Glenn Hladek, University of Montana
The ethical debate regarding life-saving organ transplants no longer embodies the emotional content generated by the first successful transplant in 1955. The decision of life – no life, and the success of medical intervention has certainly muted that debate…
Katherine Duthie, University of Victoria, Victoria BC, Canada
Abstract: Although scientists have developed tests which enable individuals to determine characteristics of their genetic make-up, no one has yet determined how this technology and the resulting information may be handled ethically. This p…
Russell T. Daley, Graduate Student, California State University, Long Beach
December 13, 2000
presented to: Institute for Applied and Professional Ethics
Ohio University
April 28, 2001
“This research is of such fundamental importance that all responsible citizens should be aware of its implications.
—Dr. Shirley J. Wright, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Biology, Un…
By Edward S. Harris, Chowan College
Abstract
For years our understanding of suicide has been commonly defined, as simply, “the taking of ones own life.” Furthermore the word “suicide” in the western tradition has held a negative connotation; most believe that the use of suicide as a solution to a problem is a cowardly act or the action of someone who is n…
Deni Elliot, Director, Practicial Ethics Center, University of Montana
Read at the 2001 Ohio University student conference on applied ethics
April 28, 2001
The problem with practical ethics is that it is all about them.
Books, case studies, and even ethics classes themselves generally focus on people outside the classroom. Often the focus is on people who we don’t know,…
Richard Wilson, John Carroll University
This essay examines the ethical dimensions of AIDS media coverage in the early 1980’s. Through critical analysis and application of Carol Gilligan’s ethic of care (1982), this essay dissects how media coverage in the early 1980’s reflected male-based ethics, which rely heavily upon notions of justice. Since AIDS…
Julie A. Demorest, John Carroll University
There is no denying that news media is big business. The complete coverage of stories and investigative reports are certainly at risk with the rise of media as a business, rather than strictly a service to the public. Over the past few years, there have been a number of cases where television stations or news publications have k…
Patricia Lancia, Wilfred Laurier University
At the end of World War II, 80 percent of daily newspapers in the United States were independently owned,1 yet even then The Commission on Freedom of the Press, also known as the Hutchins Commission, perceived the significant threats to freedom of expression pos…
Marah Eakin, Ohio University
In 1966, the United States Supreme Court ruled “The massive, pervasive and prejudicial publicity attending petitioner’s prosecution prevented him from receiving a fair trial,”freeing Dr. Sam Sheppard from prison and condemning the media for their handling of a trial 12 years previous.
The 1954 murder of Marilyn Sheppard (s…
Matthew Foust, John Carroll University
Utilitarian moral theories purport to be in favor of maximizing the well-being of all concerned. In accordance with this principle, several of an agent’s values must receive protection while practicing any form of utilitarianism, considering protection of human rights to be conducive to human well-being. Autonomy would seem t…