Society

Come out to Prindle on Monday, October 13 at 5:30 PM for a dinner and discussion about the ethics of cultural appropriation. Cultural appropriation occurs when someone from one culture … Continue reading "Cultural Appropriation Dinner & Discussion on Oct.13"

Thanks to the D3TV crew for having me on their news show last night, and thanks for posting the clip of my interview. Here’s the interview. In it, I discuss … Continue reading "Director Interview with D3TV"

Government surveillance is a political hot topic, and Twitter has now taken its stand on it. The company has decided to sue the U.S. Government about a law that does … Continue reading "Twitter, Transparency, and National Security"

Last week we published the abstract of Erik Wielenberg’s new book, Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism. In this guest post, Wielenberg, Professor of Philosophy at DePauw … Continue reading "Can moral laws exist without God? A brief introduction to “Robust Ethics”"

Guest post by Rich Cameron, Associate Professor of Philosophy at DePauw University Scott Wisor recently wrote a post titled “Why Climate Change Divestment Will Not Work” over at the blog … Continue reading "Will climate divestment work?"

Decisions towards more ethical governmental process are good, right? The citizens of Tallahassee, Florida certainly think so.  With recent support of the citizens’ Ethics Advisory Panel, created by the City … Continue reading "The Ethics of Enforcing Ethics"

DePauw Philosophy professor Erik Wielenberg has recently published his third book entitled Robust Ethics: The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Godless Normative Realism. In his latest work, “[Wielenberg] draws on recent work in analytic philosophy and … Continue reading "Professor Erik Wielenberg publishes “Robust Ethics”"

We’ve all heard of dumpster divers. We’ve heard the stories about pulling perfectly edible food from supermarket trash cans and restaurant dumpsters. But who knew the lifestyle could be not … Continue reading "Hungry? Check that Dumpster."

In the wake of Edward Snowden’s leak about the NSA surveillance programs, tech companies have been quick to respond to consumer concerns about the privacy of their data. Google and … Continue reading "New Privacy Battle Between Tech Companies and the Feds"

The White House announced that it has adopted a looser policy on airstrikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. The United States has been conducting airstrikes against ISIS, and … Continue reading "Striking Syria: Civilian Casualties"

What does it mean to be on the right side of history? It’s easy to look into the past and see where the line has been drawn.  It has been … Continue reading "When Being Right is Not Enough"

The introduction of technology in the classroom seems like a win-win situation, but psychologists and neuroscientists are hesitant to write handwriting off as a thing of the past. From learning … Continue reading "Making the Case for Cursive"

Originally appeared in The Indianapolis Star The Federal Communications Commission is supposed to ensure that the electronic media serve the public interest. A current FCC rule, however, works primarily to serve … Continue reading "Time to Give NFL’s Blackout Rule the Boot"

Much has been said of the markedly high rates of sexual assaults on college campuses. While the conversations all point to different solutions to the problem, many revolve around the same … Continue reading "Ending Sexual Assault: The Fraternity Question"

The outbreak of Ebola in Western Africa has captivated the international community since it began in February 2014. Although Ebola has broken out before, this is the largest outbreak ever. … Continue reading "ZMapp: The Solution to Ebola?"

Is there something dark lurking behind the appeal?

There is no question that, in many cases, it is ethically wrong to kill. But is it possible for it to be ethically wrong to save a life? In an “ethically … Continue reading "Can Death Row Inmates Save Lives?"

This article, by DePauw History professor David Gellman, originally appeared in Historians Against Slavery on August 15, 2014. If all the great abolitionists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were … Continue reading "Abolitionists Unfrozen"

The shooting of Michael Brown and the unrest in Ferguson raises a host of obvious ethical issues. One that isn’t so obvious is that it highlights the potential importance of knowing … Continue reading "Ferguson and Net Neutrality"