bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Imperatives, Categorical and Hypothetical
Authors: Kerstein Samuel J. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractEthicists distinguish between categorical and hypothetical imperatives. Categorical imperatives specify actions we ought to take regardless of whether doing so would enable us to get anything we want. An example of a categorical imperative might be “Keep your promises.” Hypothetical imperatives identify actions we ought to take, but only if we have some particular goal. They are rules such as “If you want to visit Grant's tomb, then travel to New York.” Many ethicists believe that moral rules are categorical imperatives: they express what we ought to do, regardless of whether doing it would satisfy our desires or promote our happiness. For example, a person ought to keep a promise she has made even if she no longer wants to keep it because doing so would be unpleasant and in no way serve her purposes.
Imagination In Ethics
Authors: Thomson‐Jones Katherine 
Published: December 2012

AbstractDespite a recent resurgence of interest in its cognitive and aesthetic significance, the imagination continues to receive relatively short shrift in philosophical ethics. In Western philosophy there is a long tradition of thinking that morality is just too serious a business to leave up to the imagination. Yet there is another tradition of thinking that, in relation to feeling, failure to cultivate and discipline the imagination is a serious moral error. A proper understanding of the various activities of and constraints on the imagination helps to reconcile these two traditions. It also reveals the variety and complexity of roles for the imagination in ethics.
Integrity
Authors: Miller Christian 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIntegrity is one of the leading normative concepts employed in our society. We frequently talk about the degree of integrity of community leaders and famous historical figures, and we highly value integrity in our elected public officials. But philosophers have had a difficult time arriving at consensus about what integrity consists in. Some claim that it is a purely formal relation of consistency, others that it has to do primarily with one's identity, and still others that it involves subjective or objective moral requirements. The primarily goal here is to outline the leading facets of integrity in the contemporary philosophical literature.
Intersubjectivity
Authors: Zahavi and Dan , Overgaard Søren 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

The notion of intersubjectivity is a relatively new concept. The German term
Intersubjektivität
made its first sporadic appearance in 1885 in a work by Johannes Volkelt. It was picked up by James Ward and first used in English in 1896. Initially, the concept was used to describe something with universal validity, something that was valid for everybody, something that was valid independently of every subject. This sporadic use of the term subsequently found its way into philosophy of science. The first systematic and extensive philosophical discussion and treatment of the notion of intersubjectivity can, however, be found in the work of the German philosopher Edmund Husserl, the founder of phenomenology (
see
Husserl, Edmund). Although Husserl remained deeply interested in the link between intersubjectivity and objectivity, he ultimately used the former term to designate a plurality of subjects and the relation that exists between them (Husserl 1973). This understanding of the term, which was subsequently taken up by later phenomenologists and which then (through the work of Schütz) found its way into sociology and social theory, places the term alongside related terms such as sociality, social cognition, and interpersonal understanding.
Insanity Defense
Authors: Morse Stephen J. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractLegal insanity is a complete defense to a criminal charge (seeCriminal Law). Crimes are defined by their criteria, what lawyers call the “elements” of the crime, which the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. These usually include an intentional act and a further mental state, called themens rea. For example, murder is defined generally as the intentional killing of a human being. The prosecution must prove that the defendant intentionally performed a killing act with the intent to kill. Even if the prosecution is able to prove the elements beyond a reasonable doubt, however, a criminal defendant can avoid conviction by establishing an “affirmative” defense of justification or excuse. Many jurisdictions permit placing the burden of proof for legal insanity on the defense, a procedural rule that disadvantages defendants and may be more outcome determinative than the wording of the test for legal insanity.
Age Discrimination
Authors: Cupit Geoffrey 
Published: December 2012

AbstractDiscrimination by age is common in all societies. While the potential for differential treatment exists across the span of life, discrimination based on age is especially associated with the young and the old. The young may be required to attend schools, be restricted in employment, be barred from voting and standing for office, be denied access to various goods and services available to adults, and be unable to make enforceable contracts.
Kant, Immanuel
Authors: Wood Allen W. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

