Modern Culture & Ethics
Principles, Problems, and Questions
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What are ethics? What is morality? How can one behave in a moral manner? These are among the most difficult and most interesting questions which face people of any age. Today, however, with advancing technology, difficult moral situations come upon us faster than we can even create the questions, much less find the answers. This FAQ will address both general issues and specific questions in the area of moral philosophy.
-->Affirmative Action
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. Who is right? Is Affirmative Action unethical and unjust or not? Review some of the most common arguments against Affirmative Action and an evaluation of how successful they are.Baths for Baptisms: Bribing Soldiers
An Army chaplain in Iraq has used a supply of clean water to bribe soldiers into being baptized. Soldiers interested in a bath must attend an hour-and-a-half sermos and receive a baptism which involves an hour of quoting from the Bible. Is this moral? Is it constitutional? Does it reflect Christian charity and ethics?Copyrights & Copywrongs: Ethical Considerations
Copyrights exist so that a person who creates a new work can derive some profit from it. After a period of time, the rights to the work are supposed to go to the public so that everyone can benefit from it and to encourage people to produce new works. Have current laws undermined this relationship?Homosexuality & Libel
It is possible to falsely accuse people of things like pedophilia or theft and be found guilty of slander or libel. According to the law, you aren't permitted "defame" someone by claiming without basis that they do or have done something generally considered repugnant or illegal - especially when those accusations can damage a person's reputation.Keeping Armageddon Secret
Would you want to be informed about an approaching cataclysmic event, like an asteroid or comet, even if nothing could be done about it? Or would you rather be kept in the dark? Would you want everyone else to know, too?Mercy vs. Justice: A Clash of Virtues
True virtues are not supposed to conflict - but mercy and justice apparently do. Both are certainly virtues, but both also typically demand differents sorts of actions. How do we navigate our way between the different obligations while remaining true to ourselves and truly moral?Public Research, Private Profits
The American public finances a great deal of scientific research through tax dollars - but then private companies and universities claim patents over those technologies and charge the public in order to use the fruits of the public research. Is this ethical?Reality TV - Should We Watch?
Media both in America and around the world seem to have "discovered" that so-called "reality" shows are very profitable, resulting in a growing string of such shows in recent years. Although not all are successful, many do achieve significant popularity and cultural prominence. That does not mean, however, that they are good for society or that they should be aired.RFID Tags: The End of Privacy?
Imagine this: you walk into a local store and within seconds the people on duty know your pants size (and how much it fluctuates), that you prefer chocolate ice cream, that you buy a new tube of hemorrhoid cream every three months or so, which stores you usually shop in, your credit rating, and the number of miles currently on all four of your tires - and that's just for starters. Science fiction? No, science fact: the technology is already here. It's just a matter of deploying it.Sexual Autonomy
Prostitution has long been called the oldest profession in the world, and there is probably good justification for that. It seems likely that humans have always traded whatever they had in exchange for something they needed - and the one thing that a human always has is his or her own body. Everyone trades something about their body for the necessities of living, so why not sexual activity as well?Why Be Civil?
Incivility and rudeness are common in society - and even more common on the internet. Some are disturbed by this but many others don't seem to care - or even believe that honest rudeness is preferable. It is arguable, however, that civility is very much an ethical issue and that we have a moral obligation to exhibit some basic civility towards others.
