Ethical Debate Research Articles

The moral economy of student debt: A pharmacological approach

Over the past three decades, student debt has surged in most English-speaking countries. Despite this trend, enrollment at universities has steadily risen, which testifies to the enduring appeal that higher education still exerts on middle-class individuals and families. Nevertheless, the policies responsible for this growing indebtedness have also stirred up their share of controversy. In an attempt to make sense of these debates, this article focuses mainly on the English and American cases to demonstrate how moral arguments have been put forth both in favor of and against using credit to finance education. Because it shows the ambivalent and unstable nature of the normative principles underpinning debt relations, the concept of moral economy is particularly well suited to discuss this phenomenon. On one hand, it explains how certain ethical expectations seemingly justify the need to incur debt for educational pursuits. On the other hand, it also shows why the perceived legitimacy of student debt eventually comes to be challenged. At its core lies an undecidable choice between antinomic values, as the decision to study on credit involves both a striving for personal autonomy and subjecting oneself to an exploitative relation of dependence. Recognizing this fundamental ambivalence, the article develops a ‘pharmacological approach’ to address the issue of student debt, aiming to better grasp the social and political tensions surrounding higher education in neoliberal societies.

A Scoping Review on Staff Attitudes towards the Use of Coercion in Mental Healthcare.

Attitudes of mental health professionals towards the use of coercion are highly relevant concerning its use coercion in mental healthcare, as mental health professionals have to weigh ethical arguments and decide within a legal frame in which situations to use coercion or not. Therefore, assessment of those attitudes is relevant for research in this field. A vital instrument to measure those attitudes towards the use of coercion is the Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale. This scoping review aims to provide a structured overview of the advantages and limitations in the assessment of attitudes toward coercion. We conducted a scoping review in Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, and Web of Science, based on the PRISMA-ScR. Inclusion criteria were empirical studies on the attitudes of mental health professionals. We included 80 studies and systematically mapped data about the main results and limitations in assessing attitudes toward coercion. The main results highlighted the relevance and increased interest in staff attitudes towards coercion in mental healthcare. Still, the majority of the included studies relied on a variety of different concepts and definitions concerning attitudes. The data further indicated difficulties in developing new and adapting existing assessment instruments because of the equivocal definitions of underlying concepts. To improve the research and knowledge in this area, future studies should be based on solid theoretical foundations. We identified the need for methodological changes and standardized procedures that take into account existing evidence from attitude research in social psychology, nursing science, and other relevant research fields. This would include an update of the Staff Attitude to Coercion Scale based on the limitations identified in this review.

Dreier Is a Great Dad in All Possible Worlds: A Challenge to Moral Contingentism

ABSTRACT In this paper, I raise a challenge to Gideon Rosen’s defence of moral contingentism against Jamie Dreier’s moral luck argument. Dreier argues that if moral contingentism is true, acting in a morally permissible way always depends on a form of moral luck, because we could be in a descriptively identical possible world where the moral laws are different. Rosen’s response is that such a world is too remote from ours for us to count it as lucky that we are not in it. I argue that, given Rosen’s method of assessing the remoteness of possible worlds, worlds like the one Dreier describes are close enough to ours to justify his worry, and consequently that Rosen’s counterargument fails. I take this strongly counterintuitive conclusion as a reason to be optimistic that Rosen’s argument for moral contingentism can be resisted.

The coevolution of technology, markets, and culture: the challenging case of AI

AbstractArtificial intelligence (AI) is at the center of economic, social, political, and ethical debate. For the first time in human history, since the appearance of writing, a new type of “intelligence” is impacting the very nature of social relationships. New technologies are not only changing the operating model of markets and value chains in an accelerated way but also in how information is generated and processed, how labor, social relations, and culture evolve, etc. In this paper, we pursue two main goals. First, to set up an analytical framework in which cognitive, technical, and cultural dynamics are intertwined with the processes of deployment of economic action. Secondly, we utilize this framework to explore some key features and challenges of AI and its impact on coevolutionary processes at the cognitive, market, and cultural levels. We devote special attention to the consequences that AI may have for the concept of (economic) rationality and the formation of action plans. We conclude that AI will massively enhance agents’ spaces of action by improving efficiency and exploring new possibilities. However, AI will not change the nature of human action and the structure of the evolution of the economic system.

