Everyday Ethics

With apologies for the badly rhyming title, the current debate spurned by Chick-Fil-A CEO Dan Cathy’s comments about the proper structure of marriage has led to a serious backlash from both gay-marriage supporters and defenders of either Cathy’s comments, or his right to make them.  Clearly, this is a good place for some philosophical analysis, [...]

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The recently released report from independent investigator Louis Freeh was an important moment in the unfolding of the  Penn State-Jerry Sandusky scandal.  Freeh’s investigation revealed a culture of deference to Penn State’s late, and legendary head football coach, Joe Paterno.  According to Freeh, Paterno participated in a cover-up of the allegations against former assistant coach [...]

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Blue Ivy Carter is only a month old, but she already has a chart-topping single (her coos and crying are featured on the Jay-Z single Glory, released shortly after her birth), and will soon have a trademarked name to go with it.  Earlier today, it was announced that Jay-Z and Beyonce, Blue Ivy’s famous parents, [...]

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The recent revelation that Tiger Woods has been engaging in not one, but numerous extramarital affairs has cast a dark shadow on a sports figure that has otherwise enjoyed messianic status.  Tiger Woods is easily the greatest golfer of his generation, and possibly the best that has ever played.  He is also an iconic figure [...]

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First and foremost, thanks to all of you who have waited patiently while I have put this website on hold in order to deal with some personal matters.  In the past month I have become a parent, moved from Colorado to Ohio, and started a PhD program.  Needless to say, I’ve been busy.  But as [...]

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Last week, I wrote an article discussing the ethics of purchasing foreclosed homes.  I suggested that there is something ethically suspect about doing so, and that when we do this, we run a very real risk of using others as a means to our ends.  Several individuals replied to this article by arguing that the [...]

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The housing crisis and the economic mess that followed have led to an interesting, but ethically suspect financial opportunity.  Many homes are now on the market at deeply discounted prices, either because they have been foreclosed on or because their owners are simply trying to get out from under a massive mortgage payment.  Either way, [...]

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Justice is a funny thing.  Sometimes justice is about retribution, other times it’s better understood as a type of reconciliation.  Economically, justice also takes two distinct forms.  Some accounts of economic justice focus on an equal and fair distribution of goods, and many people point to the role of historical and social factors in shaping [...]

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One of the core principles of everyday ethics and a principle purpose of this site is to help people to recognize ethical questions and revelations of ethical knowledge in their own everyday experiences. Sometimes this is harder than others. Recently, a great example of everyday ethics appeared in the news, when a story was published [...]

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Most people will agree that there is something wrong with lying, and some would go so far as to claim that you should never lie, even when doing so will protect another person from harm.  But misrepresentation is often another story altogether.  Those who view lying as clearly wrong will nonetheless misrepresent themselves to others, [...]

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