AS Ethics

Mississippi adopts anti abortion legislation

Mississippi is the latest state to introduce new anti-abortion legislation. This could shut down its one remaining abortion clinic thus ending the possibility of abortion in that state. This action on the one hand “ensures the lives of the born and unborn are protected” (Governor Phil Bryant) yet on the other it appears to go directly against a womans basic right to an abortion as enshrined in the Roe vs Wade ruling of 1973. Click here for the link to the article in the LA Times

Abortion - Who decides?

Recent press interest on abortion has ranged from doctors signing off abortions for women they have never met to whether ‘After Birth Abortion’ can be morally justified.
BBC Moral Maze discusses abortion, considering the issue from all angles.
Click here for BBC Moral Maze - The morality of abortion.

The Killing of Osama Bin Laden

Should we worry about the niceties of the judicial system when it comes to terrorism?
Click here for the link

Can Science Answer Moral Questions?

In his recent TED talk Sam Harris argues that science can and should be used to answer moral questions. He talks about the relationship between science and human values. Usually it is thought that science can help us understand what we value but never tells us what we ought to value in the first place.
It is often said that science deals with facts and facts and values seem to belong to different spheres. Sam Harris argues this is untrue. He believes that values are a certain kind of fact. If questions affect human wellbeing then they do have answers whether or not we can find them, by admitting there are right and wrong answers that affect how humans florish will change the way we talk about morality.
Click here for the link
Have a look at the discussion underneath the TED talk as well.

Darwin and Religion

Darwins Dangerous Ideas.
Thurs 9pm. BBC2
Andrew Marr

I can’t recommend watching this enough. This is an excellent account of the origins of the science vs religion debate.

Click here for the iplayer link

Do you know your Biblical references?

Poet Laureate Andrew Motion has raised concerns that many students are coming unstuck because they do not understand their bible references. Test your knowledge with this quiz from the Bible Society. Click here

 

Moral Monkeys and Kant

In todays ‘Thought for the Day” Akhandadhi Das spoke about research presented last week to show that Monkeys express empathy and offer help when a fellow animal is in trouble. These findings seem to suggest that animals have a moral sense, thus calling into question the idea that humans are unique. Does this have implications for the Moral Argument as a proof for the existence of God?

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Philosophers Football Match

Strange but true -
A board game simulating a football match between French and German Philosophers.
If you fancy a go then click here for the link. It contains all of the rules and everything you’ll need to play!