Society

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 on the topic), new problems have entered onto the stage. Treatment of Ebola in America, the media’s response, and the treatment of health care workers … Continue reading "The Ethics of an Epidemic"

From trick-or-treating to carving silly faces into pumpkins, Halloween was always my favorite holiday as a child. But my joy in dressing up as my favorite super hero and going to haunted houses inevitably diminished once I started college. Halloween’s driving force suddenly transitioned from getting the most candy to getting the most intoxicated, and … Continue reading "What Halloween costume choice says about our ethics"

These days, it seems that everyone is trying to “eat clean.” As I browsed the news this week, I clicked over to the “Healthy Living” page of the Huffington Post and found a myriad of “Eat Clean: Fall Edition” articles like this one about 6 high-fat foods you should be eating, and this one about … Continue reading "Stigmatizing Food Choice to People Without Choices"

Guest post by Anthony Baratta, Sustainability Director at DePauw University.  Check out the Office of Sustainability on Facebook and Twitter. Soulja Boy CDs, broken office chairs, flip phones, jean shorts, used plastic forks, Capital One junk mail, and homemade Christmas gifts from ex-girlfriends. What do these items have in common? No one wants them. Technological … Continue reading "Envisioning Zero Waste at DePauw: Where do flip phones go to die?"

Originally appeared in The Indianapolis Star The dim news for the journalism industry just keeps coming. A recent Gallup news poll shows public trust of the media is at historic lows. Only 40 percent of the public has a measure of trust in the media. This long-term trend indicates trust in the media has dropped 15 … Continue reading "News media must fight back against negative image"

What’s the point of a liberal arts degree? Is asking whether it’s useful even a valid question? Inside Higher Ed spotligthts St. John’s College as a model of a broad education, and how just because it may not provide specific technical knowledge, it can give a depth of meaning and understanding to technical subjects — … Continue reading "Is Your Degree Important?"

You may have heard the term ‘Slacktivism’ thrown around in reference to charitable acts diluted with apathy. ‘Slacktivism’ can take theform of anything from donating small amounts of money to a cause – to participating in ‘voluntourism’ trips and sharing photos of marginalized peoples on social media sites. Nonetheless, such efforts often end up serving one’s ego more … Continue reading "‘Slacktivism:’ The problem with benevolence"

A recent Gallup poll found that 70% of Americans favor using federal money to expand pre-school programs across the country. There were differences along party lines. Only 53% of Republicans favor the expansion, while 87% of Democrats favor the expansion. To some extent, this disparity is unsurprising. Fans of small government typically concede that government … Continue reading "A Libertarian Argument for Public Education"

The Conflict Studies Program, The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics, and the Department of Art and Art History are thrilled to announce an upcoming visit by artists Jon Rubin and Dawn Weleski, and chef Robert Sayre, of Conflict Kitchen. We will welcome them to campus the week immediately following fall break. Public events include: Public … Continue reading "Conflict Kitchen will be hosted Oct. 27-30 by Prindle, Conflict Studies and the Art Department"

That’s right. This post has the word “ain’t” in its title. So what? In a recent interview, Harvard University Professor of Psychology and celebrated writer, Stephen Pinker, explains the “curse of knowledge,” and his perspective that academia has placed too many old-ruled restrictions on how writers should or should not write. Explaining that the word “ain’t,” … Continue reading "Literary Hazing “Ain’t” Ethical"

Fifty years, two months, and one week ago, a US destroyer was attacked (or was it?) by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin, off the coast of North Vietnam. This event marks the beginning of the Vietnam War era and the controversies that would come to surround the conflict. Things only continued to get … Continue reading "History’s (Un)Truths"

Does anyone remember Occupy Wall Street? Hello? Anyone? Well just when you thought they had packed up and gone home, the movement is back and is taking on America’s embedded institutions in a totally different way. The Washington Post recently reported on a story regarding one of the most widely discussed problems in American economics today: the exponential … Continue reading "No Jubilation in For-Profit Education"

Season 4 of the FX television series, “American Horror Story” just premiered this past Wednesday night with their newest season titled, “Freak Show”.  Although I am a huge fan of the AHS series, something about this particular season did not sit right with me. Don’t get me wrong, cinematically,  it looks like it will be … Continue reading "American Horror Story: Freak Show"

Come out to Prindle on Monday, October 13 at 5:30 PM for a dinner and discussion about the ethics of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation occurs when someone from one culture takes or uses something from another culture. What is taken can be a physical artifact, such as when an archaeologist takes an ancient relic and … Continue reading "Cultural Appropriation Dinner & Discussion on Oct.13"

Thanks to the D3TV crew for having me on their news show last night, and thanks for posting the clip of my interview. Here’s the interview. In it, I discuss some goals for the Prindle Institute. I talk about two of our new programs, the Prindle Prize program and the Prindle Post. I also discuss … Continue reading "Director Interview with D3TV"

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 not allow the company to release the number of national security requests for information it receives. The company argues that the government’s restriction of disclosure … 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 University, follows up with a more in-depth discussion of the book and some of the philosophers that have influenced his thinking on moral realism and God’s existence. In … Continue reading "Can moral laws exist without God? A brief introduction to “Robust Ethics”"

By now, every DePauw student has heard of the mobile app Yik Yak, a social media app that lets users post anonymous thoughts and they can only see the “yaks” posted within their area. It was created at a small liberal arts school much like DePauw, with a student population much like DePauw’s, by two college … Continue reading "Yik Yak is okay for Yakkin?"

Guest post by Rich Cameron, Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePauw University Scott Wisor recently wrote a post titled “Why Climate Change Divestment Will Not Work” over at the blog for the journal Ethics & International Affairs (EIA).  The post is quite provocative.  Visit the EIA blog, here, to read it. Wisor presents himself as … Continue reading "Will climate divestment work?"

Decisions towards more ethical governmental process are good, right? The citizens of Tallahassee, Florida certainly think so.  With recent support of the citizens’ Ethics Advisory Panel, created by the City Commission, the city has recently employed its first ethics officer.  This appointment was the result of the panel’s comprehensive report, recommending major changes to the … Continue reading "The Ethics of Enforcing Ethics"