Considerations of the moral case for coal must do far more than consider whether cheap fossil energy will lift people out of poverty. It must consider the pollution and harm to nature that come with it.
Some argue that morality is everywhere, or maybe nowhere, in our brain.
Martin Deutsch/Flickr
There’s no single region in the brain responsible for all moral decision making. But neuroscience research has shown specific brain regions are involved when we’re faced with moral dilemmas.
Hackers calling themselves “The Impact Team” recently stole the customer data of Ashley Madison, an online dating service for people who are married or in committed relationships. Ashley Madison employs…
Nobody’s perfect – not you, and not your kids. And that’s OK.
from www.shutterstock.com
Feeling guilty and out of your depth as a parent? You’re not alone – and there are ways to turn the guilt you’re feeling into positive changes for your family.
Moral judgment should not be based on knowledge that comes only from hindsight.
Wolfgang Wildner
The film 13 Minutes dramatises an attempt by Georg Elser to assassinate Hitler in 1939, to prevent the war the Führer was preparing for. How clear-cut was the moral justification for that act?
We must ask ourselves how healthy it is to publicly shame a vulnerable person and what the right balance is between culpability and a sense of care and generosity to those who have done the wrong thing.
Push and pull factors. How bankers lose direction.
dayna mason
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…
Do we need religion in order to be moral? George Washington cautioned against “indulg[ing] the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion”, and today more than half of Americans believe…
Confucius stands guard at Beijing’s Renmin University.
George (Sam) Crane
In today’s China, the philosopher Confucius is back. To mark his 2,565th birthday this September, the nation’s President, Xi Jinping, paid homage to the sage at an international conference convened for…
Should teachers dictate what’s right or wrong?
Blackboard via pupunkkop/Shutterstock
In its ideal form, education should be socially progressive. We teach the next generation of scientists, engineers and medical researchers who will improve our quality of life: they will learn more about…
Legislating for commercial surrogacy would enable Australia to overcome concerns about poorly regulated clinics overseas, such as this one in Thailand.
EPA/Rungroj Yongrit
Often emphasised in discussions about children’s best interests is the idea that certain ways of having and raising children are “natural”. For example, this word appears frequently in reference to how…
Younger generations are more likely to engage in acts of kindness.
Alex Proimos
The world today is often portrayed as being less kind, friendly or giving than it used to be. So-called Gen Me, today’s teens and young adults, are the poster-children of moral decline, routinely characterised…
The distribution of wealth is fundamentally a moral question. So why has the response to the GFC been so sluggish?
EPA/JUSTIN LANE
Five years on, the response of governments around the world to the global financial crisis (GFC) continues to draw criticism. Leaders failed to fulfil the promises they made during the GFC’s darkest days…
Air strikes in Syria are the latest phase of the war against Islamic State, each stage involving a fresh set of moral judgements.
EPA/US Air Force
Every generation in recent memory has had seminal historical conflicts which demand that lessons must be learnt. The baby boomers had the Vietnam war. Their parents: the second world war. And our generation…
Does an education in everyday ethics really require an understanding of moral philosophy?
Jef Safi/Flickr
Ethics are increasingly a part of the school curriculum, and practical introductory classes in applied ethics are part of the training that nurses, scientists and soldiers undergo. Ethical education is…
All public decision-making depends on ethical values, even if that’s disguised.
AAP Image/NEWZULU/Courtney Biggs
However they’re spun, environmental concerns are never far from the headlines – and coordinated global marches on the weekend attest to the public’s interest in this area. Whenever we’ve made contributions…