CedarEthics

Do We Have Free Will?

Now wait a minute, you may say. That’s a silly question. Of course we have free will — we all make choices, and we are all accountable for our actions.
Hmm, not so fast. Some claim that only physical and naturalistic forces are at work in the universe. What we perceive as free will is merely [...]

February 26th, 2010

The Nazi Medical Research Data: Use It or Lose It? (12)

In today’s podcast, we talk about one of the most egregious abuses of ethics in modern history: the horrible medical experiments carried out by Nazi physicians during WWII. Should we make use of the data that the Nazi doctors obtained, even though it was often gathered by taking the lives of Jewish prisoners in death [...]

 

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December 14th, 2007

The Pursuit of ‘Happyness’

Actor Will Smith received a Best Actor nomination in 2006 for his role as Chris Gardner, a stuggling single father of a five year-old boy. “The Pursuit of Happyness” was inspired by a true story, and is a moving portrayal of courage, tenacity, and street smarts, as the hero tries to make it as an [...]

June 28th, 2007

How to Have an Argument (6)

Our March Podcast is an “argument” about abortion with Aaron Costerisan, our Center for Bioethics Fellow. We conduct this argument in two ways. First we break all the rules of respectful debate (see if you can spot our errors). Then we analyze our mistakes and try again. Hopefully, we do better the second time.
Our goal [...]

 

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February 28th, 2007

When Moral Laws Collide (4)

Our mid-January podcast features one very tough ethics question, about moral rules in conflict. We present a case study from The Hiding Place, a classic story about Nazi-occupied Holland during World War II.
You are hiding political refugees in your house, and soldiers knock on your door. Do you lie to the soldiers to save a [...]

 

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January 19th, 2007

Where Do Ethical Rules Come From? (1)

Our first podcast offers a quick survey of the sources of ethical rules, commentary on two news items, and today’s Tough Ethics Question.
Sources:

Feinberg & Feinberg: Ethics for a Brave New World
Missouri Coalition for Lifesaving Cures
Scotsman News Service report on hybrid embryos

Theme Music: Gli Uccelli (The Birds), Part I. Prelude (Allegro moderato), by Respighi, courtesy of [...]

 

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December 1st, 2006