In 2002, the topic for the prestigious Reith Lecture series was A Question of Trust. The lectures were given by philospher Onora O’Neill.

Here’s a brief overview:

We say we no longer trust our public services, institutions or the people who run them. Politicians, accountants, doctors, scientists, businessmen, auditors and many others are treated with suspicion. Their word is doubted, their motives are questioned.

Onora O’Neill challenges current approaches to accountability, investigates sources of deception in our society and re-examines questions of press freedom.

Posted by Amy as Ethics, Philosophy at 1:23 AM EDT

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If you’re feeling the need for a few guidelines for ethical living, check out Ben Franklin’s Thirteen Moral Virtues.

Here are a few of them:

• Order. Let all your Things have their Places. Let each Part of your Business have its Time.
• Justice. Wrong none, by doing Injuries or omitting the Benefits that are your Duty.
• Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.

It’s a fairly complete list of the basics—and it’s certainly easy to understand.

Posted by Amy as Ethics at 1:01 AM EDT

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If you’re feeling like a few out-of-the ordinary things to do to pass the time, check out The Philosophers’ Magazine Games and Interactive Activities.

This site allows you to take part in numerous quizzes, including the following:

• Do-It-Yourself Deity: you select the attributes you want in a God, and the “Metaphysical Engineers” tell you if the notion of God you have created is consistent with itself and with the universe we live in
• The Philosophical Health Check: this shows us how we may be holding mutually incompatible beliefs
• Shakespeare versus Britney Spears: “what is art? Which artists produce the greatest works of art?”
• Taboo: “Moral judgements, chickens and the yuk-factor. How do you measure up?”; here you rank certain scenarios as moral or immoral; see how others feel about them

These quizzes provide you with feedback on your reasoning and show you the percentage of other test-takers who agree with you.

This is a thought-provoking site; I’ll be going back to do more of the quizzes.

Via Plep.

Posted by Amy as Popular Culture, Ethics, Philosophy at 4:02 AM EDT

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Here’s an interesting link that talks about the background to thinking about moral dilemmas.

There’s also a related link that gives some examples of such dilemmas.

Via Cynical-C.

Posted by Amy as Ethics at 7:23 AM EDT

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