Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ethics

Random position ethics?

Anything — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:13:42 -0800

Please help me remember the name (and proponents and critics) of a specific ethical principle. The details may be off but I think it was formulated roughly like this:

Premise: From among all the members of a given kind of society, imagine that your position in that society was assigned at random.

Principle: Behave in a way that promotes the kind of society where you would be most comfortable with being randomly assigned to.

I remember this being described in a speech or a panel discussion I watched on the internet, most likely as part of one of the Beyond Belief meetings, but I just can't find it. I also remember that the person describing it argued that there was some kind of a fundamental flaw in the principle.

The Budget Ethical Gourmet

whodatninja — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:28:53 -0800

Help me put together a shopping list that is 1) ethical 2) healthy and 3) under $50/week. One of my goals for the coming year is to be more ethically responsible in my food choices. I recognize that the first step is to eat more frequently at home, where I can control the sourcing for the most part. As a young person in a big city, I am on a budget- $50 a week for groceries is the most I can put out.

I am not a vegetarian or vegan, but I do want to reduce my meat consumption. I eat a lot of seafood (generally wild-caught and per the Monterey Bay Aquarium recommendations). I eat a lot of fresh produce, which I get from a variety of places. I lean toward local and organic produce, but local is more important to me than organic. I eat dairy in the form of yogurt and cheese, not so much on milk. I drink water, coffee, beer and wine. I also get bored easily and like to try new things, so rice and beans 5 times a week is not an option.

At my disposal are farmers markets, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Costco and standard grocery stores. I don't want to go to more than 2 stores a week for food (but I am willing to stock up, at say, Whole Foods for meat for the month, and go to 2 different sources on a different week). I like to cook and am very willing to try out new foods, recipes, cooking techniques, etc.

Where do I start? I am looking for help in menu planning, and acquiring the foods on a sensible, ethical and affordable way.

Am I planning to act unethically?

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 17:35:52 -0800

After five months of being out of work, and seven months of looking, I have recently been offered a job. Great, right? Of course it is, but it's presenting an ethical dilemma for me. The scenario: The job I've been offered is really not what I want to do in either the short or long term, and is a big step backward career-wise. This is a job that I could do in my sleep, and I just simply don't WANT a job I can do in my sleep. In fact, I've done this particular job for years, before making a substantial career leap within the same field about four years ago. I do not anticipate that this job will involve any future growth, making it the very definition of "dead end." However, it is a paycheck, and a damn good one at that. After being unemployed for as long as I've been I'm really in no financial position to turn it down, as I've nearly exhausted my savings and will have to tap my 401k within the next month or two.

The offer that I have in hand has been made on a temp-to-perm basis, where my new employer has the opportunity to "try before they buy", having me work for them as an hourly-rate temp through an agency with the (verbal and nonbinding) understanding that this is a trial period before making a direct-hire salaried job offer.

In addition, I am also anticipating a possible job opportunity with another company, for which an old friend and former colleague has been recruiting me for some time now. This position would be EXACTLY what I want to do, both short-term and long term, and would be pretty close to my dream position, in fact. The problem there is that this job is not expected to be funded for a few more months - which is longer than my finances will allow me to wait. By sheer coincidence, this job is likely to be funded some time around the expiration of the temp/trial period at my other potential job.

So, here's my dilemma: Is accepting a temp-to-perm job with the knowledge that there's a very good chance that I will end up declining a future planned salaried/perm offer to take another position unethical?

I'm seeing this two ways: On one hand, by not making a salaried offer at the outset, they're only committing to me for a few months, and it would be unreasonable for them to expect me to commit for longer than they are. On the other hand, while this is certainly a temp job on paper, I've every expectation that their stated intention to make a full-time job offer once my trial period is up in a few months is legitimate, and made in good faith, and I can't shake the feeling that by planning to possibly leave in a few months, I might not be acting in good faith myself.

I'm not a big fan of burning bridges, and I'm painfully aware that bailing after my temp period would be burning a bridge, both with the employer and with the temp agency, who would lose out on a substantial finder's fee if I accept a permanent job offer with this company.

