By Mark van Vugt | New Scientist "DO YOU ever get the impression that civilisation has degenerated into an unedifying free-for-all? Like pigs gobbling at their troughs, we all seem to be out to get as much as possible of whatever is on offer. Everyone is at it, from loggers felling the Amazonian...

By Jeremy Mercer from Ode Magazine "The City of Yonkers, New York, wound up in a distressing predicament early this year. The municipal budget was running a deficit and the economic crisis was sorely aggravating the problem. Layoffs were needed and among the casualties were six firefighters, including...

"Socrates talked. The assumption behind his approach to philosophy, and the approaches of millions of people since, is that moral thinking is mostly a matter of reason and deliberation: Think through moral problems. Find a just principle. Apply it. One problem with this kind of approach to morality...

In America: The National Catholic Weekly by John F. Kavanaugh " W here is Kant when we need him? In a culture that seems to have a watered-down version of John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism as its default position, personal liberty and happiness are the moral mantras..." Read the article

In February, Union University in Jackson, TN will host a conference called "Making Men Moral: The Public Square and the Role of Moral Judgment." The dates of the conference are February 25-27, 2009. Speakers at the conference will be professors known for their work in ethics and morality, including...

Considering morality from viewpoints other than philosophy is becoming more and more common. This article from The Economist describes a panel discussion focusing on what biology has to offer in the debate about morality. Source: The Economist "Whence morality? That is a question which has troubled...

This paper argues that Anscombe and Foot were correctly skeptical of the concept of moral rightness. Two senses of morally right action are distinguished, a strong notion that has deontic implications and a weaker notion that does not. It is argued that unless contemporary virtue ethicists are embracing...

By Philip Goodchild The work of Pierre Hadot has re-established an approach to philosophy as a way of life, a set of spiritual exercises (Hadot 1995, 2002). As Socrates explained his task, "I tried to persuade each of one of you to concern himself less with what he has than with what he is, so as...

By Nicholas Maxwell "This book will enthral anyone concerned about ultimate questions – the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, the fate of humanity. It is written in a lively, accessible style, and has original things to say about a number of fundamental issues. It argues that we need...

By James M. Jacobs That the essence of human nature is to be free is a common theme of many otherwise disparate philosophical traditions. From Augustine to Sartre, the fact of human freedom has been the point of departure for the consideration of humanity’s essence. If philosophers are correct about...

Jessica M. Salerno, Cynthia J. Najdowski, Margaret C. Stevenson, Tisha R. A. Wiley, Bette L. Bottoms, Roberto Vaca Jr., Pamela S. Pimentel In three studies, we investigated support for applying sex offender registry laws to juveniles. Family law attorneys supported registry laws less for juveniles than...

John Cottingham The virtue of integrity does not appear explicitly in either the Aristotelian or the Judaeo-Christian list of virtues, but elements of both ethical systems implicitly acknowledge the importance of a unified and integrated life. This paper argues that integrity is indispensible for a good...

James R. Otteson Adam Smith raised a series of obstacles to effective large-scale social planning. In this paper, I draw these Smithian obstacles together to construct what I call the “Great Mind Fallacy,” or the belief that there exists some person or persons who can overcome the obstacles Smith raises...

Leslie Paul Thiele Hannah Arendt is best known for her trenchant analysis and original evaluation of political life. The sine qua non of politics is human action, which she celebrates above all other human capacities. Arendt equates action with freedom. Action in concert is identified as power. As the...

By Daniel Y. Elstein and Thomas Hurka. "Many philosophers of the last century thought all moral judgments can be expressed using a few basic concepts — what are today called ‘thin’ moral concepts such as ‘good,’ ‘bad,’ ‘right,’ and ‘wrong.’ This was the view, first, of the non-naturalists whose...

Thomas L. Pangle This interpretative commentary recovers the largely overlooked significance of a work that illuminates, by portraying in a subtle comic drama, the new perspective on existence, the new way of life, that Socrates introduced in and through his founding of political philosophy. The famous...