisk köttproduktion. Utöver att beskriva och definiera dessa undersöks olika sätt att etiskt rättfärdiga dessa produktionsformer. I studien analyseras och jämförs de etiska resonemangen för att tydliggöra likheter och skillnader. Jag avser att kritiskt granska de olika moraliska positionerna och de resonemang som ligger till grund för dessa i syfte att diskutera huruvida de är moraliskt hållbara. Detta syfte ligger till grund för följande frågeställningar: Vad utmärker dessa treolika produktionsformer? Vilka moraliska uppfattningar innehas av de som förespråkar respektive produktionsform? Hur berättigas dessa uppfattningar? Överensstämmer de moraliska resonemangen med företrädarnas beskrivningar av sin produktionsform? Är dessa moraliska positioner och de etiska resonemang som rättfärdigar dem moraliskt hållbara?

English title: Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Human Rights: a critical analysis of the UNESCO recommendation on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence from a post colonial perspective.  The purpose of this essay is to examine the recommendations on the ethics of Artificial Intelligence. That the member states of UNESCO agreed on in the general conference of 2021 to see if historical, disadvantaged groups are involved in the recommendations. Hence the study analyses the claim the recommendations have about human rights and universalism, world order, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-actors.  The theoretical frameworks from which the essay are based on are an open universalism which focus on the moral of human rights. Postcolonial theory that contribute with an historical view that make difference in authority visible. AI-actors is discussed taking orientation and whiteness into consideration. The method  used is a descriptive idea analysis, and a critical idea analysis to analyze the recommendations.  My conclusion is that the UNESCO recommendations are universal and human rights should be considered when developing AI. Member states and actors have a big responsibility to make sure that AI is ethical and ensures human rights. The focus of the recommendations is to give the least developed countries education to use AI systems. It is the most technical developed countries that have responsibility to educate. I have argued that there are problems with the recommendations in relations to historically vulnerable groups. One of the main problem are that the document is universal but at the same time everyone should get advantage of AI. How the recommendations ensure human rights for groups that does not want to have AI is not discussed. Another problem is that historically the AI science is mostly white. I have argued that the world order is white and that the document fail to include disadvantage groups in a correct way.  Keywords: Artificial intelligence, UNESCO, Postcolonial studies, Whiteness.

"Hit him, Stefan, hit him. Yes, hit him!” Martial arts can be described as an activity where the practitioners exercise violence against each other under consent. The martial arts audience does not merely accept this violence, but also seems to find pleasure in actively encouraging it. How does this behavior affect the members of the audience? This essay discusses whether martial arts spectators who encourage violence – and seem to enjoy watching it – de facto express an inherent belief that some people lack human dignity. Is there something in the martial arts audience, or in the martial arts itself, that makes the participants look at human dignity in another way than the rest of society? If so, does this risk affecting the view that martial arts spectators have of human dignity in general? The essay first discusses the legitimacy of martial arts and the autonomy of sports. Subsequently, the focus turns to the core question: What happens when sport does not reward virtue but instead focuses on diminishing the opponent's human dignity? By including the spectators, I analyze what risks happening to the audience when they act based on what is accepted in the martial arts arena but not in society at large. This essay argues that the audience’s behavior risks opening the door to humanity's darker, and brutal side. A side held back by the idea of ​​the dignity of all people. A side that, if given free rein, has been behind the most horrific events in history.