February 2012
9 posts
Off for two weeks
Readers,
Due to an upcoming trip to London, and a range of other personal and professional responsibilities, I will not be able to update this blog over the next two weeks. Look for new posts on Monday, Feb. 27.
In the meantime, please enjoy all of my previous posts, which can be found in the archive.
Cheers,
Michael De Dora
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Judge: whales don't deserve rights
Should the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude in the Unites States, apply to non-human animals such as whales? Not according to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Miller, who earlier this week dismissed a case by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) that alleged five orca whales owned by Sea World in California and Florida were living under involuntary...
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Court strikes down law that banned assisted...
Take a look at this interesting ruling, released earlier this week:
Georgia’s highest court has concluded that a state law restricting assisted suicides violated free speech rights, a ruling that destroyed a long-running criminal case against members of a suicide group and could reshape the state’s end-of-life policy.
The Georgia Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling struck down...
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What's next for Proposition 8?
Yesterday, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that California’s ban on same-sex marriage, under the law Proposition 8, was unconstitutional. Proponents of the measure have vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court (though they first need to request the court that issued the decision to reconsider its ruling). But will the Supreme Court accept the case?
On Talking Points Memo, a couple...
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Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has just ruled that California’s ban on same-sex marriage, under the law Proposition 8, is unconstitutional. Judge Stephen Reinhardt wrote in the court’s 2-1 decision that:
“Although the Constitution permits communities to enact most laws they believe to be desirable, it requires that there be at least a legitimate reason for the passage of a law...
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Is being gay a choice?
That’s the controversial question author Nathaniel Frank takes up in his latest article on The Huffington Post:
When Cynthia Nixon, who became famous for her role on Sex and the City, recently told The New York Times that being a lesbian was, for her, “a choice,” her words lit up the LGBT listservs, angering many who believe that Nixon is giving comfort to the enemy. Those who...
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EU targets immoral bank bonuses
The European Union (EU) might soon consider tougher measures on banker bonuses that go against “all reason, common sense and morality,” according to EU financial services commissioner Michel Barnier. From Bloomberg:
Barnier, who’s responsible for proposing laws that govern banks across the 27-nation EU, warned that he’ll seek extra legislation by the end of this year if lenders “carry...
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An interview on disgust
Recently the Purdue University newspaper The Exponent sat down with a philosophy professor there, Daniel Kelly, for a brief interview on his forthcoming book “Yuck! The Nature and Moral Significance of Disgust.” I’d not previously heard of Kelly’s work, but it looks interesting. Take a look:
1) How did you become interested in the topic of disgust?
Part of what got me...
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The end of factory farming?
Should the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlaws slavery and involuntary servitude in the Unites States, apply to non-human animals? That’s the question raised by a new lawsuit filed by People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals, which alleges that five orca whales owned by Sea World in California and Florida are living under involuntary servitude.
Many people have dismissed this case as...
January 2012
21 posts
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In defense of philosophy
On Friday I re-posted on this blog an entry I had previously written for the blog Rationally Speaking, titled “Considering Some Objections to Philosophy.” The central purpose of my article was to clear up four major misconceptions about the usefulness and effectiveness of philosophy.
Coincidentally, it turns out the New York Times on Thursday published a similar essay by philosopher...
Case of the Mondays ...
That’s what I’ve got today. Look for new posts tomorrow.
See you then,
Michael.
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Considering some objections to philosophy
By Michael De Dora
I am a student of political philosophy, and more specifically a person interested in the intersection of political and moral life. This has placed me in the middle of numerous conversations about the nature of politics and morality. But it has also forced me into discussions on why I care about such subjects at all. Indeed, people often tell me that my interest in...
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"You have been convicted by two juries of your...
Unfortunately I don’t have the time right now to discuss this in any more depth, but check out this interesting new article by Richard Dawkins:
Shouldn’t the decision to execute somebody, or imprison them for life, be taken seriously enough to warrant a repeat of the experiment? I’m not talking about a retrial. Nor an appeal, although that of course is desirable, and happens when there is...
