Everyday Ethics

Although this site is properly devoted to philosophical questions, it also seeks to offer the reader something with regard to how we might learn from and apply ethical principles to our daily lives.  As the presidential election quickly approaches, moral questions concerning health care, the Iraq war, economics, and a host of other relevant everyday [...]

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At the risk of alienating most of my family, I want to share a recent conflict between my sister and my father regarding the status of her cat.  This is interesting not because of its controversial and tendentious nature, but because it demonstrates the way in which definitional disputes are relevant to everyday ethical concerns.  [...]

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Personal confrontations are a part of life, and there is really no getting around that.  Most of us hate to confront people about issues that come up among us, and some people will avoid confrontations to the point of dysfunction.  Others are only too happy to confront people, but do so in a way that [...]

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We have already discussed the fact that striving to be ethical people is a process of training ourselves to make certain types of decisions.  It would be nice if being a more ethical and upstanding person was simply a matter of making the decision to do so.  But most of our ethical failures are rooted [...]

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Most people strive toward some measure of personal success.  This can be quantified in a variety of ways, depending upon what sorts of goals are most important to you.  A lesser number of people also strive to live ethical lives, and this too can be variously defined.  Finally, a select few wish to be both [...]

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As you have hopefully figured out, the subject of my writing is ethics, specifically utilizing the notion of “everyday ethics” to help us all figure out how to be better people than we are.  This assumes that we have some notion of what it means to be a better person, which is a sticky concept [...]

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As a concerned citizen who makes a conscious effort to adopt sustainable habits, I typically try to repair broken devices that I have already purchased, rather than simply replacing them with new versions of the same thing.  This is unfortunately a very risky process, as many repair shops are not terribly trustworthy, and oftentimes it [...]

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Identity theft is a buzzword in our society.  Many policies and procedures are being adopted to try to deal with it, and people are now willing to go to great lengths and tolerate rather unbelievable conditions in order to protect themselves.  I have always found this to be a bit silly.  That is, until I [...]

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The weather is starting to get warm, and sunny days are causing many of us to break out our shorts, sandals, and other warm weather clothing. As a college student here in Colorado, I obviously attend classes with a large number of young women. The spring & summer has given rise to a [...]

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We all have priorities that indicate what sorts of things matter to us. Priorities are essentially the trump cards of our decision-making processes. When we must choose between helping a friend and doing something that supports our own personal goals, what we choose is largely an indicator of what our priorities are. [...]

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