Three Challenges for Contemporary Ethics PHL 110: Ethics North Central College

Challenges for Contemporary Ethics  Cultural diversity  Technological innovation  Globalization

Cultural Diversity  Culture as an aspect of personal identity Based on religion, language, custom Expressed through symbolic behavior such as distinctive clothing or ritual observance  Challenge: in a pluralistic, liberal, democratic society, how to respect and recognize cultural diversity

Cultural Diversity  Pluralistic, liberal, democratic: Pluralism is a fact = less homogeneity Liberal societies are based on respect for universal, individual rights, not on group rights Democracy is based on majority will  Two examples: Wearing distinctive clothing Cultural defense in criminal trials

Technological innovation  Technology is a set of tools (physical or conceptual) built to supplement and/or alter natural human capabilities. Education both uses technology (in the popular sense of computers or AV presentations) and is technology (transmitting past knowledge increases human capabilities) Medicine both uses technology (i.e. CAT scan) and is a technology that extends human capabilities (resistance to illness, fertility, life span)

Technological innovation  Technology also produces new human desires and needs Transportation technology enables persons to live at greater distances from work; it also produces desires for newer, more rapid means of transportation) Biomedical technology expands human fertility; it also produces desires for a “child of one’s own”

Technological innovation  Challenge: applying moral norms to novel situations that emerge at a rapid rate Morality typically evolves over long periods of time, developing in response to major change (example: nation state and individual rights) Rapid technological innovation produces major changes for which traditional morality provides no clear or obvious framework (examples: fertility technology; communication technology)

Globalization  Globalization is a process of expanding flow of capital, work, and ideas across political and cultural boundaries  Classical models of economics, citizenship, work and leisure, ways of life and identity are all challenged by globalization, along with moral norms designed to govern personal decisions

Globalization  Individual autonomy, rational choice, and respect for other’s rights typically function in environments with clear, stable boundaries – which globalization weakens or removes.  Globalization stimulates consumer desires for more and cheaper goods and services while weakening individual power