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Are babies moral or amoral?
Are humans born as “blank slates”? Are babies amoral animals who depend on parents, friends, and society to learn how to be civilized agents?
This is the view held by many, but modern science has refuted it convincingly — or so says Yale University psychologist Paul Bloom. For an in-depth look at Bloom’s thoughts, check out this essay in the New York Times.
A growing...
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A primer on secular ethics
This past weekend I was searching through old articles on the Council for Secular Humanism’s web site when I came across an excellent essay by philosopher Paul Kurtz that provides a brief yet sound outline of secular ethics. I’ve rarely posted here in defense of secular ethics broadly — I guess I’ve taken their acceptance among my readers as a given — so if...
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Considering the consequences
By Michael De Dora
I have never thought much of consequentialism, the moral theory which asserts that determining “the good” or “the moral” is a matter of measuring outcomes. Decisions about what is moral, consequentialists say, should depend on the potential or realized costs and benefits of a moral belief or action. There are myriad problems with this line of thought, and while I have...
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Michael Sandel's forthcoming book
Harvard University political philosopher Michael Sandel has authored several of my favorite books, including Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics, and most recently, Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?
Sandel is now back with a new book, titled What Money Can’t Buy: the Moral Limits of Markets. From Amazon:
Should we pay children to read books or to get good grades?...
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Why don't we all give 10 percent?
As you might already know, many religions require adherents to donate a fixed portion their yearly income, usually 10 percent, to the religious organization to which they belong. Much of that money goes toward funding explicitly religious services, but some does go toward charities that are doing good work.
Which raises the question: one need not believe in the supernatural to help others, so why...
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A less radical Saudi morality police?
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah last week replaced the hard-line leader of the country’s morality police with a less radical Muslim cleric who believes that Islamic law does not require a ban on the mixing of men and women, or on women from doing certain jobs in Saudi society.
The appointment of Sheik Abdulatif al-Sheikh to the Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention...
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Where conservatives differ on morality
While the leading Republican presidential candidates agree on many moral questions — from the divine foundation of ethics to the rejection of reproductive rights and marriage equality — new research suggests that the candidates differ when it comes to the focus their moral concerns.
According to the University of Southern California-run web site Election 2012, USC psychology professor...
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Why we should legalize marijuana
The debate on how much power the government should have over controlling what its citizens eat, drink, and smoke is a tense one, to say the least. I have previously argued that the government should be concerned with what its citizens ingest, as a matter of protecting public health of both the consumer and those around him or her. But it’s a more complex situation that many people make it....
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Women battle "morality police" in Egypt
A vigilante group of ultra-conservative Salafi Muslim men in Egypt has been harassing women’s clothing shop owners, barbers, and their customers in rural towns around the country for selling “indecent” clothing and shaving Muslim men’s beards, according to the news outlet Bikya Masar. The so-called “Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice,”...
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Record attacks on repro rights in 2011
State lawmakers set a record in 2011 for the most anti-reproductive rights provisions enacted in a single year, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute.
Legislators introduced more than 1,100 provisions in 2011, and enacted 135 of them. To help put this in perspective, 89 such provisions were enacted in 2010, 77 in 2009, and only 34 in 2005.
As detailed by Laura Bassett on the...
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What moral decline?
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, like many other social conservatives, often argues that the United States is in the midst of a “moral decline.” According to Santorum:
Faith and family are under attack. “Moral relativism,” he warns, is breeding “aberrant behavior.” Gay rights advocates are bent on “secularization.” Liberals have...
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Freedom of belief v. academic freedom
Should Christians be exempted from basic educational and professional standards because of their deeply held religious beliefs? That’s the question taken up in a recent article by David Moshman, professor of educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Moshman’s article is in response to the recent case federal circuit court ruling in Keeton v. Anderson-Wiley. That...
