And the winner is...

A friend of mine (call him Bill) recently won a number of CD's from a radio contest.They were sent to his house; upon receiving them, he realized that he really didn't like any of the bands or performers.

The next day, he took the CD's (still in their shrink wrapping) to a store and "returned" them. (He said he had lost the receipt.) The store clerk scanned the bar codes and then gave Bill $90 in store credit, which he then used to get a bunch of new CD's.

When he told me this, I was appalled and told him that what he did was unethical. John said that it wasn't unethical because the store "took back" merchandise which it would then sell. I said that his "returning" the CD's to the store would throw off the accounting; he said it wouldn't. Finally, I said that even if there were no financial harm done to the store,what he did was still pretty low.

What do you think?

Philosophical Jewelry

Invent a piece of jewelry or clothing that when worn gives the wearer magical powers.  Explain the powers and abilities this talisman would allow you.  What types of things would you do with your new found abilities?

Please provide specific scenarios where the other philosophers in the class can see your supernatural talents in action.

When In Rome...

In his work Questions of Value, the philosopher Patrick Grim poses this challenge:

An old adage says, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

From your own experience, draw some examples of when that might be good advice and when it might not.

Respond to Grim's prompt and also ask what your examples suggest about ethics and ethical behavior. Can any ethical insights be gained from your examples?

The Professor and The Puppy

This is adapted from Martin Cohen’s 101 Philosophy Problems:

A professor (of philosophy—what else?) is sitting in his office reading Aristotle. But when he looks up from his book and sees the time, he exclaims, “Oh no! I’m going to be late for class!” He runs out the door. As he hurries across campus, he stops because he hears a whining sound coming from somewhere.

The professor follows the sound and realizes that there is a puppy in the middle of the campus pond—so he wades into the water and saves it. Then he goes back to his office, changes his clothes (he keeps spares for just such an occasion) and then runs back to his classroom.

Naturally, his students are very irritated. But the professor explains what happened and all the students change their tunes. “It was a real exercise in applied ethics,” says the professor. “Did I do the right thing?” Everyone laughs, says, “Of course,” and the class begins (although far past its planned starting time).

Next week, on his way to the same class, the professor sees the same dog—again it’s stuck in the pond and, again, the professor wades in to save it. He is late for class (again), but this time the students are not so understanding. Half of them say that the dog should have been left to its own devices (especially in light of what the students are paying for tuition).

The following week—you guessed it—there’s the dog again, whining and distressed, struggling to get out of the pond. “Oh no,” says the professor. “I can’t be late again!” He leaves the dog whimpering and reports the situation to a custodian before beginning his class. He tells his students what happened, who largely agree that the risk to the dog is outweighed by the certain knowledge of the inconvenience (and financial waste) that the professor’s tardiness is causing them. “And this,” says the professor, “is exactly what ethical decision-making is all about.”

Alas—by the time the custodian reaches the pond, the dog has drowned.

Was there a flaw in the professor and the class’s reasoning—or is the dog just plain unlucky? Try to examine the core of the ethical situation at hand.