Category: Ethics

Should A Self-Driving Car Kill Its Passengers In A “Greater Good” Scenario?

November 5, 2015

“Picture the scene: You’re in a self-driving car and, after turning a corner, find that you are on course for an unavoidable collision with a group of 10 people in the road with walls on either side. Should the car swerve to the side into the wall, likely seriously injuring or killing you, its sole occupant, and saving the group? Or should it make every attempt to stop, knowing full well it will hit the group of people while keeping you safe?”

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/should-self-driving-car-be-programmed-kill-its-passengers-greater-good-scenario

Would You Pull the Trolley Switch? Does it Matter? The lifespan of a thought experiment

November 5, 2015

“A runaway streetcar is hurtling towards five unsuspecting workers. Do you pull a switch to divert the trolley onto another track, where only one man works alone? Or do you do nothing?”

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/10/trolley-problem-history-psychology-morality-driverless-cars/409732/?mc_cid=bed065a83a&mc_eid=34e2887073

Would you kill baby Hitler?

October 26, 2015

“Imagine for a moment that you discovered a way to travel through time, making it possible for you to ensure either that Hitler never be born, or that if born, he would not live long enough to rise to political power.  Under what circumstances do you think it would be morally justified to kill to prevent the Final Solution (and for those who can’t get past the emotional problem of what it would be like to personally pull the trigger, assume that you could send someone else to perform the deed)?”

https://theosophical.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/would-you-kill-baby-hitler/

The Killing of Osama bin Laden

October 20, 2015

This was a really interesting article about the story about Osama bin Laden’s death. This investigative piece contradicts the “official” government account of the events and paints a very troubling picture of how the events unfolded and were subsequently reported on.

This story raises interesting questions about how history is written. What actually happened here? Can we ever really know? Whose accounts and reporting can we trust?

With regards to ethics…was this killing ethical? Was the subsequent potential cover up ethical? What if it saved lives? Protected sources? How do we judge?

With regards to language…do we call this an assassination? A murder? Homicide? Or a justified killing in a larger war? What are the implications of each of these terms?

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v37/n10/seymour-m-hersh/the-killing-of-osama-bin-laden

Pet micro pigs? Chinese biotech firm says it will sell very small swine

October 20, 2015

This article offers us another example of the ceaseless advancement of new and innovative applications of genetic engineering. With all this advancement come more questions about the ethics of such techniques.

“What rules should apply to gene editing is an increasingly pressing question for not just agencies such as the FDA but also scientists and medical ethicists as the technique moves from the animal world to the human realm. Although gene editing holds the promise of significant medical breakthroughs, it also could open a Pandora’s box of eugenic-like applications.”

http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-china-micropigs-20151005-story.html

Building an Artificial Brain: Effort moves forward, but is it a good idea?

October 5, 2015

This article touches upon far more than just ethics. It raises the question of whether it is wise to try to build artificial intelligence but also discusses why the challenge of building such a brain is so great.

“Advances in science often have made people uneasy, even angry, going back to Copernicus, who placed the sun — not the Earth — at the center of the universe. Artificial intelligence is particularly sensitive, because the brain and its ability to reason is what makes us human.

“In May 2014, cosmologist Stephen Hawking caused a stir when he warned that intelligent computers could be the downfall of humanity and ‘potentially our worst mistake in history.’ Elon Musk — the billionaire philanthropist who helped found SpaceX, Tesla Motors and PayPal — in October 2014 lamented that a program whose function is to get rid of e-mail spam may determine ‘the best way of getting rid of spam is getting rid of humans.’ He wasn’t joking.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rweb/top/thought-process-building-an-artificial-brain/2015/10/03/db50f21c-f328-452b-8a95-7c4facee16ef_story.html?wpisrc=nl_draw2

Is Cultural Appropriation Always Wrong?

October 4, 2015

“It’s a truth only selectively acknowledged that all cultures are mongrel. One of the first Indian words to be brought into English was the Hindi ‘’loot’ — ‘plunder.’ Some of the Ku Klux Klan’s 19th-century costumes were, of all things, inspired in part by the festival wear of West African slaves; the traditional wax-print designs we associate with West Africa are apparently Indonesian — by way of the Netherlands. Gandhi cribbed nonviolence from the Sermon on the Mount.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/magazine/is-cultural-appropriation-always-wrong.html

The Curious Politics of the ‘Nudge’

September 28, 2015

“Earlier this month, President Obama signed an executive orderdirecting federal agencies to collaborate with the White House’s new Social and Behavioral Sciences Team to use insights from behavioral science research to better serve the American people. For instance, studies show that people are more likely to save for retirement when they are automatically enrolled into a 401(k) retirement saving plan that they can opt out of than when they must actively opt in.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/09/27/opinion/sunday/the-curious-politics-of-the-nudge.html?_r=1

As British scientists seek to edit the genes of embryos; bioethicists warn of potential dangers

September 22, 2015

“It was the first time edits had been confirmed to have been done on reproductive cells and the news caused deep divisions within the scientific community. Some expressed optimism and hope that such research could eventually lead to the eradication of genetic diseases from the face of the Earth. Others were horrified — warning that genetically modifying humans is unsafe and could have devastating consequences on future generations of our race that no one can foresee.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/rweb/api/print.html?id=4c92e97901b450352df9f3f89c5f4496

Radiolab Podcast: The Rhino Hunter

September 16, 2015

How do we judge the morality of hunting? Is it ever ethical to kill an animal? What if the hunt raises money for conservation efforts? What if the animal being killed was a threat to younger members of the herd? Below is a podcast that interviews the famous/infamous hunter who was cast into international spotlight for his buying a permit to hunt a black rhino which is an endangered species. People had very angry and visceral reactions to hearing about this. The issue is much deeper than simple reactive anger and offers us a great issue with which to examine ethics. Below are links to some articles on the topic that I have previous posted.

“Back in 2014, Corey Knowlton paid $350,000 for a hunting trip to Namibia to shoot and kill an endangered species.  He’s a professional hunter, who guides hunts all around the world, so going to Africa would be nothing new.  The target on the other hand would be. And so too, he quickly found, would be the attention.

“This episode, producer Simon Adler follows Corey as he dodges death threats and prepares to pull the trigger.  Along the way we stop to talk with Namibian hunters and government officials, American activists, and someone who’s been here before – Kenya’s former Director of Wildlife, Richard Leakey.   All the while, we try to uncover what conservation really means in the 21st century.”

http://www.radiolab.org/story/rhino-hunter/

“A US hunter who paid $350,000 to kill a black rhinoceros in Namibia successfully shot the animal on Monday, saying that his actions would help protect the critically-endangered species.”

http://news.yahoo.com/texas-hunter-shoots-endangered-namibian-rhino-350-000-000807061.html

Here is an article arguing in favor of that policy.

http://www.ozy.com/immodest-proposal/save-the-animals-by-hunting-them/39349?utm_source=dd&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=05202015