Below are some books you may be interested in as you continue your ethics education and continue practicing philosophy with young people. This is quite a broad selection – hopefully you find something that appeals to you! Don’t hesitate to ask Dawn for other suggestions or for chapter scans from the books below. A Sneetch… Read More »Additional Reading Suggestions
The fairness lens can be surprisingly difficult to teach, perhaps because, “Is everyone being treated fairly?” is a squishy question that can be interpreted in a variety of ways. However, trying to teach students to use the Kantian ULF correctly is extremely difficult. The point of this post is to provide you with some background… Read More »The Fairness Lens
At the last stage, the goal of using the Act Ethically framework is to deliberate and make a choice using the information gathered at previous stages. “Is one option best in terms of outcome, fairness, respect and character?” It is not uncommon for reasoning to lead to the conclusion that one option is best according… Read More »Using the Framework: Arrive At A Choice
At the second stage, the goal of using the Act Ethically framework is to weigh the options under consideration according to major ethical factors. Reasons to use ethical lenses Many of us have preferred ways of approaching moral situations; in fact you may notice that one of the lenses resonates with you – it’s the… Read More »Using the Framework: Apply Ethical Lenses
At the first stage, the goal of using the Act Ethically framework is to identify key features of the situation under consideration and generate options for action. In general, there is no particular order these questions must be addressed in, though we recommend beginning this stage with “What are the facts of the situation?” and… Read More »Using the Framework: Understand the Situation
Courses of study in philosophy typically require classes in Logic and Critical Thinking. Sometimes these terms are used interchangeably, and sometimes they are used to refer to quite different things. Any distinction is not important for our purposes here, so we can lump them together. Logic and critical thinking focus on the rules of good… Read More »Logic and Critical Thinking
Below you will see the Act Ethically framework designed for use for students. This image can currently be downloaded as a full-color 18″x24″ poster and a full-color 8.5″x11″ document. If you would like to request other formats, contact us. Long-term we would like to have the framework imagery professionally re-designed. If you have ideas or… Read More »Act Ethically Framework (images, downloads)
Virtue ethics is a variety of ethical theory with a very long history, extending back to 6th-4th century BCE Greece and China. Nonetheless, in contemporary ethical theorizing, virtue ethics is considered a relative newcomer alongside consequentialist theories and deontological theories. This is because virtue ethics had a long dormant period in western ethics, and contemporary… Read More »Introduction to Virtue Ethics
‘Deontological‘ is a term used to describe a variety of moral theories that all put limitations on maximizing good outcomes. Kantian ethics – named for philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) – is one of the most commonly discussed deontological theories. In fact, the association is so close that you may find the terms ‘Kantianism’ and ‘deontology’… Read More »Introduction to Deontology
Why a framework? We frequently are faced with the question “What is the right thing to do?” No science experiment or empirical investigation will answer this type of question. How should we go about answering this question when it arises? There are a lot of potential traps we could fall into. We could try consulting… Read More »A Framework for Moral Reasoning