Over Investigation: An Ethical Debate

Over Investigation: An Ethical Debate

Making moral decisions with artificial agents as advisors. A fNIRS study

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the verge of impacting every domain of our lives. It is increasingly being used as an advisor to assist in making decisions. The present study aimed at investigating the influence of moral arguments provided by AI-advisors (i.e., decision aid tool) on human moral decision-making and the associated neural correlates. Participants were presented with sacrificial moral dilemmas and had to make moral decisions either by themselves (i.e., baseline run) or with AI-advisors that provided utilitarian or deontological arguments (i.e., AI-advised run), while their brain activity was measured using an fNIRS device. Overall, AI-advisors significantly influenced participants. Longer response times and a decrease in right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex activity were observed in response to deontological arguments than to utilitarian arguments. Being provided with deontological arguments by machines appears to have led to a decreased appraisal of the affective response to the dilemmas. This resulted in a reduced level of utilitarianism, supposedly in an attempt to avoid behaving in a less cold-blooded way than machines and preserve their (self-)image. Taken together, these results suggest that motivational power can led to a voluntary up- and down-regulation of affective processes along moral decision-making.

The EU’s Normative Dissensus on Migration: How National Identities Shaped Responses to the European Refugee Crisis

ABSTRACT During the so-called European refugee crisis of 2015–16, a ‘normative dissensus’ emerged between the EU member states located at the end of the Balkan route, Germany, Hungary, and Austria. This paper explores the roots of this normative dissensus by operationalizing post-functionalist propositions. It posits that national identity, and its domestic politicization during the late summer of 2015 generated the ‘constraining normative dissensus’ during the refugee crisis. To operationalize the link between identity, domestic politicization, and European dissensus, we employ moral-philosopher Christine Korsgaard’s concepts of ‘self-constitution’ and ‘practical identity’. We then apply this normative-constructivist approach to empirically demonstrate how the diversely constituted national identities of Germany, Austria, and Hungary led to different foundations for moral argumentation during the refugee crisis. As for the European integration process more generally, our findings highlight the importance of a shared European identity to achieve a normative consensus in areas that touch upon migration and citizenship.

The Moral and Aesthetic Debate inStrange Fruit: Coexistence of Violence and Beauty in Human Nature in Works of Art

In the contemporary era, philosophers have debated the homogeneity of arts moral and aesthetic values. As far as musical works are concerned, in contrast to traditional music ethics, contemporary musical works are increasingly charaterised by the integration of aesthetic and moral values. However, it is important to note that aesthetic and moral values are not always unified and that there may be instances when there are differences and even conflicts between them. When such a conflict arises between the aesthetic and moral values of a musical work, it becomes necessary to consider how its overall artistic value should be evaluated. This paper employs a case study methodology to analyse the song Strange Fruit in depth. Discussing the formal aesthetics of the work, which has been the subject of considerable controversy due to its depiction of violence, is set against the moral value of the work, which reveals the problem of racial discrimination and prompts a deep reflection on justice in society. The conflict and balance between the two are explored in light of the claims made in the philosophy of art to date. In such instances, the value of art is profoundly affected by the conflict between moral values and aesthetic concepts.

We need to talk about Jus ad vim

This Review Essay looks at the two recent book-length publications on the emerging topic of Jus ad vim − justice of limited force: Brunstetter’s Just and Unjust Uses of Limited Force: A Moral Argument with Contemporary Illustrations (2021), and Braun’s Limited Force and the Fight for the Just War Tradition (2023). I argue that although both authors offer insightful and original contributions to the debate surrounding the ethics of limited force, their theorisation of jus ad vim provides the moral backing to military actions conducted by powerful Western states, rather than scrutinising them. Importantly, moreover, the project of jus ad vim, theorised in this manner, follows the Western conceptualisation of just war theory which has historically been used to further the interests of Western states at the expense of weaker nations.

Rediscovering the ‘Meaning of Science’? Hans Morgenthau and the ethics debate in quantum IR

Rediscovering the ‘Meaning of Science’? Hans Morgenthau and the ethics debate in quantum IR

Can you hear me? The inclusive advertising and its representation

Inclusive advertising represents an important change that is taking place. Issues that in the past were part of social communication are finding their way into commercial communication strategies and fuelling the ethical debate. The brand image is conveyed through emotional storytelling that involves the consumer. The keywords are changing: inclusion, ethics and values are replacing the “aspirational dimension” typical of advertising. In the digital age, the image of the testimonial is increasingly built on socially relevant topics. It is a transversal phenomenon that involves different targets and products. A new aesthetic paradigm is subverting the canon of communication strategies: new models, new families, new age groups, new bodies are appearing on the scene. Focusing on the representation of disability, this paper observes how advertising can contribute to changing the perception of socially relevant issues by new strategies.

