Clipmarks | Johanna_G's 'ethics' clips

Moral Philosopher Questions Memory Manipulation

Thu, 01 May 2008 18:07:32 GMT

clipped by: Mohir
clipper's remarks: Hurley says while the real threat of developing PTSD might be a good enough reason to use beta-blockers as a preventative measure, she also wants policy makers to consider the ramifications of what such a treatment may mean to a person’s moral well-being. “Beta-blockers do not cause amnesia. Rather they make memories less vivid, detailed and arousing,” explains Hurley, who specializes in bioethics. “They lessen the emotional impact when someone is recalling upsetting events.”

Clip Source: www.sciencedaily.com

Is medicated memory manipulation ethically sound? And perhaps more importantly, who should be charged with the decision to deliver such a treatment: patient or physician?

In the Academy Award-winning film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a fictional, non-surgical procedure called ‘targeted memory erasure’ is used to delete painful memories the afflicted wish to forget – permanently.

And while the story’s science-fiction based concept earned the movie an Oscar for best original screenplay, real-life scientists are conducting clinical trials today using beta-blockers – drugs traditionally used for varying heart conditions – for manipulating the memories of people, who may go on to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Hurley says while the real threat of developing PTSD might be a good enough reason to use beta-blockers as a preventative measure, she also wants policy makers to consider the ramifications of what such a treatment may mean to a person’s moral well-being.

Tags: memory, morality, ethics

Pro-China and pro-Tibetan demonstrations in Munich, Germany

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:22:24 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: hk.youtube.com

[Video]

Protest in Silence against Biased German Media

In protest of German media's intensive biased and distorted reports on the recent Tibet riots, around 120 Chinese people working and studying in southern Germany held a peaceful demonstration in Munich on Saturday, March 29.

The protest is conducted in complete silence to send out a clear message: "German media can muzzle our voice, but can't smother the truth!"

With this protest, the Chinese protesters aim to urge the German media to abide by basic media ethics, to stop biased and distorted reports on the Tibet issue, and to avoid similar misconduct in the future.

Clip Source: hk.youtube.com

[Video]

Thousands Attend Munich's Tibetan Freedom Torch Relay

And over in Munich, Germany, another group is protesting the Beijing Olympics with their own torch run as well. This group--mostly Tibetan exiles--is saying the Chinese regime has broken its promises to improve human rights and freedom of the press.

More than 2000 thousand exiled Tibetans and German supporters are gathered

Tags: tibet, china, olympic games, tibetan freedom, freedom of the media, biased media

P. C. Roberts: What do we stand for?

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 00:15:16 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: onlinejournal.com

Americans traditionally thought of their country as a "city upon a hill," a "light unto the world." Today only the deluded think that. Polls show that the rest of the world regards the US and Israel as the two greatest threats to peace.

This is not surprising. In the words of Arthur Silber: "The Bush administration has announced to the world, and to all Americans, that this is what the United States now stands for: a vicious determination to dominate the world, criminal, genocidal wars of aggression, torture, and an increasingly brutal and brutalizing authoritarian state at home. That is what we stand for."

Addressing his fellow Americans, Silber asks the paramount question, "Why do you support [these horrors]?"

How can a moral conscience be reconciled with our continuing to tolerate our government which has invaded two countries on the basis of lies and deception, destroyed their civilian infrastructures and murdered hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children?

Tags: usa, values, ethics

Pope says some science shatters human dignity

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 12:03:50 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Thursday that embryonic stem cell research, artificial insemination and the prospect of human cloning had "shattered" human dignity.

In an address to members of the Vatican department on doctrinal matters, Benedict said the Church had a duty to defend the "great values at stake" in the field of bioethics.

he speech was the latest in a series in which the conservative Pope has told his listeners that scientific progress should not be accepted uncritically.

Benedict, who headed the same department for years before his election in 2005, said the Church was not against scientific progress but wanted it based on "ethical-moral principles."

He said this included total respect for the human being as a person "from conception until natural death," and respect for the natural transmission of life through sexual intercourse.

Tags: pope, cloning, stem cells, ethics

Why "Islamic terrorism" is more insulting that we realize

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 06:32:39 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Juan Cole: Islamic means from the religion. Muslim describes the believer.

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

“Islamic” has to do with the religion founded by the prophet Mohammed. We speak of Islamic ethics or Islamic art, as things that derive from the religion. “Muslim,” on the contrary, describes the believer. It would be perfectly all right to talk about Muslim terrorists, but calling them Islamic terrorists or Islamic fascists implies that the religion of Islam is somehow essentially connected to those extremist movements.

Giuliani complained that during their debates, Democratic rivals “never mentioned the word ‘Islamic terrorist,’

But people are not “Islamic,” they are Muslim. And one most certainly does insult Muslims by tying their religion to movements such as terrorism or fascism. Muslims perceive a double standard in this regard: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols would never be called “Christian terrorists” even though they were in close contact with the Christian Identity Movement.

