Guide to Ethics & Morality
Principles, Problems, and Questions
Very often, the best way to learn how to reason through ethical dilemmas is by doing it - it's not a skill that can be completely taught in the abstract. You do need to understand the different types of ethical systems and how they work, but once that is complete you simply have to work through various ideas and positions to see what is logical and what isn't. Here you will find a large number of articles which exemplify how one can reason through ethical problems from a secular, atheistic, and humanistic perspective.
Affirmative Action & Ethics
Affirmative Action is a moral and political question which seems to divide Americans more
than it unites them. On the one side are those who regard it as a type of program designed
to rectify racism and reverse the effects of both past and present discrimination; on the
other side are those who simply see it as another form of discrimination, giving one group
extra advantages based upon nothing but their skin color.
Highlights:
• What is Affirmative Action?
• Isn't Racial Discrimination Illegal?
• Are Racial Disparity & Discrimination Still a Problem?
• Is Affirmative Action Unjust?
Ethics of Gay Marriage
More and more it is looking like legal marriage between members of the same sex may become a
reality - but if so, it won't occur without a great deal of difficult social, political, and legal
fighting. Those who oppose gay marriage do so with a vehemence: it's not simply that they would
rather not see it exist, but rather that they regard it as perhaps the greatest moral and social
evil to occur since the legalization of abortion. What are their arguments?
Highlights:
• Gay Couples are Unnatural
• Marriage is Sacred and a Sacrament
• The Institution of Marriage Will Be Undermined
• Marriage is for Raising Children
Issues in Bioethics
Today, with advancing technology, difficult moral situations come upon us faster than
we can even create the questions, much less find the answers. This guide includes selected
essays that address both general issues and specific questions in the area of moral philosophy
as it relates to biology and medicine.
Highlights:
• Pregnancy, Abortion, and the Fetus
• Questions of Life and Death
• Drugs and Medical Treatment
Modern Culture & Ethics
Important questions regarding ethics, morality and social behavior as they relate to issues
raised in modern culture - for example reality television, prostitution, copyrights, and more.
Highlights:
• Reality TV - Should We Watch?
• Copyrights & Copywrongs
• Homosexuality & Libel
• Keeping Armageddon Secret
Ethics of Privacy and Personal Autonomy
Many, if not most, people are concerned about the extent of their privacy and the limits of
their personal autonomy. Both the government and large corporations show many signs about
wanting to restrict both - either for our own good or for their own good. These are certainly
political issues, but they are also ethical issues because they involve serious social
consequences, raise questions about the nature of our duty to one another, and impact social
relationships generally.
Highlights:
• Pregnancy & Privacy
• Brain Privacy
• Sexual Autonomy
• RFID Tags: The End of Privacy?
War and Morality
If war is so awful, why do people continue to allow it to happen? Why don't we simply eliminate
it? Curiously, some people actually seem to like war. Armed combat is glorified in song and
story, with many throughout history praising "martial values" for making us better, stronger,
and more worthwhile human beings (even as we kill other human beings).
Highlights:
• Do Morality and War Mix?
• What is Pacifism?
• Defending War
• Defending Peace
Biographies
Below are links to biographies of philosophers who have played an important role in the development of ethical philosophy through the centuries.
-->Aristotle
Bentham, Jeremy
Camus, Albert
Clifford, William K.
Dewey, John
Hook, Sidney
Kant, Immanuel
Kierkegaard, Soren
Machiavelli, Niccolo
Milgram, Stanley
Mill, John Stuart
Moore, G.E,
Nagel, Ernest
Nietzsche, Friedrich
Plato
Rawls, John
Russell, Bertrand
Sartre, Jean-Paul
Schopenhauer, Arthur
Socrates
