Ethical Topics (1 Viewer)

[Steve_J]

I have to write a 3-page paper on a relatively current ethical issue which hasn't been debated to death and which isn't absurd. So far the norms I have receieved are things like abortion, death penalty, etc. but I'm looking for some more interesting and "different" topics to write about.

The issue HAS to be ethical and debatable so there has to be at least two sides to the issue and I even have to provide a strong argument against my issue and then refute it.

Any ideas would be very helpful. Thanks.

 

[Mike Lenthol]

Hmm, how current?

9/11 topics: if US government should practice 'assassinations'... or the new eavesdropping laws for law enforcement, 'echelon' etc...

other topics: Euthanasia, same sex marriage, etc...

 

[Patrick_S]

How about cloning?

It’s topical and certainly hasn’t been rehashed for years like some of the other topics.

 

[RicP]

Stem Cell Research to assist patients with alzheimers and paralysis victims.

 

[cafink]

For school, I recently had to read the book "The Ethics of Human Cloning" by Leon Kass and James Q. Wilson. It's very short, just a collection of a few essays from the pair. It is nevertheless a compelling read, and worth looking into. So my vote, like Patrick's, is for CLONING.

 

[DonRoeber]

Is it ethical to ban the use of cell phones by the drivers of motor vehicles? One could argue that it stiffles free speech.
Hey, its a different idea!

 

[Brad_W]

I had to do this once and I wrote about Birth Limits.

 

[Janna S]

Parents who have cochlear implants put into their deaf children's ears (which destroys the natural ear mechanisms) so the children become "hearing" rather than remaining deaf. A very fierce debate.

 

[Brad_W]

Janna,

I forgot all about that! I remember studying that in my audiology class.

 

[CharlesD]

Here a few topic suggestions: internet privacy, non-reproductive cloning, a right to anonymous free speech, secret military tribunals for terrorist suspects, Microsoft, strong encryption (i.e. individual use of encryption that no outside agency can break), and OAR vs P&S.

 

[Brad_W]

This is going to be lame.

I forewarned you.

and this is a joke.

The ethics of widescreen.

I told you it was going to be lame.

I did forewarn you.

and it was really just a joke. A lame one.

 

[Brian Harnish]

Brad -- now, now, that could actually be a great idea! With the right twist...he could put together a report that could get an A+.

 

[Sam C]

All it takes is viewing one research test on this ... You will see that it's ethical ... I saw the results and they show talking on the phone and sleep deprivation to be on par w/ a BAC of .15 ...
How about the newest and latest ...
Racial profiling in the interest of National Security ...

 

[Craig Chatterton]

Along the lines of Cell Phones (and HTF related anyway), how about the banning or blocking of Cell Phones and pagers in Theaters? There've been a couple great threads discussing that in HTF. You could look them up and use that material to argue both sides in your essay.

 

[Ryan Wright]

All it takes is viewing one research test on this ... You will see that it's ethical ... I saw the results and they show talking on the phone and sleep deprivation to be on par w/ a BAC of .15 ...

The research is BS. Analyze their research methods and you'll quickly find all sorts of flaws.

I've watched drunk drivers. They drive nothing like people on cellphones. Yeah, people on cellphones do some really stupid things while driving, but to say they're on par with a drunk driver is insane.

(/rant off)

 

[RogerB]

What about US military shooting down a civilian aircraft? The sacrifice of a few to save many.

 

[Steve_J]

Thanks guys, those are all great topics although I doubt my philosophy teacher would allow me to write about the ethics of widescreen...but hey you never know.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

I've always thought it was unethical to assign homework, I even wrote an assignment on the topic once

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Pardoning Jack Kavorkian (sp?) out so he can continue his 'death with dignity' campaign.

Glenn

 

[Reginald Trent]

How about is it ethical to pay farmers not to grow crops when you have impoverised hungry people in the country as well as the rest of the world?

Is it ethical for academy members to award Oscars based on popularity instead of quality?

Is it ethical to charge women more to dryclean their blouse than a man's shirt?

Is it ethical for a company to charge less for a product on the internet than at their brick and mortar stores?