Muslims point out that persons of Christian heritage invented fascism, not Muslims

Tags: muslim, islam, giulani, juan cole

Readings on Reverence for Life

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 20:37:24 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www1.chapman.edu

Readings on Reverence for Life

Marvin Meyer, "Affirming Reverence for Life"

Albert Schweitzer, The Philosophy of Civilization

Albert Schweitzer, Memoirs of Childhood and Youth

Albert Schweitzer, Out of My Life and Thought

Albert Schweitzer, "The Ethics of Reverence for Life"

Kurt Bergel, "Albert Schweitzer's Reverence for Life"

Mike Martin, "Rethinking Reverence for Life"

Ron Huntington, "Jainism and Ethics"

The Sermon on the Mount, translated by Marvin Meyer

Student Essays on Reverence for Life

Gaither Stewart: The seduction of indifference, again and again and again

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 13:05:43 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: onlinejournal.com

Yesterday, I ran into a poem I had read as a student in Germany, written by Luthern Pastor Martin Niemöller, who broke with the Nazis in 1933 and became a symbol of the German resistance. His words prompted me to take a closer look at the complex subject of indifference he speaks of.

“indifference to indifference,” which in my mind is located still another ring deeper in the Dantesque Inferno.

many millions of people display an inexplicable indifference to the reality of the suffering, indifference to war’s uselessness and to its criminal-terroristic nature.

indifference that the strong feel toward the weak.

such indifference is frivolity and knavery and cowardice.

“If we put aside our humanity,” Milosz writes, “we realize that the world is neither good nor bad -- it just is.”

The spark of human life in us differentiates us from nature

From that point of view humanity is also in battle with nature, against its apparent meaninglessness. We humans instead search for meaning.

Tags: indifference, ethics, solidarity, humanity, niemöller

Vegetarians are More Brainy

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 15:47:03 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

THE elite high-IQ group Mensa has more than its fair share of vegetarians.

That might be more than coincidental, according to new research which suggests that people who choose the vegetarian path are smarter than their carnivorous counterparts.

The study, published in the medical journal BMJ, traced 8000 people from birth and found those who became vegetarian by 30 had an IQ five points above the average at the age of 10.

They also tended to be better educated and of higher social class, but even after adjusting for this, they were still more intelligent, the University of Southampton study showed.

"Smart people consider all aspects of their life very, very carefully. People who think about the ethics of killing animals will naturally choose vegetarianism, and variations of that, more often."

But people with high IQs were likely to be thinkers, "and thinkers are probably going to realise the ethical and health-related benefits of not eating meat", she said.

Tags: vegetariansim

The God Effect : Does Thinking of an Omniscient God Promote Altruism?

Sun, 09 Dec 2007 11:50:51 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

God Effect, The

does thinking of an omniscient God actually promote altruism?

Multimedia

Graphic

the so-called “dictator game,” a common way of measuring generosity toward strangers. The game is simple: you’re offered 10 $1 coins and told to take as many as you want and leave the rest for the player in the other room

the “God prime” worked like a charm, leading to fairer splits. Without the God prime, only 12 percent of the participants split the money evenly, but when primed with the religious words, 52 percent did.

In a second study, the researchers had participants unscramble sentences containing words like civic, contract and police — meant to evoke secular moral institutions. This prime also increased generosity. And unlike the religious prime, it did so consistently for both believers and nonbelievers.

Tags: morality, ethics, experiment, study, game theory, god, religion, dictator, psychology, society

Right Speech: the importance of our words

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:41:15 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.thebigview.com

Right speech is the first principle of ethical conduct in the eightfold path

The importance of speech in the context of Buddhist ethics is obvious: words can break or save lives, make enemies or friends, start war or create peace. Buddha explained right speech as follows: 1. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully, 2. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others, 3. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and 4. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth.

Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.

Eightfold Path describes the way to the end of suffering, as it was laid out by Siddhartha Gautama. It is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development with the goal of freeing the individual from attachments and delusions; and it finally leads to understanding the truth about all things.

Tags: noble eightfold path, buddhism, right speech

The Golden Rule

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:36:20 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.religioustolerance.org

Shared belief in the "Golden Rule"
(a/k.a. Ethics of Reciprocity

"Every religion emphasizes human improvement, love, respect for others, sharing other people's suffering. On these lines every religion had more or less the same viewpoint and the same goal." The Dalai Lama

Religious groups differ greatly in their concepts of deity, other beliefs and practices. Non-theistic ethical and philosophic systems, like Humanism and Ethical Culture, also exhibit a wide range of beliefs. But there is near unanimity of opinion among almost all religions, ethical systems and philosophies that each person should treat others in a decent manner. Almost all of these groups have passages in their holy texts, or writings of their leaders, which promote this Ethic of Reciprocity. The most commonly known version in North America is the Golden Rule of Christianity. It is often expressed as "Do onto others as you would wish them do onto you."