The way I see it, I have three choices:

1) Decline the temporary job offer I have in hand in the hope that my "dream job" comes through in a few months. My personal finances and recent job-search history being what they are, this involves WAY more risk than I am able to tolerate.

2) Accept the temporary job offer I have in hand, and also accept the perm offer when/if one is made, despite the fact that this type of work REALLY doesn't interest me any more. This one is certainly ethically sound, but would undo years of forward progress in my career, as I would be stuck doing work that I hated and moved away from four years ago. It's also likely the one to be best for my personal finances, as my "dream" job is likely to result in a pay cut.

3) Accept the temporary offer with the knowledge that if an offer comes from my "dream job", that I will take it and leave the first job. This would be very good for my career if it works out, not quite as good financially, but questionable ethically, for the reasons I've stated above.

If you were in my shoes, what would you do here? I'm in desperate need of some outside perspective on this. I'm really starting to feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place here, with an abundance of bad choices to choose from, and I'm losing sleep over it. Am I just bean-plating over what should be a fairly obvious decision?

Incidentally, I have already spoken to an attorney and I'm in the clear legally speaking. Employment at will is a two-way street in my particular US state, and either the employee and employer are free to walk away at any time in the absence of a contract that says otherwise - and mine doesn't.

Alt email, just in case: amiactingunethically@gmail.com

Ethically-sourced sapphires and fair dealings.

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 06:12:34 -0800

Are certificates of origin for sapphires a scam? Is my jeweler going to overcharge me for a sapphire, and should I get one online instead of through him? I'm trying to get a custom sapphire engagement ring made. My beloved has picked out a ring from Brilliant Earth which she likes, both for the design (which I'm using for inspiration) and for their ethical origin materials. As far as I can tell, their claims for their sapphires are based on them coming from Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's strict worker-rights laws and ecological preservation practices.

I'm thinking that it's reasonable to conclude that "Ceylon" sapphires, from Sri Lanka, are about as ethically-sourced as it gets. I brought this up with a jeweler I'm working with, and he said he doubted his sapphire supplier could produce certificates of origin, and that the whole concept was more or less a ruse because you just can't trace a sapphire's origin in this market.

I'm also concerned about getting a fair price. For my price range of ~$500, he estimated that a round-cut mined sapphire would be around 0.75-1 carat. But online it looks like they're in the $200 range or cheaper, for larger Ceylon stones with the same cut and with a bright color (which is supposed to be more expensive).

Is the jeweler just shining me on because he can't get ethical sapphires? Is it rude or foolish at this point (he's already ordered some in for me to look at, which should be arriving soon) to tell him I'd like to buy one elsewhere (from a presumably non-scamming website) and bring it in to be set?

I'm aware of lab-created sapphires, and am pretty sure I don't want one. For private responses: mefiengagement@gmail.com (previously)

How contagious are plantar warts?

serathen — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:24:41 -0800

I've had a plantar wart on the ball of my foot for years. I have not taken steps to keep from spreading it. Is this something I should do? I've had a wart on the bottom of my left foot for a number of years, and in the last year one on my right. My question is less about treatment (apparently duct tape works? who knew?) and more about ethics and courtesy. I have a invitation to use a sauna with some friends next week, and I'm worried whether I'm putting them at risk. Should I buy a pair of flip-flops?

Are there other situations where contagiousness of warts is a problem? Should I not use public swimming pools? Not use others' showers barefoot? Not walk around barefoot with wet feet, or at all? Obviously I've done these things in the last few years. How bad should I feel about it? For much of that time, the possibility of spreading HPV hadn't even occurred to me.

The ethics of buying stolen bikes

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:05:06 -0800

Help me figure out the ethics of buying stolen bikes (or other stolen things). I've always believed that buying a stolen bike was the worst of sins--along the lines of stealing books from the public library or pushing your grandma down the stairs. And living in the Bay Area, my friends' bikes get stolen all the time, even if they ride theft-proof junkers, so I can genuinely empathize with the experience of losing a prized possession. But as an often-broke cyclist (who rides one of those aforementioned junkers), occasionally I'm equally tempted by those lightweight newish bikes that're providentially cheap and don't need the rear derailleur replaced, and then the front derailleur replaced, and then suddenly the hub feels crunchy and the rear brakes never have quite the right tension on 'em, etc.

