If liberty is so fundamentally important to libertarians, then they should readily support means of achieving and maintaining it. Taking it as a given that libertarians care about liberty as a primary sociopolitical value and aren’t going to change their minds about that, should they include public education amongst these means? Dr. Cullison has argued that … Continue reading "Education and a Free Society: A Libertarian Perspective (Part One)"

As if the Religious Freedom Restoration Act wasn’t controversial enough, Indiana is the setting for another story that hits right at the heart of social policy debates that have come to grip American politics. Purvi Patel,  from Mishawaka, IN, has just been charged with feticide and neglect of a dependent. She is the first person to be … Continue reading "Indiana Controversies Continue: New Developments in the Abortion Debate"

The Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act has put Indiana in the national spotlight. People on both sides feel that there has been an affront to deeply held personal convictions. Some believe that the legislation provides a “license to discriminate,” especially against members of the LGBTQ community, while supporters argue that the legislation protects everyone’s religious … Continue reading "Prindle to Host Discussion on Religious Freedom Bill"

This post draws on my experience from co-leading the Prindle Institute’s Alternative Spring Break trip to Nashville, TN focused on food ethics and justice on March 22-28, 2015. Food justice is an issue that many of us are indirectly exposed to at an early age. We’re taught, often through religious education but also in other … Continue reading "Progress, paradox, and the food justice movement"

The Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics is proud to announce that Christopher Hager will be the 2015-2016 Nancy Schaenen Endowed Visiting Scholar of Ethics. Dr. Hager received his bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University. Currently he is Associate Professor of English at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he teaches … Continue reading "Frederick Douglass Prize Winner will be the 2015-2016 Schaenen Scholar"

State Senate Bill 101, recently signed into law by Indiana Governor Mike Pence, has not just Indiana, but the entire nation up in arms. Also known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, it proposes to equally protect everyone’s religious beliefs. Supporters have compared it to a bill that grounded a ruling which allowed a Muslim … Continue reading "Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act"

Crystal sells itself as the best thing to happen to email since spell-check. You should communicate with empathy, and the way you communicate with empathy is trying to understand what the other person you are communicating with is like. Crystal, an email extension for Chrome and Gmail, tries to help users do this by data-mining … Continue reading "Crystal Mess? – New Email App Predicts Personality of Recipients"

This message was posted on Twitter recently by a prominent member of the media: “The Obama Administration is the greatest enemy of press freedom in a generation.” Another tweet from this source read, “I plan to spend the rest of my life fighting to undo the damage done to press freedom in the United States … Continue reading "Obama seen as ‘enemy’ to press freedom"

Are we entitled to trust our moral judgments over the judgment of others? That is the central question taken up in this article by Ben Sherman, a philosophy professor at Boston University. Sarah McGrath, philosophy professor at Princeton University, argues that we should be very worried about moral disagreement. Sherman examines McGrath’s argument, and then … Continue reading "What Should You Do in the Face of Moral Disagreement?"

The new Steve Jobs bio says Disney CEO kept Jobs’ cancer remission a secret, which he learned about just an hour before Disney announced its acquisition of Pixar. The deal made Steve Jobs the largest shareholder, and gave him a seat on the board. At first, one might think this is no big deal. Jobs … Continue reading "Disney CEO kept Steve Jobs Cancer Secret"

A judge recently ruled that gamblers need to return the $1.5 million they won at a casino from games that used unshuffled decks. The gamblers are appealing and asking a judge to let them keep their winnings. It raises an interesting question as to whether a casino is entitled to a refund of winnings if … Continue reading "Who Should Get The Winnings in a Casino Error?"

DePauw is well known for its many off-campus classes, faculty-led excursions, and high rates of students who study abroad. Whether DePauw students choose to stay on campus or venture off campus through the many opportunities afforded them, many learn to view the world around them with a critical and questioning eye. The entries to Art … Continue reading "Art of Awareness 2015 Winning Photos"

A while ago I was about to embark in a long air travel and wanted something to read. I was in a town with one of those increasingly rare old-fashioned independent bookstores. So I felt a certain thrill when I decided to go in and buy a physical book, like in the good old days. … Continue reading "The Value of Suffering"

As DePauw students, success is the light at the end of the tunnel of exams, papers and countless hours in Roy O. West. From the moment we step foot on campus, we begin pondering our personal trajectories. We explore different areas of study, choose a major, fulfill internships and, by senior year, we are expected … Continue reading "A Pursuit of Passion: Questioning the Post-Grad Trajectory"

While 2013 was declared the “Year of the Trigger Warning,” it is important to revisit the idea of adding trigger warnings to course syllabi and discussions. Some universities have gone as far as to require faculty to warn students of any topic that might “challenge their thinking.” The question of when it is ethical to … Continue reading "“Insert Trigger Warning Here” Ethics"

Though overwhelmingly panned in reviews (a critic from The Observer called it “utter nonsense”), Jupiter Rising was a remarkably thought-provoking film. For all of its excess, it raised some good ethical questions.

The film “India’s Daughter” has stirred up controversy worldwide over the past few days. The film details the brutal gang rape of 23-year-old Jyoti Singh, a medical student, on a bus in Delhi in 2012. Rape and misogyny has been a huge problem in India; misogyny is part of the culture. One journalist gives the … Continue reading "Banning “India’s Daughter”"

The science fair is a common part of the elementary and middle school education; students create a project, like a baking soda and vinegar volcano, and present it with a poster at the school with dozens of other students. In theory, it is a competition amongst students to see who produced the best experiment and … Continue reading "The Fairness of Science Fairs"

Caroline is a junior intern from Glencoe, Illinois. She studies Pyschology at DePauw and is a member of the varsity women’s soccer team. Tell us about an ethics/social justice issue that is particularly important to you. Ethics in athletics and competition is of great importance and interest to me. As a college athlete, I have learned … Continue reading "Prindle Intern Spotlight: Caroline Zadina"

Breast cancer and the push for finding “the cure” for cancer are not new. We race for the cure, walk for the cure, bike for the cure, and do just about anything you can think of to raise money to fund cancer research; the one way society as a whole works to combat this disease. … Continue reading "The Ethics of a “One-Cure” Solution"

Fur has been a popular luxury product for centuries that presents an ethical dilemma. All furs were once the skin of a living animal; therefore, animal rights activists and many other people say that it is unethical to wear fur since an animal must die in order for the fur to be used. However, despite … Continue reading "Could Fur Be Ethical?"

“Many of the ensuing problems call for solutions that cannot wait for the world to agree on a universal right to move, some of them of an ethical nature.” This quote is taken from an article by Florian Coulmas which discusses “The Ethics of Language Choice in Immigration,” and sheds light onto a topic that … Continue reading "Language Ethics and Government Accountability"

The social media world is a crazy world, indeed, sparking firestorms over petty things, such as the color of some dress in Scotland. Most social media postings connect people to ideas, news, fun and each other. There is, however, a dark and demented corner of social media where posters threaten and scare individuals. This leaves … Continue reading "Threats on Social Media are Still Threats"

DePauw is reaching the end of its annual three-week-long “Energy Wars:” a competition between the major housing buildings on campus to reduce the amount of electricity and water that students use in their day-to-day lives. In 2010, DePauw students made the largest reduction in energy out of all of the nearly 40 campuses that participated, … Continue reading "Do you have a moral responsibility to “Go Green”?"