Tags: philosophy

Calvin and Hobbes: On the Categorical Imperative (Kant)

Mon, 29 Oct 2007 02:55:26 GMT

clipped by: Johanna_G
clipper's remarks: Kant's term of morality is a term of reason-based duty as opposed to both arbitrary and heteronomy-based obedience. Moral acting is not sheer obeying any (specified) regulations, precepts, commands or instructions. The moral law as a pure practical law is given by reason a priori, and, "if the will is free" and "if there is a God", it dictates "what ought to be done":

I ought never to act except in such a way that I can also will that my maxim should become a universal law.
Act as if the maxim of your action were to become by your will a universal law of nature.
Act as to treat humanity, whether in your own person or in that of any other, in every case as an end in itself, never as means only.
So act as if you were through your maxims a law-making member of a kingdom of ends.

Reference: Kant's Ethical Theory

Clip Source: www.rsrevision.com

Tags: philosophie, philosophy, ethics, ethik, kant, categorical imperative, morality, moral

Religion, Civilisation, Morality: "God's Dubious Ethics" (Robert Misik)

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:18:08 GMT

clipped by: Johanna_G
clipper's remarks: (German version: Religion, Zivilisation, Moral: "Vom Schaden Gottes" (Robert Misik))

Clip Source: www.qantara.de

Those who speak for religious groups are convinced that a society without religious values experiences a decline in social morality. Robert Misik does not agree

When Man banishes God from the centre of his life, both culture and civilisation are damaged – that, at least, is the view recently expressed by the Catholic Caliph, the Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Joachim Meisner. He was only putting into words what the faithful mainstream already thinks:

If Man is not aware of a God above him, he makes himself into the measure of all things. And when that happens, as Joseph Ratzinger put it, "Tyranny becomes increasingly the reigning principle, and Man decays."

One does not need a God to commit mass murder. But when one imagines that God requires it, it makes mass murder easier.

All the same, the conviction remains that religious people tend to live a moral life.

The Meisners of this world believe that people only behave morally because they hope for a reward from God or fear his anger.

Tags: religion, civilisation, morality, ethics, values, atheism

Religion, Zivilisation, Moral: "Vom Schaden Gottes" (Robert Misik)

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 22:11:24 GMT

clipped by: Johanna_G
clipper's remarks: (English version: Religion, Civilisation, Morality: "God's Dubious Ethics" (Robert Misik))

Clip Source: www.qantara.de

Religiöse Wortführer sind davon überzeugt, dass eine Gesellschaft ohne religiöse Werte einem sittlichen Werteverfall ausgeliefert sei. Robert Misik ist anderer Meinung.

Wenn der Mensch Gott aus seiner Mitte verbannt, nehme die Kultur und damit die Zivilisation Schaden, erklärte der Kölner Katholenkalif Joachim Meisner unlängst. Damit formuliert er freilich nur, was der gläubige Mainstream denkt: Wenn der Mensch keinen Gott über sich fühlt, macht er sich zum Maß aller Dinge. Dann "herrscht immer mehr die Willkür, verfällt der Mensch", wie es bei Joseph Ratzinger heißt.

Man braucht keinen Gott, um Massenmord zu begehen. Aber wenn man sich einbildet, dass Gott dies von einem wünscht, fällt das Massakrieren leichter.

Dennoch hält sich die fixe Idee, dass gläubige Leute eher ein moralisches Leben führen.

Die Meisners dieser Welt glauben, dass sich Menschen nur moralisch verhalten, weil sie auf Gottes Lohn hoffen oder seinen Zorn fürchten.

Tags: religion, zivilisation, moral, ethik, werte, atheismus

Southern Baptists Seek Laws Making 'Will Of Christ' Supreme

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 12:42:34 GMT

clipped by: Rasmus

Clip Source: www.alternet.org

Religious right leader Richard Land is working to turn America's 16 million Southern Baptists into a disciplined political machine.

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation's largest Protestant denomination whose leadership is a bulwark of far-right fundamentalism, is ratcheting up its political operations.

Apparently the "will of Christ" just happens to dovetail with the policy goals of the far right. According to the ERLC Web site, the unit takes stands on legislation and pushes for the confirmation of Bush court appointees. The issues tackled run the usual Religious Right gamut -- opposing legal abortion, gay rights, hate-crimes laws and stem-cell research and supporting "court-stripping" legislation and other efforts to make it harder to pursue church-state separation claims in federal court.

Southern Baptists, historically, were ardent supporters of church-state separation.

Tags: usa, church and state, southern baptist convention, ethics and religious liberty commission