Tag: morality

Zombie Ants and the Body Politic (via The Conflicted Doomer)

On By southwerkIn business ethics2 Comments

This is a sort of quiet well informed and literate outrage. I don’t see a lot of this kind. It’s a great pleasure. The lead in, discussing zombie ants, is one of the most original I’ve seen. I would read it just for that story if nothing else. But there is more, I was unaware of the situation with the California librarians. (I have a soft spot for librarians having grown up hanging around the stacks of books. I have maintained an interest in  librarians ever since.)

Good writing. I am happy to have an opportunity to share. I’m going to return and have a look from time to time.

James Pilant

My thanks to The Conflicted Doomer!

Zombie Ants and the Body Politic May 14, 2011 What an interesting news week it’s been.  Early in the week, I read a couple of articles about a fungus that infects and takes over the nervous systems of certain ants in the jungles of Brazil and Thailand. The fungus then causes the ant to behave erratically, wandering the jungle for over a week until it finds the “perfect place” on the un … Read More

via The Conflicted Doomer

Confronting “Grazing” At The Supermarket (via Kevin Benko)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Here we have an analysis of a moral conundrum. Is it okay to take something of small value? Even if it is very small in value? The analysis here results in a finding of “still wrong whatever size.”

I agree with that.

But follow the line of reasoning and see if you would have worked through it the same way. It’s interesting.

James Pilant

I was shopping at a local Wholefoods for a few items when I noticed someone in the store “grazing” at the bulk foods. Grazing is the term that is commonly used to describe the act of theft, or shoplifting, by eating the store’s food while shopping. I suspect that the term “grazing” is used to justify this particular act of theft and attempting to delude oneself that their theft is not, indeed, theft. I confronted the individual, a man who seemed … Read More

via Kevin Benko

The Not So Secret Code of Character (via Attacking the Page)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I found this essay to mirror some of my concerns. I try to point out to my classes (I teach college) that identifying with and having sympathy for criminals and wrong doers is usually wrong and when not directly wrong, questionable.

I remember my shock when asking my students who their heroes were and one young lady said the Hannibal Lector character in Red Dragon. After a long pause during which I tried to collect my thoughts, I pointed out that this might not be a good choice. I have also pointed out to my students that you hang pirates, that pirates do not sail in endless circles in the Caribbean on a kind of Carnivale Cruise Line vacation but sail to kill people and take their stuff. They find this a strange thought.

I tell them that your moral judgment has to be turned on all the time to be effective and that it requires considerable effort to do so after having been conditioned to root for the “hero” in thousands of television shows. As with all teaching I wonder how much I get across.

This a good article which takes the side of moral responsibility.

James Pilant

My thanks to Attacking the Page.

From the article –

Basically, codes are the rules we use to govern the way we want to live. Our codes of honor, ethics and conduct make up our conscious. They give us a moral compass for orienteering our way though life. Right or wrong, we all have a philosophy by which we live. And so should our characters.

Codes are all around us: computer codes, genetic codes, building codes, zip codes, Morse code and bar codes. The military has codes, professionals have codes, even pirates have codes (though I hear they’re more like guidelines than actual rules.) So what is a code? According to the online Free Dictionary a code is… A systematically arranged and comprehensive collection of laws. A systematic col … Read More

via Attacking the Page

Human Rights and the Endowment Effect (via P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc.)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This article refers and provides a link to the endowment effect. I had never heard of this economic theory. But now having read about it, I find it both fascinating and convincing. I appreciate the author bringing this idea to my attention.

I did not stop at reading this particular post, I explored the site reading a good number of posts. I very much enjoyed what I saw. I think you would profit by a similarly detailed look.

James Pilant

Human Rights and the Endowment Effect (source) Why do we say that people fighting for their rights are in fact fighting for the recognition of their rights? That people have rights even when the law doesn’t recognize these rights? That, in other words, people have moral rights that precede their legal rights? And that these moral rights can be used to evaluate and, if necessary, create their legal rights? At first sight, such statements imply the dubious ontological claim that moral … Read More

via P.a.p.-Blog | Human Rights Etc.

Is IT Ethical (via Cognitive Noise)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I have read that knowing the right questions may well be better than knowing the answers. This is because you can always ask the questions again when circumstances change and what used to be the answers is now irrelevant.

These are good questions.

I liked the opening comments about War and Peace. I never was able to get very far with it either but I did see the Russian six-hour movie. Maybe that counts.

James Pilant

Special thanks to Cognitive Noise (The best blog title I have seen in quite some time.)

One of my KM gurus (Dave Snowden) once said to get primed on ethics you just need to read War and Peace, earnestly I tried and could not go past the first 30 pages. So understand that my knowledge is limited and so is yours I assume. Ethics are challenged in every industry; specifically my view on “ethical IT services” is possible just by questioning, Questions on what we do when no one else is looking 1. Is it fine for a Project Manage … Read More

via Cognitive Noise

Interesting Conversation [1] (via Nai2-tok ! where I ramble..non-stop)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

Here is one small example of a worldwide problem but that is how the problem is usually felt, one human being at a time.