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Molecule-based morality
Neuroeconomist (yes, that’s a field of study) Paul Zak has been getting a lot of attention recently for his just-released TED talk, titled “Trust, morality, and oxytocin.” While you can watch the 16-minute lecture here, CNN has now published a short article by Zak that might be easier for you to digest. Here’s the intro:
The longest debate since humans have been having...
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Good government promotes goodness
Many people think that moral beliefs and values cannot or should not be promoted or discredited by the government. Yet Anthony Sheldon, writing in The Guardian, argues that this notion is mistaken. In Sheldon’s view:
Government is nothing if it is not asserting moral imperatives and if it is not trying to act in a moral way – even if some of its lieutenants will fall short of the...
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A degree in animal studies
The New York Times reported yesterday that the latest burgeoning field of academic focus is something called “animal studies.” What, you might ask, is animal studies?
The courses are part of the growing, but still undefined, field of animal studies. So far, according to Marc Bekoff, an emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Colorado, the field...
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In praise of idleness
I, hopefully like you, spent most of my holiday break relaxed, with my laptop closed, in the company of family and friends. We recalled great stories, watched quality television (the Twilight Zone marathon), and consumed delicious food and drink.
However, as is typical when I am away from work, I could not shake the nagging feeling that I was spending too much time on leisurely pursuits. This is...
December 2011
16 posts
Off this week
Readers,
Due to a combination of the holidays and time-sensitive professional work, I will not be able to update the blog this week. Look for new posts on Monday, Jan. 2.
Best,
Michael.
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The difference between life, personhood
In response to proposed personhood ballot measures in states like Mississippi and Nevada — and the religious right’s broader battle against reproductive rights — Jim Fetzer has written a letter to the Wisconsin State Journal clarifying the very important difference between “human life” and “personhood”:
Those who believe human life begins at conception...
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Why women get later-term abortions
Many people think that women who have second-trimester abortions are “willfully irresponsible,” but most women in such a position face social challenges that make it tougher to secure an earlier abortion, according to a new study from the Guttmacher Institute.
The study revealed that women who receive second-trimester abortions are more likely to be teenagers and minorities; to not...
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Judge: rewrite personhood measure
A district judge ruled earlier this week that a fetal personhood ballot measure in Nevada — similar to the one that failed in Mississippi — provides “inadequate” information on its potential effects on access to birth control, in-vitro fertilization, treatment for ectopic pregnancies, and stem cell research.
Nevada District Judge James E. Wilson ordered sponsors of the...
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Cost, not sloth, causes obesity
Many people believe that obesity is caused by a lack of moral fiber. That is, those who are overweight are in their situation because they lack the willpower necessary to keep in shape. If only they had a stronger backbone, they’d be fit.
But this is simply not the case, says Zoe Williams in the Guardian.
There is a widespread underestimation, or blank refusal to admit, how much...
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China to train gov't employees on morality
China is instituting moral instruction for its civil servants, and has categorized the training sessions as “highly important,” according to the Chinese newspaper the People’s Daily.
The training is divided into three broad sections: basic knowledge, case studies, and four duties (loyalty to the country, a readiness to serve the people, a sense of obligation, and persistence...
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Christopher Hitchens: a man who fought...
Famed orator, author, and journalist Christopher Hitchens died Thursday night from pneumonia, a complication of the oesophageal cancer he was fighting. He was 62.
There’s nothing substantive I feel I can say right now about so large and complex a public figure. My thoughts are probably best summed up by Slate’s Jacob Weisberg:
“Here’s what I learned from Christopher...
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The brain, and active and passive harm
Consider these two hypothetical situations:
1) A competitive figure skater loosens the skate blade of a rival to aid her chances of winning;
2) A competitive skater notices that her rival’s blade is loose and fails to warn anyone, which aids her chances of winning.