The ethical theory of Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) is one of the greatest and most characteristic creations of the European Enlightenment. It exercises continuing influence on moral philosophers and the wider moral and political culture generally. The fundamental idea on which Kantian ethics is based is that the same basic moral principles are objectively binding on all of us because they can be regarded by us as legislated by our own rational capacity to govern our lives. An equally important part of the Kantian vision is that all human beings have equal dignity as members of the moral community, constituting an ideal “realm of ends.” Ethical principles are conceived as the ones that would require people to join with others in the shared pursuit of a system of ends that respects the dignity (or absolute worth) and provides equally for the happiness of all (
see
Happiness).
Laozi
Authors: Lee Jung H. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractTheLaozi, orDaodejing(lit. “The Classic of the Way and Its Power”), occupies a unique place in classical Chinese literature: it is at once a work of philosophy, religion, poetry, and government. Perhaps because of its polysemic nature, theLaoziresists easy interpretation, particularly when we examine its meaning in regard to the realm of ethics. Having said that, there does seem to be a distinctive normative voice within the text that addresses the concerns of the moral life (seeNormativity). In essence, theLaozicommends a life modeled on theDao(lit. “the Way”) in the cultivation of virtues like naturalness, spontaneity, and selflessness, which are all intended to help the practitioner achieve the Good (seeGoodness, Varieties of; Virtue; Virtue Ethics). The authors suggest that human nature (xing), once pure and unblemished, has been corrupted by the pressures of society – unnatural in many cases – and that political decline can be traced to the indifference, cruelty, and excessive desires of its ruling bodies. Accordingly, rather than following Confucians or Mohists into more “learning” and knowledge, the authors counsel the reader (perhaps a potential ruler) to “unlearn” what she has learned and to act naturally (ziran) and without self‐conscious effort (wu‐wei), in the process revealing the “inner power” (de) of the Way (seeConfucius; Daoist Ethics; Mozi).
Supererogation
Authors: Hill, Thomas E. , Cureton Adam 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

“Supererogation” is now a technical term in philosophy for a range of ideas expressed by terms such as “good but not required,” “beyond the call of duty,” “praiseworthy but not obligatory,” and “good to do but not bad not to do” (
see
Duty and Obligation; Intrinsic Value). Examples often cited are extremely generous acts of charity, heroic self‐sacrifice, extraordinary service to morally worthy causes, and sometimes forgiveness and minor favors. These concepts are familiar in institutional contexts, for example, when teachers give points for “extra credit” work, corporations give “bonuses” for profitable leadership, and armies award medals for extraordinary service and valor. Moral philosophers, however, have generally focused on whether or not some of these terms refer to a fundamental moral category and, if so, how the category should be defined, which acts the category includes, and whether various moral theories adequately acknowledge it. The idea that acts can be good and praiseworthy but beyond duty has seemed puzzling for several reasons. For example, it seems that “good and praiseworthy” appeals to scalar standards of (“more or less”) value and virtue whereas “duty,” “required,” and “obligatory” invoke nonscalar norms that make (“all or nothing”) demands. This raises the theoretical question whether morality presupposes two distinct conceptual schemes, and, if so, to what extent and how these can be unified in a consistent and coherent moral theory.
Just War Theory, History of
Authors: Reichberg Gregory M. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractMoral reflection on war (seeWar) has a long pedigree in Western civilization. The idea that warfare should be guided by norms of justice is given voice in both the Hebrew Scriptures and in the writings of Plato and Aristotle. The idea is developed more explicitly by Cicero and St. Augustine, both of whom emphasized how war can be justifiable only when it is waged without cruelty and to restore a peace that has been wrongly violated. However, it was not until the Latin Middle Ages (twelfth–thirteenth centuries) – when canon lawyers and theologians adopted the term of artbellum justum(just war) – that a systematic approach to this subject emerged.
International Research Ethics
Authors: Schuklenk Udo , Philpott Sean 
Published: December 2012

