ethics

This is from another thread, where continuing this discussion would obviously have been off-topic. This thread's for that broader discussion, that I’ve quoted below from my post there and boldfaced:

What should the rules be and what should they be based on? Who and what should be considered? How do you assign a 'moral value' to something or a 'moral cost' to a decision? In another thread I wrote: Should ethics even have rules? Should it be like mathematics and be internally...

As the library gets ready for an upgrade and renovation, we are grooming our collection for a move and RFID chipping (for the books, not the librarians). I am at the moment exploring our ethics collection and came across a new concept, books on ethical wills. I didn’t actually read the books...

The big, billionaire Pharma Industry is using highly unethical marketing maneuvers to stimulate their sales and reach incredible proportions in profit collection. To understand it better I invite readers to "google" a little bit trying to find the over-the-counter prices for most chemotherapy...

Dr. Gregory Sadler of Marist College recently discussed Ayn Rand's The Virtue of Selfishness in his Spring 2013 Ethics class and posted the video to YouTube: exxA_uegl-8 I remember that my professor in Philosophy 101 discussed Ayn Rand and that the textbook had an excerpt from the introduction...

Hello, everybody! I've been studying a lot of political philosophy and have combined several elements of various philosophies into one which I think is both reasonable and practical. I'd love to hear constructive criticism, so without further ado: When asked to describe Objectivism whilst...

Premise: It is essential for people to work in ethical careers. For example, it is better to make a living as a nurse, helping to save lives and alleviate pain, than to make a living as a conman, earning money by knowingly deceiving others. If we know a career to be a "scam", we can deduce...

I've been increasingly ill for the past year and a half and I've travelled to a major medical center hoping to finally get a diagnosis. A neurologist has just diagnosed me with psychogenic seizures. "Psychogenic" means that there is no organic or physical cause for my symptoms, that instead my...

Hi everyone, My husband and I looking to start up a blog focusing on skepticism and ethics. There doesn't seem to be much (non-academic) discussion on ethics in skepticism, or how critical thinking and reason might be used in making moral/ethical decisions. Since there have been at least a...

This is a thought I came up with, but I'd be surprised if no one else has come up with it in the past. So I apologize if I'm passing off something old as something new. Premises: -Humans can be thought of as carbon based machines (in that with adequate resources and knowledge a human could be...

Hi folks, I have a pretty urgent question: I work for an online-agency and my boss, who is also a friend, is a firm believer in homeopathy, as are more than half of my colleagues (especially the two younger ladies, they are almost militant about it). I was recently assigned to contributing...

What's the more ethical profession? Becoming a prostitute or becoming a soldier? ETA: To add some context: an acquaintance thinks that prostitution is an immoral way to make money. I then noted that joining the military is too because both prostitutes and soldiers sell their bodies.

Why do theists and deists think that belief in god is a virtue? I have discussed this with some family members who still believe, but haven't received an adequate answer. This forum may not be the best place to ask this question. It appears that most members are atheists or agnostics. But there...

I heard of this kind of gene-therapy proposal which would consist of a patch of some sort attached to a person's skin which would deliver genes to cells in the body. Anybody heard of this?

This is not a poll so no Planet X option. So here is the question; should a person's morality be judged by their actions, thoughts or inaction? Here is the scenario: A Mother beats her child every day(use whatever threshold for excessive you want) for being naughty but mom believes this is...

So, I was grocery shopping today and in front of the store was a table with kids and minders asking for donations for a local Christian Church funded Homeless Shelter. Now, normally I refuse to donate to any organization that promotes things that I believe are harmful especially religion. If a...

If you could take a pill* that makes you 5-10% smarter than your former self, would you? What if it made you 25%-50% more intelligent? What if we could "restore" mentally handicapped people to average levels of intelligence (perhaps without affecting personality and demeanor directly?) Are...

Our health minister (in Québec - that's up here in Canada) has decided to make the prenatal test for trisomy 21 (amniocentesis) free for all pregnant women. linky It already was available for free for women considered at risk - pregnancy over 35 yo. If you were not, according to this criteria...

According to a report on CBS, a graduate student is selling her virginity to pay for her tuition. Link What do you guys think of this? Is this another evolution for making tuition money? What I mean is that I know some girls at my university who are strippers and make a good chunk of money to...

After some thought, I've come to the conclusion that the golden rule (or ethic of reciprocity) falls into the category of egoist ethics. Here's how: Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. The last part is the most important: As you would have them do unto you. This...

Why is homicide bad? After all, people die all the time for natural reasons, rich and poor, old and young. We do not blame the Universe, Mother Nature to be bad for this. It may be said that homicide is man-made, while natural death it is not. But this may be a weak argument, moreover, many...

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/09/12/pope.france.secular.ap/index.html OK, how many times we saw this sort of argument? Can he back it? I say no. Not to mention that I fail to see religion creating a "basic ethical consensus within society". I think nowadays religion has a great...

An interesting question arose on a blog I was reading regarding a pharmacist not dispensing birth control because of their religious beliefs. The blogger said: "How about as an atheist or non christian your caregiver declines to contact your priest for last rites because it doesn’t jive with...

As many of you know, I am a Christian. I post on many atheist and sceptic sites, and often discover Christian posters who arrive, post a few Bible verses and depart. On one such forum I became immensely bored by my co-religionists seeming to believe that morality was dependent upon theism. Not...

I just got a note in my email. It reads (-ish): Something like that, anyway. The publisher is Nova Science Publishers, and the correspondant is the Editor-in-Chief, who seems to be involved in a hell of a lot of different fields. But in light of the recent revelations (q.v elsewhere) on...

The following is a brief excerpt of an exchange between me and thaiboxerken on the relationship between religions belief and personal views. If that were true there would be no branching of religious sects, no alternate interpretations, or evolution of religions over time. People don't...

I recently came across a gambling comunist who said that he believes that players counting cards in not unethical, but dealers counting cards are. For those not familiar with the practice, in the game known as 21 (or blackjack) a skillful player can keep track of the cards previously played...

I had to think about this quite seriously yesterday and today as one of my cats, Breamy, had a blocked urinary tract earlier in the week. I took him to the ER (for pets, yes NYC has everything) and just brought him home Thursday night. He immediately had trouble peeing again and also had a...

[CENTER]Other People's Mothers The utilitarian horrors of Peter Singer by Peter Berkowitz The NewRepublicJANUARY 10, 2000, pp. 27-37 [LEFT]

As a child I believed that morality could only come from religion. I was an atheist and absolutely confident that god was a lie, and it really worried me that my moral beliefs were therefore totally baseless (as I thought). I used to wonder whether I might some day "wake up" from my irrational...