Author: Ben Davies Category: Social and Political, Ethics Word Count: 999 Some people are multi-billionaires; others die because they are too poor to afford food or medications. In many countries, people are denied rights to free speech, to participate in political life, or to pursue a career, because of their gender, religion, race or other factors, … Continue reading John Rawls’ ‘A Theory of Justice’
Authors: Victor Fabian Abundez-Guerra and Nathan Nobis Categories: Ethics, Historical Philosophy, Philosophy of Race, Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Metaphilosophy Wordcount: 1000 Many historically-influential philosophers had profoundly wrong moral views or behaved very badly. Aristotle thought women were “deformed men” and that some people were slaves “by nature.” Descartes had disturbing views about non-human animals. … Continue reading Responding to Morally Flawed Historical Philosophers and Philosophies
Author: Simone Webb Category: Historical Philosophy, Philosophy of Sex and Gender, Social and Political Philosophy, Ethics, Philosophy of Education Word Count: 978 Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) is established in the popular imagination as the “first feminist,” but another philosopher provided a systematic analysis of women’s subjugated condition and a call for female education nearly a century before … Continue reading Mary Astell’s “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies” (1694)
Author: John Ramsey Categories: Historical Philosophy, Ethics, Chinese Philosophy Word Count: 959 Editor’s Note: This essay is the second in a two-part series authored by John on the topic of Mengzi’s moral psychology. The first essay is here. In the first part on Mengzi’s moral psychology, we explored his claim that all people have four … Continue reading Mengzi’s Moral Psychology, Part 2: The Cultivation Analogy
Author: John Ramsey Categories: Historical Philosophy, Ethics, Chinese Philosophy Word Count: 988 Editor’s Note: This essay is the first in a two-part series authored by John on the topic of Mengzi’s moral psychology. The second essay is here. Mengzi (372–289 BCE), or Mencius,[1] an early Confucian whose thinking is represented in the eponymous Mengzi,[2] argues … Continue reading Mengzi’s Moral Psychology, Part 1: The Four Moral Sprouts
Author: Nathan Nobis Category: Ethics, Philosophy of Education Word count: 995 Grades on assignments and tests are reliable, yet imperfect, indicators of students’ knowledge and understanding of a subject matter. Overall course grades are also often influenced by students’ complying with class procedures: e.g., if attendance and participation are required, then students who rarely attend … Continue reading Ethics and “Extra Credit”
Author: Chelsea Haramia Category: Ethics Word Count: 855 1. What Applied Ethicists Do The modern-day, direct study of applied ethics arguably began with Judith Jarvis Thomson’s 1971 article “A Defense of Abortion.”1 Thomson argued that it is permissible to have an abortion even if the fetus is a person with a right to life. Given that many … Continue reading Applied Ethics