In both cases, the rival skater is seriously injured and loses. Whether due to the competitive skater’s action or a...
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German scientists criticize stem cell ruling
As you might recall, European Court of Justice on October 18 banned the patenting of inventions involving human embryonic stem cells and characterized research and other procedures using new or previously derived human embryonic stem cells as “immoral.” The court’s ruling cannot be appealed and applies to all 27 member states of the European Union.
Now, nearly two months...
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Most give lawmakers poor ethics rating
A record 64 percent of Americans consider the honesty and ethical standards of members of Congress “low” or “very low,” according to a new survey from Gallup. The result matches the poll’s record “low”/”very low” rating, received by lobbyists in 2008. Gallup has measured the public’s perception of ethical standards in various ...
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Why fetal development matters
William Saletan, journalist and author of Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War, recently participated in a public dialogue with Ann Furedi, the chief executive of British Pregnancy Advisory Service, on the role of fetal development in the abortion debate.
The discussion centered on the panelists’ diverging views: Saletan thinks fetal development is central to the morality...
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Test your morality
What drives your moral thinking? Surely you’ve thought this over, and perhaps even wrote or spoken about in some way. But now Robert Aunger has come up with an extensive survey that he claims accurately measures what makes you moral.
Here’s a description of his so-called “science experiment”:
In Test Your Morality, you will be asked to respond to a variety of scenarios...
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On defining a person
Last month on this blog we spent a good deal of time discussing the proposed constitutional amendment in Mississippi to change the legal definition of personhood to include fertilized human eggs. The amendment would have outlawed all abortions (including those resulting from rape or incest), many forms of birth control (including IUDs and morning-after pills), and embryonic research....
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Why skeptics should embrace political advocacy —...
By Michael De Dora
In my nearly three years working in the skeptic community, I have learned many important things. I’ve been taught how science works, and how to spot pseudoscience. I’ve discovered how we fool ourselves into believing we’ve seen ghosts, aliens, and other scary monsters that likely don’t exist. And I’ve found out how psychics, mediums and others prey upon other humans for...
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Pooper-scooper laws and morality
There’s been a lot of discussion on this blog on the topic of legislating morality. I’ve weighed the philosophical arguments for and against legislating morality, worked to clear up misconceptions, and considered specific examples of legislated morality.
Yet Jim Schutze on the Dallas Observer web site has now defended legislating morality with an example I would have never thought of:...
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Legality vs. morality in the NFL
Last Monday night, the New York Giants lost to the New Orleans Saints 49-24 in a game that was typical in at least two ways: the Saints both scored a lot of points and won. Yet Stefan Fatsis of Slate.com noticed two other typical aspects of the game that highlighted a broader tension between legality and morality in the National Football League (NFL). Take a look:
The way players react after...
November 2011
18 posts
Off this week
Readers,
Due to both illness and professional obligations, I will not be able to update the blog this week. Look for new posts on Monday, Dec. 5.
Michael.
8 tags
Rethinking thinking
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If you’re looking for some Thanksgiving reading, you might consider Raymond Tallis’ intriguing review in the Wall Street Journal of two new books on cognition: Incomplete Nature: How Mind Emerged From Matter, by Terrence Deacon, and Who’s in Charge: Free Will and the Science of the Brain by Michael S. Gazzaniga.
Here’s a taste:
The...
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The ethical banker
Many people believe that careers in the banking industry necessarily demand selfishness and unethical behavior. One consequence of this thinking is that ethically concerned youngsters tend to shy away from careers in finance and investing.
Yet Oxford University philosopher Will Crouch is warning young people to not automatically consider banking a less ethical option than others. In fact, Crouch...
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Catholic Bishops try to reframe the debate
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops last week held a major news conference in which they attempted to recast the current debates on hot-button issues like marriage equality and reproductive rights as a struggle to preserve “religious liberty” from a government and culture working to restrict the church’s rights, reports the New York Times.
From the Times:
The bishops...