Tag Archives: Ethics
Community’s final lesson: Changing the whole game with just one move
Underneath all the geeky references, the twisted meta-storylines, the high-concept homage episodes, the weird characters, the gut-busting one-liners, the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Easter eggs, the Doctor Who/Inspector Spacetime fanlove, the paintball wars, the zany Dean outfits, the disturbing Changness of Chang, the … Continue reading
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On being wrong, cont’d: Liberals, conservatives, and moral imagination
Jonathan Haidt invites us to step outside the “moral matrix” of our own certainties: The crux of his argument: [Y]ou can’t just go charging in, saying, “You’re wrong, and I’m right.” Because, as we just heard, everybody thinks they are … Continue reading
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Why atheists are angry
Greta Christina gets angry, and funny, and magnificent. It’s a long talk but well worth your time, whether you’re an atheist or not; and if you’re about to bring up the usual objections like “Nonbelievers do terrible things too” or … Continue reading
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Miscellany: Waiting for Irene; Neil Gaiman kicks my lazy ass; girl scientists rock (and so does Kirsten Gillibrand); Harry Potter ends; more atheist fun
Well, I’m back (and wishing I could have brought Idaho’s clear night sky back with me). And now we’re hunkering down in our apartment, bracing for the flooding from Hurricane Irene, which is due to hit New York later tonight: … Continue reading
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“Democracy beyond anatomy”
Yet another brilliant TED talk. Bioethicist and social activist Alice Dreger talks about the fuzzy boundaries between our disconcertingly unstable biological categories; the shift from supernatural to natural explanations for the world; the basis both within and beyond biology for … Continue reading
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Miscellany
Here are a few items I haven’t had time to write about, but are still, I think, worth your attention. I may revisit and more fully discuss some of these in the future, but there’s no reason not to share … Continue reading
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The future of human evolution
As our understanding of human genetics grows, and as we increasingly gain the ability to reprogram life itself, Harvey Fineberg considers the possibilities of self-directed evolution: Bioethicist Arthur Caplan, whom I’ve written about before, explores the ethical implications: His full … Continue reading
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Neither faithlessness nor false certainty: Kenan Malik on God, science, and the burden of moral choice
Kenan Malik, a new favorite author of mine, criticizes both the notion that morals derive from God and the notion (proposed by Sam Harris among others) that morals derive from science: At first glance these two approaches — that God … Continue reading
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Can science answer moral questions? cont’d
Sam Harris, speaking in Berkeley last November, continues to make the case: The full program here. As always, I think his critique of religion is sound, but it’s his explicit linking of moral principles to scientific objectivity that continues to … Continue reading
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What is justice? Michael Sandel on the lost art of democratic debate
This is the kind of stuff that makes me miss college. Political philosopher Michael Sandel takes the audience from discussions of flute distribution and the fair use of golf carts, to vastly more important questions of morality and justice: Sandel … Continue reading
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