High‐status versus low‐status stakeholders

AbstractThe literature on stakeholder theory has largely ignored the difficult and central issue of how judges and firms should resolve disputes among stakeholders. When the issue is addressed, focus has largely been on the potential for management to use stakeholder theory as cover for rent‐seeking or on disputes between classes of stakeholders. Sharply underappreciated is the potential for disparate interests within a stakeholder class. That potential is particularly acute due to a (largely education‐driven) stark and growing class divide in the United States. There is a substantial difference between the interests of a highly educated professional and managerial elite and a pink‐collar and blue‐collar working class who mostly do not hold 4‐year degrees. Despite their smaller numbers, the professional and managerial elite will frequently win out in intra‐stakeholder disputes with working‐class stakeholders due to their greater status, power, and influence. Because this class divide is cultural, social, and political, as well as economic, these disputes will go beyond financial pie‐splitting to culture war issues. This threatens to be destabilizing for both the republic and individual firms and undermines both the practical and ethical arguments for the stakeholder theory.

Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis of Moral Foundations in Argumentation

This paper introduces moral argument analytics, a technology that provides insights into the use of moral arguments in discourse. We analyse five socio-political corpora of argument annotated data from offline and online discussions, totalling 240k words with 9k arguments, with an average annotation accuracy of 78%. Using a lexicon-based method, we automatically annotate these arguments with moral foundations, achieving an estimated accuracy of 83%. Quantitative analysis allows us to observe statistical patterns and trends in the use of moral arguments, whereas qualitative analysis enables us to understand and explain the communication strategies in the use of moral arguments in different settings. For instance, supporting arguments often rely on Loyalty and Authority, while attacking arguments use Care. We find that online discussions exhibit a greater diversity of moral foundations and a higher negative valence of moral arguments. Online arguers often rely more on Harm rather than Care, Degradation rather than Sanctity. These insights have significant implications for AI applications, particularly in understanding and predicting human and machine moral behaviours. This work contributes to the construction of more convincing messages and the detection of harmful or biased AI-generated synthetic content.

The ethical debate about the use of autonomous weapon systems from a theological perspective

The ethical debate about the use of autonomous weapon systems from a theological perspective

Impact of policy change on late-term abortion: a two-decade analysis.

Advances in ultrasound and molecular genetics have changed the field of late termination of pregnancy (LTOP), sparking ethical debates worldwide. In 2007, Israel updated its LTOP policies, requiring a 30% or higher probability of severe handicap for approval of LTOP after 24weeks' gestation. In this retrospective study, we compared LTOP indications and approval rates before (Group 1: 1998-2007) and after (Group 2: 2008-2021) this policy change. Shamir medical records from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2021 were examined and yielded 4047 abortions, of which 248 were identified as LTOP preformed after 24weeks' gestation. These cases were then categorized into two groups. Data including maternal age, obstetric history, indications for abortion, diagnosis, week of termination, and genetic/sonographic findings were analyzed. The approval rates and indications pre- and post-policy change were compared. Group 1 (LTOP 1998-2007) comprised 95 cases (10.6%), and Group 2 (LTOP 2008-2021) was composed of 153 cases (4.9%). Fetal structural anomalies remained the dominant indication for both groups (67.4 and 65.3%, respectively), with a slight increase in confirmed genetic anomalies from 26.3% (Group 1) to 28% (Group 2). Our findings indicate a decrees in the proportion per year from 10.6 to 4.9% LTOP. Technological advances in genetic evaluation and sonography may have contributed to the early increased detection and decrees in cases reaching LTOP. These results highlight the importance of ongoing ethical reviews and adherence to strict protocols for early detection and termination before 24weeks' gestation.

Ethics of tourism: a Horizon 2050 paper

Purpose This paper is part of Horizon 2050 series of papers. This paper aims to highlight the importance of stronger engagement with ethical philosophy in tourism. A number of potential research streams are identified. Design/methodology/approach The paper first introduces several theories of ethics. It then reviews the history of tourism’s engagement with ethics, especially within academia. Subsequently, several themes for the future of research on tourism ethics are discussed according to four scales: the tourist, tourism business, tourism destination and the tourism system. Findings At the individual tourist level, future research should focus on better understanding tourist (un)ethical behaviour by considering the hedonic and cross-cultural nature of tourism. At business level, motivations to be ethical, ethical corporate models should be studied. Endurance of tourist products that are deemed unethical needs further analysis. At destination level, further understanding of stakeholder relations, stakeholder values and dissemination of those values is required. Fair and just options to sustainably manage visitation merit further discussion. At tourism system level, a stronger engagement with political philosophies and more creative alternatives for the current global tourism system require exploration. Originality/value While several reviews of ethics of tourism research exist, this paper is oriented towards opportunities for future research. The paper does not intend to cover all current ethical debates; however, it provides a number of topics within the tourism ethics field that merit further exploration in hope to inspire new research.

