Science

Should Facebook suggest posts about the dead on your News Feed? In her article for The Atlantic, Shirley Li wrote about her experience with Facebook suggesting she like a page that was … Continue reading "The Dead on Facebook"

Although the American news coverage has dropped off significantly, the death toll in the Ebola epidemic in West Africa continues to rise. It is currently approaching 10,000 victims, and 6/10 … Continue reading "Ebola in the News"

Should anyone be forced to receive medical treatment they do not want? In September, a 17-year-old in Connecticut was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The girl, Cassandra C., told her mother … Continue reading "Minors and Unwanted Medical Treatment"

Death with dignity is increasingly becoming a prominent social issue. In November, 29-year-old Brittany Maynard decided to end her life after receiving a prognosis of six months to live after … Continue reading "Dying with Dignity"

In the news since 2010, the ethical dilemma of Jesse Shipley’s brain has reached headlines once again.  The Shipley family discovered their son’s missing organ after a high school field … Continue reading "Buried Without A Brain: Should Shipley’s Family Have Been Informed?"

Shopping hangovers are just as real of a threat at this time of year as the drinking ones. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just behind us (but Christmas still … Continue reading "Consumerism, Capitalism, and Personal Identity"

Hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform. Hypocrites are usually disliked and seen as lacking moral fiber. Many … Continue reading "Hypocrisy: The Universal Trait of Mankind"

This post originally appeared on December 4, 2014. When I was 8, I started ballet. I was a disciplined kid who took everything seriously, and dance quickly became a great passion … Continue reading "Is Envy Always Malicious? (Part Two)"

The other day I picked up an article from The Wall Street Journal that caught my attention for many reasons. I have always personally struggled with the concept of genetic … Continue reading "Genetic Testing: A Right Not to Know"

When someone is being recorded, one is more aware of their actions; this applies to even police officers. With many cases of police brutality occurring throughout America, from Ferguson to … Continue reading "Technology and Police Brutality"

This post originally appeared on November 18, 2014 Imagine you check your email and find a congratulatory message from your boss announcing that your colleague has just been promoted. This … Continue reading "Is Envy Always Malicious? (Part One)"

Dr. Sharon Crary, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at DePauw, has studied Ebola virus extensively and was part of the Center for Disease Control’s response team during the Ebola outbreak … Continue reading "Dr. Sharon Crary on the Ebola Outbreak"

Back when Microsoft Windows XP and Intel’s Pentium 4 Processor were technology du jour, not much was known about the origins of the raw minerals integral to the technology we … Continue reading "Look Inside: The Moral Implications of Personal Choice"

On Monday, President Obama announced that “a free and open Internet was as critical to Americans’ lives as electricity and telephone service” and should be regulated as such. This approach, called … Continue reading "A Free and Open Internet"

Apple’s new iWatch, expected to hit markets early in 2015, advances time keeping to a whole new level. Not only does the iWatch keep accurate global time, automatically adjusting to … Continue reading "WARNING: Technological Invasion"

One would certainly hope that, as far as environmental regulation goes, we are better off than we were fifty years ago. We would hope that novels like Rachel Carson’s ground-shifting Silent … Continue reading "Politicizing a Tragedy, 30 Years after Bhopal"

As the outbreak of Ebola enters its seventh month, the ethical dilemmas facing the world continue to increase. While the issue of experimental treatments remains unresolved (see my previous post … Continue reading "The Ethics of an Epidemic"

Government surveillance is a political hot topic, and Twitter has now taken its stand on it. The company has decided to sue the U.S. Government about a law that does … Continue reading "Twitter, Transparency, and National Security"

Last week we published the abstract of Erik Wielenberg’s new book, Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism. In this guest post, Wielenberg, Professor of Philosophy at DePauw … Continue reading "Can moral laws exist without God? A brief introduction to “Robust Ethics”"

Over the past two weeks, reports of a Liberian man with Ebola being treated in Dallas have captivated our public discourse. Some worry that this may be a “Patient Zero” … Continue reading "Ebola: No Longer a Microscopic Problem"