There's a Saturday flea market near my house where I buy cheap wool socks and used cell phone chargers sometimes. One full corner of the market has a booming trade in obviously stolen bikes--shiny, new road bikes priced at $100-200, but almost certainly worth at least double, for example. I've been able to resist the temptation for a decade now, and my maybe-too-righteous moral stance still feels solid to me (occasionally dreaming of a bike and actually buying one are two different things!). But sometimes I think, oh why bother? There'll always be an underground economy for stolen, priced-to-move bikes: the allure's too great, and there seems to be basically no chance of getting caught. Why shouldn't I buy a stolen bike? There's no way the real owner will find it before it's gone, whether I'm the purchaser or not. Right?

For me, the biggest flaw in the "someone's gonna buy it, why not me?" argument is my own integrity: I don't want to be the kind of person who, unblinkingly, buys stolen goods. (I'm not.) But on the other hand, why should I avoid buying a locally-stolen bike but feel guilt-free about purchasing sweatshop-made socks, for example, just because I can empathize more readily with one than the other? Or avoid buying a used circular saw that might also be stolen, but might not?... To clarify, I'm not looking for help justifying anything to myself; I know it's not okay for me, regardless of how ineffectual my stolen-stuff boycott actually is. I'm just trying to put words to the sense that there's something more to this than just personal integrity (or the law). But what?

Ethics of politcal advocacy by one's doctor.

Anonymous — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:52:47 -0800

Question about the ethics of mixing physician care and politcal advocacy. This evening my wife received an email from her psychiatrist urging her to contact our Cong. Rep. to support the recently offered Pitts-Stupak amendment to the current health care reform bill under debate in the U.S. House of Rep. My wife is quite upset and views this as a violation of trust and their professional relationahip by the doctor.

Specific policy differences aside, is it considered acceptable for physicians to advocate politically amongst their patients, particularly if the matter under consideration is not relevant to that care?

PhD Ethics?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:17:34 -0800

What are some ethics considerations around a PhD dissertation? And should I do anything about a former colleague who I think violated them? A guy I used to work with was recently awarded a PhD in a social science from a one of the universities in a big east coast state's public university system.

I admit I never liked the guy - sketchy around young women and not very good at his job - and I was happy when he was not exactly fired but it was suggested that he find another place to work. And he landed a good job in the private sector.

I have two problems with his PhD. First, that at least two of the three people on his committee, including his advisor, were people to whom he has for years been directing pretty lucrative US government consulting contracts. Isn't there some kind of conflict of interest clause in PhD committees? Like you can't be the direct financial beneficiary of someone whose work you're supposed to be evaluating?

Second, that I think a lot of what he presented as his own work was actually done by other people at the place where we both worked. Not so much me, but other people. And not just data entry or mechanical work, but some of the basic ideas that he presents were first suggested and worked out by people other than him. I don't know if he gives credit for this in the dissertation, but I doubt it.

So the questions are:

- Are these legitimate concerns?

- If they are, is it worth it for me to raise them? I wouldn't benefit directly, since I don't work with him anymore, but its been bugging me for the last year or so.

- If I do decide to do something about it, who do I complain to? Do schools like this (for example, SUNY Albany) have an ethics panel? An academic integrity review committee?

The Ethics of Horror

ageispolis — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:40:54 -0800

Where I can find resources inquiring into the ethics of horror films? Scholarly articles would be best, but popular publications will suffice. So no blog posts. Thank you!

Should I go to Burma/Myanmar?

MuffinMan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:37:28 -0800

Should I go to Burma/Myanmar? I'm idly considering off the beaten track holiday locations for a trip at some undefined point hence - and one of the options is Myanmar.