AbstractResearch ethics came into its own as an ongoing academic and regulatory concern in the aftermath of the Nuremberg Trials. Knowledge of the Nazi experiments led to the first international guidelines stipulating basic ethics standards for research involving human participants (Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals under Control Council Law 1994 [1949]). Subsequent scandals – including but not limited to the Tuskegee syphilis study – led to further and improved ethics guidelines such as the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki (World Medical Association 1964–2008) as well as such national documents as the landmark Belmont Report in the USA (National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research 1979).
AIDS
Authors: Schuklenk Udo , Viens A. M. 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), which is caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has emerged as the paradigmatic disease for ethical analyses addressing issues in infectious disease control and public health. The ethical issues surrounding HIV/AIDS are best divided conceptually into two parts: life prior to and after the advent of life‐preserving therapies. This division not only provides a natural way to categorize how ethical issues were dealt with historically compared to recent times, but also in terms of mapping out the ethical relevance of HIV/AIDS in relation to developed and developing nations.
Justice
Authors: Rainbolt George W. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIt is not possible to do justice to justice in one essay. Justice has been a central concern of philosophy from the time of Plato (1992;seePlato) until today. As the many essays in this encyclopedia with “just” or “justice” in the title illustrate, the scope of justice is vast (seeCompensatory Justice; Criminal Justice Ethics; Global Distributive Justice; International Criminal Justice; Just Cause [In War]; Just Price; Just War Theory, History of; Juvenile Justice). Moreover, justice is a central theme in other essays as well (see, for example, Punishment; Affirmative Action). Finally, many different kinds of things can be just: decisions, thoughts, actions, people, rules, institutions, etc.
Intransitivity
Authors: Carlson Erik 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIt is usually taken for granted that ifais better thanb, andbis better thanc, thenais better thanc. In other words, betterness is normally thought to be atransitiverelation. Transitivity is a crucial assumption in theories of value aggregation and measurement, and it appears essential for normative theories, as well. Arguably, any plausible moral theory puts some weight on promoting the good. If betterness is not always transitive, it may be that optionahas a better outcome than optionb, andbhas a better outcome than optionc, butchas a better outcome thana. In such a case, the requirement to promote the good provides no guide to action.
Liberation Theology and Ethics
Authors: Mendieta Eduardo 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

Theology, as the word indicates etymologically, is the rational elucidation of God. Most concretely, it is the explication, justification, and clarification of a specific community of faith witnessing to its God. Religion, the name for what binds a community in a ritual, issues in theology. There is no religion that is merely personal, which is why theology takes shape in a community of faith. A personal theology would be an oxymoron. There is first the practice of a certain belief in a God that has been revealed, and then subsequently there is an attempt to understand what that revelation or belief entails. For this reason theology in the most general sense is also considered “apologetics,” that is, it is a defense of what is taken to be a certain truth and what that truth entails. A classic example of how theology is apologetics is St. Augustine's
The City of God against the Pagans
(413–26), a book that elaborates an apologetics of the Christian faith against the imputation that Christians were to blame for the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410
AD
(
see
Augustine, Saint). Saint Thomas of Aquinas'
Summa Theologica
(1265–74) dispenses with the “against Pagans,” but it is nonetheless a compendium of all the possible objections and rebuttals that could have been brought against the Christian conception of God (
see
Aquinas, Saint Thomas). As such it is the most comprehensive apologetics ever written by a Christian theologian. From Augustine to twentieth‐century theologians, apologetics has been the subtext of theological reflection. That all theology is always apologetics directs us to another fundamental aspect of theology, namely that all theology has ethical consequences. How faith is justified among a community of believers and before others entails how relationships internal and external to that community are established, preserved, nourished, and respected. Theology and ethics are intricately linked. If theology is “faith seeking understanding (
fides quaerens intellectum
)” as St. Anselm of Canterbury (1033–1109) put it, then all theology is also an ethics. To seek to understand one's faith is to seek to understand what is required of one with respect to God, and therefore with respect to other human beings. Theology aims to clarify a right relation to God so as to be in a right relation to other human beings and to creation. For this reason, theology has an eminently practical dimension. All religious beliefs imply certain ethical commitments.
Jefferson, Thomas
Authors: Butler Brian E. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractThomas Jefferson (1743–1826) occupies a significant place in history as the most clear and forceful advocate of a universal ethics based on a mix of natural law (seeNatural Law) and human rights (seeRights). He is unique among political theorists in his ability to translate such ideas into action. Jefferson is also the most famous American historical figure to represent a localized and agrarian ethics and to advocate a state's right of constitutional nullification. Finally, the various aspects of Jefferson's life are difficult to harmonize – it has therefore been argued that his life and his projects show the ethical ambiguities of the United States in stark relief.
Identity, Politics of
Authors: Nicholson Linda 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
The phrase “identity politics” refers to a type of political movement where the issue of social identity is a central concern of the political movement itself. The phrase emerged in the early 1970s, in particular with reference to the kind of political turn taken in the late 1960s and early 1970s by many of those fighting on behalf of African Americans and women in the United States.
Ancillary‐Care Obligations
Authors: Richardson Henry S. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractAncillary‐care obligations are a type of special obligation of beneficence that arise in the context of focused, special relationships – fleeting or established, professional or informal – between people. Other sorts of special obligations of beneficence are traditionally understood in terms of the aim or focus of a relationship, such as sharing friendship or obtaining a professional's service.
Austin, J. L.
Authors: Warner Richard 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
John Langshaw Austin (1911–60), known as J. L. Austin, held the White Chair of Philosophy at Oxford. He regarded ethics as the study of “what actions are good or bad, right or wrong” (Urmson and Warnock 1979: 142), and he focused primarily on the concept of responsibility, where his investigations concerned promissory obligations, and the relation between free action, justification, and excuse.
Malebranche, Nicolas
Authors: Walsh Julie 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

