Politics Matthew S.W. Silk | 19 Feb 2020 Meaning in Political Discourse How precise are our meanings and how precise is our usage? We use terms like "social construct" and "socialist," but can intend very different things by them.
Environment Matthew S.W. Silk | 14 Feb 2020 Is It Ethical to Extinguish a Species? What is the proper metric to use in deciding another species' fate? What do we need to know in order to justify extinction?
Owning a Monopoly on Knowledge Production The epistemic impact of Google and Facebook's monopoly on information and communication poses a very real problem. 10 Feb 2020 | Matthew S.W. Silk
The Harms of Reporting Political Insults When even the presentation of facts is non-neutral, how can journalism retain any claim to objectivity? 23 Jan 2020 | Matthew S.W. Silk
DNA Dating A new dating app uses DNA comparison to give users information about potential offspring inheriting a genetic disease. What kind of message are we sending? 13 Jan 2020 | Matthew S.W. Silk
WWIII?: Desensitization, Alarmism, and Anxiety Does wartime humor indicate a numbness to the violence of war or does it simply betray rising anxieties about an uncertain future? 7 Jan 2020 | Matthew S.W. Silk
In Search of an AI Research Code of Conduct The potential for oversight is limited, but a policy of self-policing asks too much. How should we regulate AI research? 17 Dec 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
Life on Mars? Cognitive Biases and the Ethics of Belief Romoser's claims concerning the existence of life on Mars raise questions about the requirements for having justified beliefs. 26 Nov 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
Forbidden Knowledge in Scientific Research Given the profound societal effect that scientific studies can have, are there kinds of research that shouldn't be done or results that shouldn't be published? Can scientific censorship be justified? 13 Nov 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
On the Question of Strategic Voting What are our responsibilities at the ballot box? What does it mean for a vote to be insincere? Do we have an obligation to vote our conscience at the ballot box? 28 Oct 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
Are Green Burials an Ethical Good? Environmental ethics butts up against religious convictions: should climate change realities alter our beliefs about how to honor the dead? 2 Oct 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
The Ethics of Sending Life to the Moon and Beyond The recent SpaceIL mishap prompts reflection on the unregulated nature of space. Why should we be concerned? 20 Sep 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
Disagreements in Ethical Reasoning: Opinion and Inquiry Disagreement about our moral duties and obligations is inevitable. But this does not show that morality is a matter of opinion or that ethics is subjective. 9 Sep 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
The Ethics of Chimeric Research Developing human/non-human embryos for research and organ transplant raises tough questions about the value of human life and the politics of species taxonomy. 22 Aug 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
The Ethics of a Revenue-Neutral Carbon Tax Debate over revenue neutral or non revenue neutral carbon taxes asks whether its is a tool for changing individual financial incentives or funding climate adaptation? What are the ethical implications? What are the political implications? 5 Aug 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
The Ethics of Scientific Advice: Lessons from "Chernobyl" HBO's miniseries offers a new opportunity to revisit an age-old debate: Should we keep value judgments out of science? Can we? 25 Jul 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
Discussing Scientific Consensus on Climate Change Emphasizing consensus can motivate change, but overstating agreement undermines the public's ability to engage in policy debates. How should we proceed? 18 Jul 2019 | Matthew S.W. Silk
