In bis recent contribution to the literature on the moral status of animals, Peter Carruthers argues that "some version of contractualism provides us with the most acceptable framework for moral theory," and be defends two central claims about sucb a theory: that it provides "a theoretical framework that accords full moral standing to all human beings, while non-arbitrarily withholding such sta...

In several studies, the authors examine the potential to leverage a consumer’s moral identity to enhance brand and company identification and promote goodwill through community relations. Studies 1a and 1b show that even when opportunity costs are equivalent (subjectively or economically), consumers who also have a highly self-important moral identity perceive the act of giving time versus mone...

This article argues that the ordinary/extraordinary distinction has little or no moral value when preservation of life is not given a near absolute status. What is appealed to instead is a determination of both medical and moral duties, upon which appropriate treatment decisions should be based. Included is a partial delineation of those duties.

Passions tend to run high in ethical debates concerning animals, not only among laypersons and in political arenas, but also in the nonnally cool chambers of academic philosophy. Objectivity and care, though indispensable for understanding differing positions and their supporting arguments, often seem in short supply. As a result, distinct issues are confused while arguments are misunderstood a...

This paper synthesized recent empirical literature on the elements affecting children's moral judgment of lying. Overall, 25 published empirical studies investigated the effects of 14 salient elements on the way children made moral judgments about others' lying behavior. These 14 elements were found related to one of four broad categories, including the lie itself, the lie-teller, the target, a...

The creation of chimeras by introducing human stem cells into nonhuman animals has provoked intense concerns. Addressing objections that appeal to human dignity, I focus in this essay on stem cell research intended to generate human neurons in Great Apes and rodents. After considering samples of dignitybased objections from the literature, I examine the underlying assumption that nonhuman anima...

Recent work has suggested that our cognitive biases and moral psychology may pose significant barriers to tackling climate change. Here, we report evidence that through status and group-based social influence processes, and our moral sense of justice, it may be possible to employ such characteristics of the human mind in efforts to engender pro-environmental action. We draw on applied work demo...

Neuroscience and technological medicine in general increasingly faces us with the imminent reality of cyborgs-integrated part human and part machine complexes. If my brain functions in a way that is supported by and exploits intelligent technology both external and implantable, then how should I be treated and what is my moral status-am I a machine or am I a person? I explore a number of scenar...