While I am perfectly content without a smart speaker in my home or a voice assistant on my phone, a recent article in Die Presse regarding personal assistant technology caught my eye. The article contrasted how Amazon’s Alexa and the Russian search engine Yandex responded to the statement: “I feel sad.” Alexa’s response: “I wish … Continue reading How ethical does Alexa need to be?
Unbelievable but true
When Austria came out of the last corona lockdown, the above offer ran in the local freebie paper. For my non German-speaking readers, please allow me to translate and provide background information. The advertisement is for a flat-pack furniture chain store – think IKEA in green and purple with even crappier furniture – that operates … Continue reading Unbelievable but true
The troubling case of Mr. Goodman & Mr. Badman
I have been reading Peter Cave’s This Sentence is False, an excellent introduction to philosophical paradoxes written in an easily accessible style. A particularly interesting paradox he presents is the case of Mr. Badman and Mr. Goodman (Chapter 8, pp. 148-9). Mr. Badman is a bad man. Although married to an adoring wife and proclaiming … Continue reading The troubling case of Mr. Goodman & Mr. Badman
Is that allowed?
My daily newspaper, Die Presse, recently ran a special Sunday edition about morality and ethics. Throughout the paper they asked a wide range of people – from politicians to philosophers, from captains of industry to curators of art – the same three questions: What should humans no longer be allowed to do?What should humans never … Continue reading Is that allowed?
Responsibility reloaded
Two posts ago I examined how stopping profligate bread waste could reduce C02 emissions. Earlier in a comment to my post on climate change responsibility, Jordan had astutely noted that while consumers bear some responsibility in reducing emissions major corporations should also be held accountable. Today I will explore how assigning responsibility to both consumers … Continue reading Responsibility reloaded
What we believe to know
Recently I wrote about intuitionism – things that we simply “know” to be right non-inferentially – and its limitations. How does one discern between a principle actually being right and it merely seeming right to a particular person? If intuitionism functioned correctly then all individuals would reach the same moral conclusions, yet people reach different … Continue reading What we believe to know
Our daily bread and GHG emissions
As examined in recent posts, one reason that people lack motivation in addressing climate change is that they have difficulty in conceptualizing how their actions can affect amorphous global problems. Wearing your clothes longer or driving less doesn’t result in a discernible reduction in GHG emissions. We need help in quantifying how our individual actions … Continue reading Our daily bread and GHG emissions
Climate change and FMGCs
Following up on my last post, today I want to examine the importance of narratives in getting people – especially Europeans since I’m Austrian – involved in climate change activism. First, it is important to note that current inaction is not because people reject climate science. Europeans overwhelmingly agree that “the climate is probably or … Continue reading Climate change and FMGCs
Climate Change Responsibility
In my last post I posed the question: Who specifically is responsible for addressing climate change and reducing GHG emissions? Today I provide one possible answer. I believe that considerable, if not the brunt of, responsibility ought to lie with consumers. However, it is unlikely that individuals accustomed to unlimited choice among a glut of … Continue reading Climate Change Responsibility
Who is responsible?
When I started studying political, economic, and legal philosophy at the University of Graz just for fun, little did I know that climate change would play a prominent role in the curriculum. Now in my fourth semester, I have had the opportunity to examine the urgings and arguments of diverse researchers – philosophers, economists, climate … Continue reading Who is responsible?
