Spinoza’s Conatus: A Teleological Reading of Its Ethical Dimension

In this article I examine how the teleological reading of Spinoza’s conatus shapes the ethical trajectory of his philosophy. I first introduce the Spinozistic criticism of teleology and argue contra many critics that Spinoza has a mild approach to human teleology. On the basis of this idea, I develop the claim that conatus is a teleological element pertaining to human nature. From the teleological reading of conatus, I draw the conclusion that Spinozistic ethics is inclusive of objective, humanistic, and essentialist elements. In this sense, this paper emerges to be a challenge against the anti-teleological reading of conatus that is predominantly related to the subjectivistic, anti-humanistic, and non-essentialist interpretation of Spinoza’s ethics. It mainly situates Spinoza in a traditionally teleological context where the human conatus is seen as an act of pursuing objective and essential moral ends that is distinctive to human nature.

Dimensi Etis Iklan, Studi Kasus Pada Iklan Sampo Anti Dandruff dan Iklan Belanja Online di Media Televisi

The ethical dimension related to advertising ethics towards advertisements broadcast on television media often violates the rules. The case study of the Pantene advertisement version of "Anti Drandruf Ads" played by Anggun C. Sasmi and the online shop version of the Shopee advertisement with Korean artist Black Pink were criticized by KPI regarding broadcast hours and their effect on children. The perspective of this research is the ethical dimension by Kevin Johnston and Tanya Robertson, with descriptive qualitative research methods interpretive analysis of advertising criticism. The evaluative finding of advertising art criticism in this study is that the morality of advertising ethics by comparing it with other products orally is still considered reasonable but the advertising dimension is negative. In the case of the Shopee advertisement with the Black Pink artist, it contains elements of sexism that should not be consumed by children.

The Phenomenological Method in the Ethics and Legal Philosophy of the XX Century

This paper analyzes the essence of the phenomenological method as it is used in certain theories in ethics and legal philosophy. The purpose of the paper is to provide a full study of phenomenology to determine its place in modern philosophical thought. The paper used methods of the history of philosophy, especially method of rational reconstruction, and based on interpretation of the classical phenomenological texts (E. Husserl, E. Levinas, A. Reinach). The main result of the paper is the justification that the unity of logic, ontology and ethics became the ground of application of the phenomenological method in the field of legal and ethical knowledge. Therefore the ideas of E. Levinas’s ethical phenomenology were the basis for understanding ethics as the “first philosophy” in a phenomenological context. The main conclusion of this paper is that the ethical dimension of responsibility for the actions of the subject and their consequences expands the horizons of phenomenological reduction and allows us to reveal the essence of legal reality in a new way. The paper was carried out within the framework of the HSE research project “Ethics and Law: correlation and mechanisms of mutual influence”.

THE ETHICAL DIMENSION OF JOURNALISTIC PROFESSIONALISM: VIEWS OF LITHUANIAN JOURNALISTS

When evaluating the normative dimension of journalistic professionalism, researchers note that it is related to the core values of professional journalism, manifested in the recognition and application of common professional ethical principles in journalistic activities. This allows us to identify the existence of the ethical dimension of journalistic professionalism. This study examines the ethical dimension of journalistic professionalism by analysing the attitudes of Lithuanian journalists towards the importance of ethical aspects, codified in the Code of Ethics in Providing Information to the Public of Lithuania (2016) for journalistic professionalism.

“In Our Own Little World”: Invisibility of the Social and Ethical Dimension of Engineering Among Undergraduate Students

This paper explores how undergraduate students understood the social relevance of their engineering course content knowledge and drew (or failed to draw) broader social and ethical implications from that knowledge. Based on a three-year qualitative study in a junior-level engineering class, we found that students had difficulty in acknowledging the social and ethical aspects of engineering as relevant topics in their coursework. Many students considered the immediate technical usability or improved efficiency of technical innovations as the noteworthy social and ethical implications of engineering. Findings suggest that highly-structured engineering programs leave little room for undergraduate students to explore the ethical dimension of engineering content knowledge and interact with other students/programs on campus to expand their “technically-minded” perspective. We discussed the issues of the “culture of disengagement” (Cech, Sci Technol Human Values 39(1):42–72, 2014) fueled by disciplinary elitism, spatial distance, and insulated curriculum prevalent in the current structure of engineering programs. We called for more conscious effort by engineering educators to offer meaningful interdisciplinary engagement opportunities and in-class conversations on ethics that support engineering students' holistic intellectual growth and well-rounded professional ethics.

Privato, pubblico e aperto

In this text we try to clarify some misunderstandings that in our opinion have arisen on the issue of digital educational platforms. These misunderstandings are based on the one hand on the profound misconception of the meaning of “open”, which is reduced to “free”, and on the other hand on a conception of the company as an activity necessarily extraneous to the ethical dimension. Overcoming these misunderstandings could lead to a collaboration between private and public, between profit and non-profit that defines precisely the models and standards and lays the foundations for the construction of an ecosystem of open, inter-operating and ready-to-use platforms both on the software side and on the content side.

The ethical dimension of human–artificial intelligence collaboration

The development of artificial intelligence (AI) has accelerated the digital revolution and has had an enormous impact on all aspects of life. Work patterns are starting to change, and cooperation between humans and machines, currently humans and various forms of AI, is becoming crucial. There are advantages and some threats related to these new forms of human–AI collaboration. It is necessary to base this collaboration on ethical principles, ensuring the autonomy of humans over technology. This will create trust, which is indispensable for the fruitful use of AI. This requires an adequate regulatory framework: one that is future proof, anticipates how AI will develop, takes a risk-based approach and implements ex ante assessment as a tool to avoid unintended consequences. Furthermore, we need human oversight of the development of AI, supported by inter-institutional partnerships. But first we need to create the conditions for the development of AI digital literacy.