James Pilant

I always get my morning newspaper on my way to the office. In Indonesia, there are people who sell newspaper, magazine on the traffic light. So for you foreigners don’t be surprised by this sight. This is very common in Indonesia. And you can get all your media needs from them. Up until 1 year ago, I always buy my newspaper from this 1 person (let’s call him A). But then, in a sudden almost 1 week I coudln’t see him everywhere. I came in to concl … Read More

via Nai2-tok ! where I ramble..non-stop

Moral Implications of the Workplace Part 2 (via Ethical Realism)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

I found this an informative post. There were things in it I didn’t know. It touches on many ethical issues, many of the critical ones in the lives of employees. Take this for an example –

Companies often pressure employees to get involved in civic activities, such as “running for the local school board or heading up a commission in the arts,” but such pressure must not constitute coercion (ibid.). Employees must not be disciplined or dismissed for a lack of participation, and even public embarrassment could be considered to be a form of coercion. For example, “[m]embers of the Army Band… won a suit claiming that the posting of names of soldiers who had not contributed to the United Way constituted coercion” (245).

Now that coercion is going to become far more intense. The supreme court’s Citizens United decision allows limitless spending on influencing employees.

And how about this?

Some businesses pressure employees to undergo “personal growth” to help people “realize their potential for perceiving, thinking, feeling, creating, and experiencing” (ibid.). There are many different kinds of intensive groups and companies often use “team-building groups to facilitate the attainment of production and related goals as well as to provide opportunities for improved human relations and personal growth” (ibid.). Again, intensive group experience can improve productivity, so it is relevant to job performance. However, employees should not be punished for refusing to participate.

This is one I find particularly loathsome. Chasing around as forced comrades in some strange locale for some strange idea of development inevitably tied in to some bizarre theory like “emotional intelligence,” is pretty close to forcing me to live in a version of a horror movie without hope of escape.

So, please give this writing your attention.

James Pilant

My thanks to Ethical Realism.

I have already discussed various moral implications of the workplace in part 1 of “Moral Implications of the Workplace,” and I will continue the discussion here by considering (a) privacy, (b) work conditions, and (c) job satisfaction. This discussion is based on chapter seven of Business Ethics (Third Edition, 1999) by William Shaw. Privacy We have a right to privacy, and a lack of privacy can endanger our livelyhood. We don’t want people to see … Read More

via Ethical Realism

Ethics & Blog Purpose (via Backtrack 4 R2 How-to Blog 4 Noob’s)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

This is a code of ethics for blogging. I like it. It is also a code of purpose.

Some might make fun of codes of ethics. I make fun of bad ones or ones not being followed. And I have a good time doing it. But I still like them. Aren’t the religions of Christianity and Buddhism in a way codes of ethics?

Codes of ethics are one way to spread the word about what is or is not acceptable conduct.

So, read and enjoy.

James Pilant

Purpose To educate myself and others about the weaknesses of computers and networks To provide a resource for myself and others on how to create a more secure computer, networking environment, and internet use For myself and others to be able to use this information to better protect themselves from spammers, bad hackers, and destructive people To create and maintain the information in this blog to be as accurate and user friendly as possible in … Read More

via Backtrack 4 R2 How-to Blog 4 Noob’s

Cultivating hatred through “personal responsibility.” (via Check Your Premises)

On By southwerkIn business ethics1 Comment

This is delicious. I have heard many of the rationalizations that are righteously clobbered in this posting. The only thing that bothers me is he is clobbering them better than I am. Nice stuff.

James Pilant

The best way to generate hatred towards an identity (any of the myriad arbitrary ways we have to classify people) is to claim that “those people” have made the conscious decision to bring it upon themselves, that they are explicitly immoral. It is very difficult to generate hatred for people who didn’t choose their fate, and therefore it is always found necessary to place upon them some imaginary responsibility. Personal responsibility and the ab … Read More

via Check Your Premises

“Visionary works of art inspired by blind rage” (via NewSong40)

On By southwerkIn business ethics

This is a really fascinating post from an obviously well read author. The insights there are very appealing and display a clever imagination.

But you might go there just to see the picture (thumbnail below). That was my first thought. I have another from this set of artists on my wall in the living room of my home.

James Pilant

Special thanks to NewSong40.

"Visionary works of art inspired by blind rage" So ran the headline of the advertising blurb for a documentary by Andrew Lloyd Webber in last week’s TV guide. The documentary was part of ITV’s “Perspectives” season and was entitled A passion for the pre-Raphaelites. “The Industrial Revolution:” the blurb continued, “A turning point for mankind but not necessarily for the better. Mass productivity went together with mass poverty. Soaring profits saw soaring prostitution. And increasing mechanis … Read More

via NewSong40