Monthly Archives: April 2011
Ten Lessons from the “Dog Wars” Debate
The “Dog Wars” Android phone app is apparently down for the count, the victim of too many complaints, threats and accusations that it was evil and irresponsible and promotes real, live dog-fighting, even though almost nobody sane makes similar claims about other video games. As with the subject of most posts on Ethics Alarms, however, the ethics issue lingers on, whether or not the specific incident that sparked the commentary has been resolved. Continue reading
Imaginary Bird Cruelty: Ethical; Imaginary Dog Cruelty….?
It’s a video game, that’s all. Continue reading
Loop-Hole Ethics and The New York Times
The New York Times’ “Ethicist” asks,”If a company’s payment plan includes obvious loopholes, as The New York Times’s does, is it therefore ethical to step through them?” Continue reading
Ethics Hero: Attorney Paul Clement
In resigning from his law firm to assert the importance of lawyers representing unpopular causes (in this case, the Defense of Marriage Act), Paul Clement has upheld the ethical principles—loyalty, zeal, independence, integrity, resistance to outside interest and influences—that are the bedrock of the legal profession. Continue reading
Why I Hate Hate Crime Laws
Hate crime laws infuriate me every time I think about them, because they represent the lowest and most cynical form of cultural values-setting by lawmaking, an important task that is increasingly a lost art, because our lawmakers care more about posturing and power than values. Continue reading
Comment of the Day: “Fake Pregnancy, Real Deception, Real Harm
Commenter Karl Penny expands on the original post with reflections on trust. Continue reading
Filed under Business & Commercial, Daily Life, U.S. Society
Flashback: “Ethics Test at McDonald’s”
The incident that inspired the essay still troubles me. I wish I could blame McDonald’s for the callousness that my 2006 experience and last week’s incident in Maryland exposed, but unfortunately, our problem relates to the Golden Rule, not the Golden Arches. Continue reading
The MacDonald’s Beating Video, Another Dead Canary in The Ethics Mine
Though he had no obligation in his job as a McDonald’s staffer to risk injury or liability to intervene in a violent fight, Vernon Hackett had a human obligation to do so, as did everyone else on the scene. Instead, Hackett displayed the cold, uninvolved demeanor of a professional journalist, who regards as primary his duty to record the event. Continue reading
The ACLU Gives Us a Lesson in Principles
Sometimes bad people are connected to vital values, and it is impossible to protect one without helping the other. That’s when we find out exactly how much we care about core principles. The A.C.L.U. has passed its test with colors flying. Continue reading
Comment of the Day: “The Hazing Abuse of Michael Warren”
Frequent commenter and anti-child abuse advocate Steven Mark Pilling catalogues the defenses and rationalizations offered here by collegiate commenters who thought my post was overly hard on pro-hazing Hartwick College. Continue reading →
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Filed under Arts & Entertainment, Business & Commercial, Comment of the Day, Education, Gender and Sex, Law & Law Enforcement, Popular Culture, Public Service, Philanthropy, Charity, U.S. Society
Tagged as "Hounddog", "shooting the messenger", "two wrongs don't make a right", "Who are you to judge?", abuse, accountability, Alpha Delta Omega, autonomy, child abuse, cognitive dissonance, consenting to abuse, culpability, Dakota Fanning, desire for acceptance, ethical culture, fraternities, Hartwick College, hazing, liability, Michael Warren, negligence, Paul Petersen, peer pressure, racial bias, rationalizations, responsibility