Now, there are two broad schools of thought:

1) Go - you're contributing to the economy and helping open up the country
2) Don't go - you're only filling a murderous dictatorship's coffers

I'm aware of the ethical considerations for and against, but even ethical tourism companies diverge on their advice and increasingly people seem to be suggesting that it isn't unethical to travel there.

Has anyone been, or know someone who's been, who could give me more of a feel on what Burmese people actually feel about this when their views aren't being monitored by the secret police?

And are there better/worse ways to organise a trip so that the junta benefits as little as possible?

A mental health/academic support quandary

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:30:25 -0800

I have some information which may be critical to my friend's future/safety, but I obtained it in a somewhat dubious way. I'd just like to hear your thoughts on the position I'm in. So my friend has major, chronic mental illness--major depression and probably Borderline Personality Disorder, among other things--and tends to self-destructive behavior, including one past suicide attempt and many threats. He's studying for a standardized grad school admission test, which is critical to his future (he has unique opportunities this year). He's studying using an online course, and is taking the test in just a week or two. He claims that he's reasonably far along in the materials, but that he hasn't touched any of the practice tests yet.

For various reasons (mostly past behavior and a shifty disposition on the topic), I had a very strong suspicion that he wasn't actually keeping up with his work. Anything that wrecks his chances of getting into grad school this year would be a suicide trigger for him--he's made that much clear--so I'm very concerned that on some level he's knowingly sabotaging this so that he has an alibi for desires he admittedly already contends with day-to-day.

So here's the sketchy part: I figured out the password to his online coursework, and found that indeed, he's done practically nothing, and last logged in over a month ago, but he did do the non-written parts of the initial practice test, and got something really low (around the 30th percentile). I don't necessarily take that score to mean much, because he may have just been blowing through the first test to get a feel for the difficulty level, but I am highly concerned by the fact that he doesn't seem to be studying. The only reason I sunk to this is that there's at least some small possibility that a life is at stake.

One monkey wrench is that a large portion of the study work for the course (I think a safe majority) is in the books, so it's conceivable that he's moving along OK in those and he's just lying for whatever reason about how much he's bothering with the online work. I can't think of much of a motivation for that, except that I know he wants me not to worry too much about him, so perhaps he's glossing over the details for my sake.

Eventually I will come clean with all this, but I think it's also dangerous to subject him to the stress of the revelation right now. In the future, when he's in a relative upswing in terms of mental health, I think he'll likely interpret it as a justified intervention; right now, of course, it'd probably feel like at least somewhat of a betrayal. Is there any subtler way I could try to steer this situation without blowing my cover? And, more than that, do you guys have any general thoughts about what to do from here that might be more coherent than my own?

I'm sure I'll get at least a few critical responses about what I've chosen to do so far. I myself am somewhat morally conflicted about it, but understand that there are more nuances to the background of this than I've included here, and I'm about 95% sure that my friend will ultimately be grateful that I did this.

Any private responses can go to askme.alter.oct09@gmail.com. Thanks so much in advance!

What are some movies with moral beauty?

tamaraster — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:05:27 -0800

What are some movies featuring moral beauty? I recently showed "Les Miserables" (the movie with Liam Neeson and Uma Thurman) to my boyfriend. I love the movie (as well as the book, of course) because it has moral beauty, and he absolutely loved that aspect, and asked me to show him any more morally beautiful movies. So what are some others? (He is also a fan of conflicting moral systems and honor - also present in "Les Miserables" of course - but that's just a bonus.)

Your favorite interesting, specific question in philosophy

k. — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:54:11 -0800

Philosophy Filter: What are some fresh and interesting questions or topics in philosophy? I don't know if there are many philosophy nerds on MetaFilter (at least relative to other kinds of nerds), but I thought I'd give this a shot. I'm looking for topics that you wouldn't necessarily learn about in the usual undergraduate philosophy courses. I'd prefer these to be pretty specific, like these examples:

1. The "philosophy of information", which covers both the application of methods and ideas from computer science to philosophy and philosophical issues about what information is (especially in the work of Luciano Floridi)

2. Attacks on virtue ethics based on psychologists' claims that human character traits are much less stable than we think (summarized in e.g. the recent popular book Experiments in Ethics by K. Anthony Appiah)

More like these please! Really, any issue in philosophy that you find interesting would help. Bonus points for relevance to any timely issues outside of philosophy (in politics/society, science, etc).

