Merry Moral Monday! Several of us—JustHeath included—here at Philosophy Matters are purveyors of the British science fiction series Doctor Who. In fact, J J Sylvia, the founder of the website, has even written a very good chapter in a centered on the philosophy of the television program. This past Saturday night, I happened to catch… Continue reading Moral Monday: The Wedding of River Song
Category: Moral Monday
Moral Monday: The Hellgramite Method
Bonjour, mes amis! Well, it’s been precipitating quite a bit here recently in the Golden Triangle region, so I’ve been catching up on the 1980’s reincarnation of Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone (TTZ). Much like Gene Roddenberry’s original Star Trek, TTZ are often a mix of science fiction and morality tales. We emphasize critical thinking… Continue reading Moral Monday: The Hellgramite Method
Moral Monday: On Empathy
Well, hello there. Due to the recent natural disasters and mass shootings there has been an influx of attention to mental health services in this country. It is yet to be determined if anything other than media discussions will arise from these problems, but I hope the rubber will one day hit the road with… Continue reading Moral Monday: On Empathy
#Winning: Thought-Priming to Influence Behavior
Merry Monday! JustHeath likes games. In fact, he is the co-sponsor for an Analog Gaming Club—get it?…non-digital. We recently had our last meeting for the semester (a tournament), and I recalled a famous psychological study involving a classic game. Today, I’m going to share with you Dijksterhuis and van Knippenberg’s (1998) research about a… Continue reading #Winning: Thought-Priming to Influence Behavior
Moral (Principles) Monday
Bonjour! Here at Philosophy Matters, we talk a lot about morals and ethics, so today I thought I’d briefly discuss some of the philosophical principles most of the ethical codes in the helping professions are based upon. First, I should point out that most professional organizations have some sort of ethical code that members must… Continue reading Moral (Principles) Monday
Moral Monday: Political Advertisements (TV Edition)
Merry Moral Monday! So, I’ve been told there’s some sort of democratic rights of citizens shindig going on tomorrow. In honour of electing complete strangers to later actually elect (or re-elect) the personage who shall bear the burdensome title of “Mr. President,” I wanted to pose a couple of questions for readers to consider critically. … Continue reading Moral Monday: Political Advertisements (TV Edition)
Moral Monday: Kill Kindergarten or ‘Ssassinate Senior Year?
Top o’ the mornin’ to ya! Another heightened emphasis of Philosophy Matters is critical thinking, and today I’m going to attempt to highlight that with some oldies and goodies such as education and ethics. I should first mention that critical thinking is one of the major cruxes of most branches of psychology. Some may wonder,… Continue reading Moral Monday: Kill Kindergarten or ‘Ssassinate Senior Year?
Moral Monday: Robots and Moral Decisions
A friend of Philosophy Matters recommended a recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that raises some interesting questions about robots. One of the moral decisions that we as a society will have to make is whether or not we will allow robots to make moral decisions. The author insists that “Lethal autonomous systems are… Continue reading Moral Monday: Robots and Moral Decisions
Moral Monday: The Trolley Problem and Your Mom
Before you ask, no, this week’s post isn’t a Your Momma joke! It’s another in a series of questions about the moral problem of the trolley. Last week’s poll was interesting; in the population at large, most people would choose to push the fat villain in front of the trolley in order to save the… Continue reading Moral Monday: The Trolley Problem and Your Mom
Moral Monday: The Trolley Problem and the Fat Villain
This week, we are going to look at the third in a series of trolley-related moral dilemmas. In the first poll, the majority of you guys said you would flip a switch to divert a trolley headed toward five people toward only one instead. In the second poll, the majority of you said you would… Continue reading Moral Monday: The Trolley Problem and the Fat Villain