The French Oratorian Nicolas Malebranche (1638–1715) was one of the most famous philosophers of his time. While his status as an important intellectual figure declined following his death, a resurrection of his works began in the latter half of the twentieth century. This renewed interest in Malebranche's thought was certainly promoted by the publication and subsequent wide availability of his complete works in the original French (20 volumes published between 1958 and 1984), and several translations, most notably of Malebranche's magnum opus
The Search After Truth
, which served to make the philosopher more accessible to the English‐speaking world. The push to establish Malebranche as a valuable figure in the history of philosophy is well motivated. His collected works illustrate a careful and unorthodox synthesis of the philosophies of Saint Augustine (
see
AUGUSTINE, SAINT
) and René Descartes that exercised many of Malebranche's contemporaries, the reactions of whom (often in the form of zealous objection) are found in correspondence and volumes of published works. Malebranche's influence on eighteenth‐century British philosophy in particular has been well chronicled (McCracken 1983). Given his range of influence and his unique system, it is no longer idiosyncratic to affirm that a familiarity with Malebranche's views is critical for an understanding of the evolution of philosophical thought through the early modern period and beyond (
see
EARLY MODERN ETHICS
).
Arrogance
Authors: Dillon Robin S. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractIn ordinary conversation the term “arrogant” is used to describe things such as organizations and policies, but it is more commonly applied to people's actions, attitudes, or their personality or character. Interestingly, it can express both strong moral criticism (as for a disrespectful action) and admiration (as for a quality it might be thought beneficial for a leader to have).
Intellectual Property
Authors: Hull Gordon 
Published: December 2012

Abstract
“Intellectual property” (IP) generally refers to a legal entitlement or entitlements over an intangible good such as an invention, a song, or a corporate logo. Discussion of the ethical issues raised by IP is relatively recent, and is driven both by its increasing economic importance and advances in copying technologies. Because IP rights cover culturally significant products such as movies and books, IP has always been culturally important. Today, however, as more and more economic value derives from intangible goods (i.e., to the extent that economies become “knowledge based”), while copying these goods simultaneously becomes easier and cheaper, ethical discussion of IP is poised to be increasingly significant at a global level.
Kantian Practical Ethics
Authors: Gressis Robert 
Published: December 2012

Abstract

Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) was probably the most important philosopher of the modern era (
see
Kant, Immanuel; Late Modern British Ethics). He made groundbreaking contributions in both theoretical philosophy (especially epistemology and metaphysics) and practical philosophy (especially ethics and political philosophy). While his theoretical philosophy set the agenda for much of the theoretical philosophy that followed it, most succeeding philosophers reject its foundational claims (such as the ideality of space and time), even as they agree with certain of the conclusions that Kant drew from those claims (such as the limitation of knowledge to the spatiotemporal realm). By contrast, many post‐Kantian philosophers agree with the foundational principle of Kant's normative ethics, the “Formula of Humanity” (treat humanity, wherever you find it, always as an end in itself and never as a mere means to your ends), while rejecting some of the specific conclusions that Kant drew from it (e.g., the wrongness of masturbation and homosexual sex).
Action
Authors: McCann Hugh J. 
Published: December 2012

AbstractBy “action” we may understand those doings, whether mental or overt, in which the doer exercises agency – the distinctive capacity to control and direct one's behavior toward ends or objectives. Most philosophical treatments of action begin with bodily acts like moving an arm or a finger, and the first order of business in such treatments is usually to discern the difference between bodily actions and mere motions of the body that are non‐actional. My arm may move as the result of a muscle spasm, or it may move because I raise it; the question is what differentiates the two. Efforts to make out the distinction often concentrate on the notion of intention, since it seems to be the case that, when action occurs, what goes on is intentional under some description or other (Davidson 1980;seeIntention). Explorations of intentionality lead in turn to examinations of the relation of reasons to action (seeReasons), since intentional actions are usually explainable in terms of the agent's reasons. And, since one possibility is that reasons are causally related to action, questions having to do with freedom usually arise. Finally, there is a problem as to how actions are to be individuated. By moving my arm I can accomplish a lot: I may throw a stick, play with my dog, tone up my shoulder muscles, distract a passing driver, and much more. The problem of individuation is one of deciding how the many deeds that may be accomplished in one exercise of agency are related to one another.