When is a psychologist not your psychologist?

No1UKnow — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 10:54:25 -0800

What are the ethical limitations for a therapist who provides treatment to two members of the same family? During college, my parents held their financial contributions to my education "hostage", saying they would kick me to the curb if I didn't come home once a week to see my sister's psychologist. The therapist made a short statement up-front at our first meeting, that she was not MY therapist, but that she would treat any non-criminal statements I made confidentially, "similar to as if you were my patient".

She then went ahead and took my statement that I might be gay, and told my parents that I was gay, without warning me she was going to share this with them.

Was it ethical for her to see me in the first place? Does it matter that I was there under duress? Was it ethical for her to out me to my folks, since she wasn't really "seeing me"?

Bonus question, someday I would like to seek therapy, but this and another childhood mental/medical experience, have left me in a state where I find it near impossible to trust mental health professionals. Any suggestions on how to approach a therapist without getting distracted by the mistrust from my past?

How to handle inquiries from MSM journalists, who seem to just suck information out and run?

Anonymous — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 06:29:44 -0800

For better or worse, I am regarded as somewhat of an authority in a particular field (yes I have a blog about it). For this reason, I am getting requests for information about the subject matter from mainstream media journalists and writers. This is a new situation for me and I don't know how best to handle it. Up until now I have usually tried to help them out - in some cases for several days/hours. However, what has ended up happening more times than not is that they will not mention my blog or me at all, but instead feature people that I help them find (some of them are my direct competitors). I admit that I wouldn't mind the exposure, since for better or worse MSM mentions are still considered by many to be authoritative, so this really sticks in my craw. These journalists often never even send a simple email thanking me for my time, which also doesn't sit well either. I suppose this is all part of how a journalist operates due to tight deadlines or whatever other excuse?

My question is, how do I handle these requests? Do I continue to help them? Request that they credit me for the information they get directly from me? Ignore them? (Politely) tell them to f**k off? Any strategies for dealing with these people would be appreciated.

(anonymous to avoid any charge of self linking since my personal site in profiles links to all my other sites.)

Worth trying to change an organization from within?

DevilsAdvocate — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:41:12 -0800

An organization which I have belonged to for many years has taken a position which I find abhorrent. Should I withdraw my membership outright or, should I first try to get the organization to reconsider its position? I've been a member of this organization for many years, and it does many good things. However, I have now received a request from the organization (sent to all its members) to take action in support of a position which I find deeply abhorrent. Naturally, I will not act on the request. But the fact that the organization would request it at all deeply bothers me, and I do not wish to support such an organization.

I'll be writing to the organization's leadership to express my opinion. I'm torn, though, as to whether it should be "I am cancelling my membership because..." or "I strongly urge you to reconsider this position; otherwise, I will cancel my membership." Part of me is pissed off enough to just cancel my membership, period, but part of me wants to believe there's a chance of getting them to reconsider and that the organization deserves a chance to correct itself. If a friend of several years did something that deeply offended me, I'd like to think I'd let them know how they offended me and give them a chance to apologize and make it up, but I also question whether it's valid to analogize between a friendship and membership in an organization.

What would you advise in such a situation? Have you ever faced such a situation, what did you do, and how did it work out? What other factors I should consider in such a decision?

I'm being deliberately vague about both the organization and the position which I find offensive, which I realize may make answers more difficult; however, I don't want answers to get sidetracked by what people may think of the particular organization or the position. However, I will add:
- The organization is large enough that I don't have regular contact with its leadership but small enough I believe my letter will be read and at least considered.
- The position is not criminal nor in support of anything criminal.
- The position is one the organization had not expressed an opinion on one or the other before, and one I had no reason to believe it had any interest in one way or the other (so it wasn't as if it was an about-face from a previous position).