The Father of the School Choice Movement

ABSTRACT Milton Friedman is widely considered the intellectual father of the school choice movement. While Friedman deserves much credit, Father Virgil Blum stands out as an influential figure in the nascent school choice movement. Using archival research, this paper examines Blum’s contributions to the movement. From his 1954 doctoral dissertation, which made the legal case for funding religious schools, to his 1958 book, Freedom of Choice in Education, and his decades-long career as a professor, Blum was a tireless advocate for educational freedom. While Friedman made the market argument, Blum made the legal, moral, and religious freedom arguments for school choice.

Bioethical assessment of embryo donation for research

Background: The present study aims to assess, from the bioethical tool, the use of embryos for scientific research and its impact on society. The research question is posed: "What bioethical aspects are related to the donation of excess embryos from cryopreservation laboratories?". The secondary objectives include determining the level of knowledge of the population about assisted reproduction techniques, identifying knowledge about the possible destinations of cryopreserved embryos and evaluating the positioning capacity of the population regarding ethical and moral issues. Methods: Observational study of a statistical nature through a questionnaire with relevant questions on the subject of bioethics in the investigation of surplus embryos from cryopreservation. The study population was composed of people of different sex and age, who are interested in gynecology issues. Results: The survey reveals that 55.8% knew about assisted fertilization techniques, 80.8% knew what IVF was, 69.2% were unaware of related laws, 84.6% understood informed consent in cryopreservation , 46% would not sign a long-term consent, 80.4% knew about cryopreservation, 82.7% support embryo freezing, 72.5% support embryo research, and there are divided opinions about its status : 60.8% cells, 51.9% human beings. Conclusion: The survey reveals that the participants have a general knowledge about assisted fertilization techniques and support the cryopreservation of embryos for research. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the laws that govern these techniques. Opinions are also divided on the nature and status of the frozen embryos. These results are relevant for the ethical debate and the regulation of practices related to embryos.

Ethical challenges in health care during collective hunger strikes in public or occupied spaces.

Public collective hunger strikes take place in complex social and political contexts, require medical attention and present ethical challenges to physicians. Empirical research, the ethical debate to date and existing guidelines by the World Medical Association focus almost exclusively on hunger strikes in detention. However, the public space differs substantially with regard to the conditions for the provision of health care and the diverse groups of healthcare providers or stakeholders involved. By reviewing empirical research on the experience of health professionals with public collective hunger strikes, we identified the following ethical challenges: (1) establishment of a trustful physician-striker relationship, (2) balancing of medico-ethical principles in medical decision-making, (3) handling of loyalty conflicts and (4) preservation of professional independence and the risk of political instrumentalization. Some of these challenges have already been described and discussed, yet not contextualized for public collective strikes, while others are novel. The presence of voluntary physicians may offer opportunities for a trustful relationship and, hence, for ethical treatment decisions. According to our findings, it requires more attention to how to realise autonomous medical decisions in the complex context of a dynamic, often unstructured and politically charged setting, which ethical norms should shape the professional role of voluntary physicians, and what is the influence of the hunger strikers'collective on individual healthcare decisions. Our article can serve as a starting point for further ethical discussion. It can also provide the basis for the development of potential guidelines to support health professionals involved in public collective hunger strikes.

An Ethical Debate in the Philosophy of Information: Is It Possible to Combine or Reconcile Multiple Ethical Theories in a Common Perspective in Artificial Intelligence?

We live in a cyber-universe created by millions of data sets. This universe, where there are almost no time-space constraints, allows people to perform activities in the intercardinal direction in a comfort they could not imagine before. At the same time, this multicultural and global world (infosphere) is a source of ethical challenges. While living in our unique culture, is it possible to share common ethical values in our world, which is becoming more global with each passing day? Or is it getting more and more impossible in this complex cyber universe? This article draws attention to Bynum's Emerging Ethics theory, which carries the umbrella concept that has the potential to unite people around some common values in ethical practices developed for intelligent systems such as artificial intelligence, even if we have different ethical approaches. The main purpose of this article is how, although different approaches they are, theories based on the common nature of human beings can be combined for the same purpose and Thanks to the 'ethical family unity' structure they have created under the ethical umbrella, it is questioned how they will determine the ethical components that can be applied to intelligence systems like AI for the solution of the common problems of the information age.