LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: As political philosophies emerged in different cultures, their followers adopted notions of ideal societies and systems of government. This section examines the ideas of Aristotle and Plato…
Figure 11.1 Guernica (1937), a large oil painting on canvas by Pablo Picasso, is a powerful example of politically engaged artwork. Originally displayed at the 1937 International Exposition in Paris, Guernica depicts the bombing of the Basque town of Guernica in northern Spain by Italian…
The Challenge of Bioethics Bioethics studies ethical issues that emerge with advances in biology, technology, and medicine. Important contemporary ethical issues in bioethics include abortion, euthanasia, and clinical trials. Different philosophers view these issues in different ways, resulting in various…
LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: Ethical questions pertaining to business and to emerging technology raise a number of broad issues, including corporate responsibility and the potential dangers of artificial intelligence. Additionally, a…
LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: Before environmental ethics emerged as an academic discipline in the 1970s, some people were already questioning and rethinking our relationship to the natural world. Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County…
LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: The term bioethics, which essentially means “life ethics,” was coined in 1970 by Van Rensselaer Potter (1911–2011), an American biochemist. It is a field that studies ethical issues that emerge…
Figure 10.1 Bioethics is an area of applied ethics that explores the many potential ethical dilemmas that can arise in medicine and related areas. Bioethics addresses questions like: “What is informed consent?” “When, if ever, can a physician assist a patient in…
Requirements of a Normative Moral Theory Ethics is the philosophical study of morality. It is commonly divided into three main areas: metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics, each of which is distinguished by a different level of inquiry. A normative moral theory…
LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: Feminism is, among other things, a political and philosophical movement that aims to end sexism and promote social justice. Feminists argue that the long-standing dominance of the male…
LEARNING OBJECTIVES By the end of this section, you will be able to: Daoism (also written as Taoism) finds its beginnings during the Warring States period of ancient China. Like Mohism and Confucianism, Daoism is a response to the social unrest…