Bonus question: Coincidentally, I made a donation, by check, to the organization a few days before, which has not been cashed yet. If I give the organization a chance to change its position, do I stop payment on the check? (If I decide to just cancel my membership outright, I'm definitely stopping payment.)

Hi, welcome back! We're breaking up!

Anonymous — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 07:10:45 -0800

Is it better to use email to break up with a partner who is traveling, or wait until they get back in a week? Partner and I have just drifted. I still am emotionally attached to them, but I'm starting to get a bad case of the wandering eye, and that's a deal breaker for them. As well as that, time apart has made me focus on the negative ways they impact my life and how said negative ways are gone when the partner isn't there all the time. I’m starting to think about them as the lovable, awkward friend who inconsiderately muddies up your carpets and can be a bit too much in large doses, and not my cuddly shmoopy, which can’t be a good sign. Responsibly, I think our multiyear, monogamous but non-cohabiting relationship needs to be ended.

So do I take the coward's way out and email them, or deal with the ensuing awkwardness that they're going to get back from our physical separation happy to see me and ready for a roll in the hay? It seems just as cruel to greet them at the station with ‘Oh hai, I baked you a pie with your heart in it!’ as leave them throwing darts at my picture in another country.

Partner and I have been fighting over the various issues I have, but due to my own cowardice and indecision they think I’m having an episode that we can work through. Needless to say poor communication is one of the major relationship problems I think a break up is required for. So what’s the most ethical way to avoid leading them on or building false hopes, while creating the least drama? Should I like, send off the ‘It’s not you, it’s me!’ now or wait a week until they come back and fend off amorous advances until I can sit them down and tell them in person in a quiet area?

(To make matters worse, this person’s lovely family is trying to arrange for me to surprise greet my partner at the station, so it would help if I could figure this out before they kindly try to furnish me with lifts, as I doubt partner would be happy to see me if I’ve Dear Johned them)

Never a Good Time

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:22:29 -0800

RelationshipFilter: I finally realize that I have to break up with my boyfriend. However, the next three months are a terrible, terrible time for him, since he has 3 major exams coming up during that time period, which will have major consequences for his career. I think I can handle waiting until he is in a better position to handle to the shock, but is it the right thing to do? He is a great guy, but I just know that he is not my life mate. This knowledge will come as a shock to him, since we have spent the past year planning with an eye to the long-term. Based on previous knowledge of him, I know that he will be an emotional wreck. I'm basically thinking that if I do break up with him now, it is only to make myself feel better, and not really because it's the right thing to do. I can definitely wait three months in order to minimize the destructiveness, if this makes sense. I welcome any answers to this question.

Can you keep a better tv if that's what they deliver?

jules1651 — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:57:04 -0800

We just bought a television from a reputable online retailer. It was delivered today via a freight carrier, but it was the wrong one and had another customer's name on it. However, it is MUCH nicer. Ours was $1000, this is $3500. We called and now they will come back and give us our crappy one and take this beautiful one back, and now we are overcome with remorse. The kicker is the swap won't happen for a week so we need to stare at this big ass box for 7 days. Should we have just kept the nicer one? Ethical issues aside, would we have had a legal right (we are in the US) to keep it? Do we now?

Can I / should I accept reimbursement for a car repair I didn't do?

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:40:56 -0800

Is it legal to accept $500 from a car insurance company, reimbursing me for a repair I'm not going to make? If it's legal, should I? Recently my car was very lightly rear-ended. Both I and the other driver are insured. There were no injuries and my car has no visible damage -- I took it to my mechanic, who I trust, who confirmed that there was no damage from the collision. The other driver's insurance company sent a photographer to take photos of my car to check its condition. The photographer reported a small nick in my bumper, and based on this, the other driver's insurance sent me a check for $500 for a new bumper. The nick is almost invisible (my wife can see it, I haven't managed to) and we have no interest in getting a new bumper. My wife thinks it might be OK to just cash the check, on the grounds that the eventual resale value of the car will be lower because it's been involved in an accident, however small. I'm concerned that it might actually be against the law to cash a check for replacing a bumper that I didn't actually replace. I see a few options:
A. Cash the check, pocket the money.
B. Cash the check, replace the undamaged bumper. (Seems like a waste of the world's resources, but maybe I should think of it as economic stimulus?)
C. Don't cash the check, keep it, and if I need to replace the bumper for some other reason in the next year (the life of the check,) cash it.
D. Cut up the check.

