Technology isn’t value-neutral. Unless we understand the ethical assumptions behind our technology, we can’t trust the solutions it offers.
- Associate Lecturer, University of Notre Dame Australia
In democracies, it’s pretty difficult to bring about any agreement on anything. So when there is general consensus that something is a problem, I think it’s a good idea for us to sit up and pay attention…
Do you run wild in Fallout, or vicariously hunt zombies in The Walking Dead? Three philosophers investigate the enduring appeal of the post-apocalypse.
It’s been a bumper few months if you’re sceptical about the capacity of business ethics to enact moral change in the world. From VW’s emissions fraud to 7/11’s wage scandals and the apparent market for…
Philosophy has a problem with expertise. The discipline is, at its heart, a form of questioning that struggles to provide for easy or definite answers. I think this is one of philosophy’s strengths, but…
Preface What I’m about to discuss does not apply to all veterans. That’s worth noting up front. There’s a danger in universalising what are specific, varied, and limited experiences. It’s also important…
In the first entry in this series of posts, I argued that “even for vigilante heroes, there are lines that cannot be crossed.” Most frequently, the line that heroes will refuse to cross is killing. No…
The debate about ethics classes in schools risks placing ethics in opposition to religion, whereas the classes will ultimately benefit all.
Political leaders frequently invoke Just War Theory to ground their explanations of why they are waging war against another state and how they plan to do so. What are the key components of this moral position?
I’ve spent the last few weeks binge-watching The CW’s Arrow, the television adaptation of DC Comics superhero The Green Arrow. Like most of the world I’ve spent the last few years enamoured by superhero…
“What do you do for a crust?” is usually one of the more predictable questions you’ll be asked at a social gathering. It’s classic small talk – we define ourselves, and others, by what we sell our labour…
Creativity and imagination - it’s impossible to discuss one without reference to the other - are often discussed with regard to the great artists, thinkers, and visionaries of our world. Those are the…
Today is UNESCO World Philosophy Day, a day aimed to “underline the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought, for each culture and for each individual”. However, it was not so…
You’re a free thinker – congratulations – but does that mean you can, and should, approach everything with an open mind? Let me try to convince you you shouldn’t. I do not want to argue with him: he shows…
The public debate around the recent prisoner swap that saw US Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl returned from five years’ imprisonment in Afghanistan in exchange for five senior Taliban leaders has had two main…
This morning, Australian Catholics awoke to the news that black smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. The seat remains vacant, there is no Pope. By now many of us will have learned through…
When millimetres can be the difference between glory and anonymity, how far will some athletes go to get an edge? For some, it seems, not even their soul is too high a price. In a day sports authorities…
Another Australian soldier has tragically lost his life while on his seventh tour in Afghanistan. The 40 year-old special forces soldier from Perth was shot while on a counter-insurgency operation in the…
I’m a relatively well-disciplined guy. In my brief time in this world, I’ve managed to complete a degree, quit smoking, and exercise thirty-odd kilos of self-indulgence away. But if there’s a TV on in…
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