False Hope:  Vegetarianism and Animal Cruelty

Animal rights is a very controversial topic especially pertaining to factory farms.  Animals at such facilities are often subjected to harsh treatment during their lives so that they can be slaughtered and sold for human consumption.  In effect, someone must be held responsible for how these animals are treated.  Russ Shafer-Landau explores the various arguments pertaining to animal cruelty in his article "Vegetarianism, Causation, and Ethical Theory".  He critiques two versions of the consequentialists' arguments towards meat eating which he dubbed the "...Inefficacy Argument..." (Shafer-Landau, 1994).

Busting the Myth That Women Aren't As Ambitious As Men

Link to article:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2011/11/28/busting-the-myth-that-women-arent-as-ambitious-as-men/

This article serves as an extension of the thought introduced in class pertaining to women in the workforce.  As women continue to join the corporate world, I am curious as to why there are very few female CEOs leading large firms.  This is the 21st century and it appears that women have not completely broken through the glass ceiling.  On the contrary, I am not sure if women have even cracked it.  One of the ideas proposed to scarce female leadership is attributed to women lacking as much ambition as the male counterpart.  I am not completely convinced that women lack ambition but they certainly could face different trade-offs for being driven professionally as compared to men.  This article highlights some of the costs for ambitious women as well as the connotations of "ambition" when applied to women and men.

Common Sense Tells Us...

Bambrough's argument against moral skepticism is highlighted in The Ethical Life.  He argues five main points made by skeptics towards moral objectivity.  Overall, Bambrough relates that his argument is similar to that of G.E. Moore's.  Moore's argument consisted of proving the existence of an external world by pointing out he obvious.  He had two hands, these are both material objects.  Since there are at least 2 material objects; there is a materialistic, external world.

Can Ethics Be Objective? Analysis of Ethical Relativism

Can ethics be objective?  Russ Shafer-Landau analyzes this question, in The Fundamental Of Ethics, by critiquing the arguments of ethical relativism.   Ethical relativism is divided into two subtypes; cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism.  The cultural relativists argue that correct moral standards are decided by each culture or society (291).  In contrast, ethical subjectivists claim that each individual decides which moral standards are correct (291).  Landau tests each claim made by these theories through a series of logical tests. Although I will focus only on cultural relativism, the critiques of both groups' claims illustrate that their skepticism towards ethical objectivity is not plausible.