We don't want to do anything illegal. So: which of these four options is legal? And of the legal ones, which are ethically OK?
(Anonymous in case the right answer is "A is probably legal but I wouldn't do it if my real name were attached to the general practice in a public place.")

I need an ethics book that's interesting

CrazyLemonade — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:44:11 -0800

As a [high school] teacher, I'm being encouraged to include a little bit of ethics into my courses. Can anyone recommend a book about ethics that's not boring or difficult to understand, and can that can help me with this? I'm currently taking an ethics course myself, but most of the required reading leaves me thinking "wtf? I didn't understand a word that said!", and is not very practical.

I'm not asking for a high school level book, just something that I can understand, if I've never had much studies in ethics or philosophy.

Are the ethics of eating meat fundamentally changed by the way it comes to the table?

Raichle — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 14:17:15 -0800

Querying the hive mind: In your opinion, is it more ethical to eat humanely raised and killed animals? Does the way an animal is treated and killed change the ethical question of whether it's ethical to eat meat in the first place? I'm doing some research on this and wanted some opinions or relevant links that might help. Thanks in advance!

should i take this job if i might have to change my plans?

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:52:02 -0800

Should I take this job if I'm not sure I will actually be able to do it? I could commit or not commit for sure in 2-3 weeks, but they are requiring a decision NOW. I'm doing a temporary position that I really really like that I have been given the offer to extend for a year. The problem, though, is I may need to move from the area for personal reasons.

So, I've been applying for jobs in the place I may have to move to. I've been offered one that sounds really great also but they are requiring I commit within 5 days of being offered the job. If I do end up needing to move, it would be perfect. But overall, I would rather continue doing what I'm doing and not move, if it turns out I don't have to.

How bad is it professionally for me to accept this job offer (the position does not start until sept.) and then possibly tell them I can't do it 2-3 weeks from now? What sort of consequences could you imagine? I know it's technically a bad thing to do, but I'm new to the workforce and I don't have a concept of HOW reprehensible it is or if it's more common than I think.

Should I put in time for when I check my blackberry?

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:57:07 -0800

Is it ethical to submit an extra 15 minutes of work per day because I got a blackberry? I work for a large corporation and for about 5 years, I've gotten away with not having a blackberry. When I'm needed during off hours, my boss called me on my cell phone and it's been fine.

Recently, I missed an e-mail sent on a Sunday night asking to come in early Monday. (We have the ability to access e-mail through a website but we have to go through about 4 pages of security logins so it's a bit of a pain. Additionally, I am not online much on the weekends.) I came in my usual time and when I logged in, I saw the e-mail and felt awful. I spoke with my boss and applied for a blackberry.

Now, every morning and evening, I spend a few minutes checking it and replying to messages, etc. I get paid hourly and consider checking the blackberry work. Therefore, I have been adding an extra 15 minutes each day to my time sheet.

Is this ethical? Is this something that could get me into trouble?

(I am in my late 20s and this is my first real job. Within the past 6 months, there has been a lot of "restructuring" within the company. Other people with my title do not have a blackberry, but I work for a small, specialized unit and do a lot more than what I was initially hired for.)

I catch a fish, I cook a fish, I eat a fish, I like it!

furtive — Fri, 08 May 2009 14:10:37 -0800

Trying to remember a cool site about ethical seafood and fish? It showed maps and had lists on the right, and if you entered a fish/shrimp that you currently buy it would rate it in regards to health, overfishing, farming etc. and suggest alternatives. Anyone remember what it was?