FALL 2011 / SPRING 2012

Jeff McMahan

Professor of Philosophy

Rutgers University

Jeff McMahan

"What Rights may be Defended by Means of War?"

Wrongful aggressors often claim to love peace, and there is a sense in which that is true, for they would prefer to get what they want without having to fight a war.  Many of the aims that motivate unjust wars could be achieved without violence: for example, control of another state’s natural resources, such as oil, limited political control over the other state, the annexation of a bit of its territory, and so on.  In such cases, war and killing become necessary for aggressors only if they meet with military resistance.  Most people believe that in domestic society it is not permissible to kill a thief merely to defend one’s property.  So how can it be permissible to kill a large number of soldiers just to defend collective property such as territory and resources – particularly when most of those soldiers act under duress imposed by those they regard as legitimate authorities?  I will consider whether defensive war can be morally justified in such cases of lesser aggression. (more)

Sponsored By:

The Rutland Institute for Ethics

Philosophy & Religion Department

Gregory Jaffe, J.D.

Director, Project on Biotechnology

Center for Science in the Public Interest; Washington, DC

Gregory Jaffe

"Genetically Engineered Foods:  The Raw Truth."

Are genetically engineered foods as risky as some people claim? Others state that engineered crops and animals will solve the world’s agricultural constraints and eliminate food insecurity? Greg Jaffe will cut through the heated rhetoric and discourse and provide the naked truth about these new agricultural products, their impact on our food, and some of the ethical issues they raise. He will summarize the benefits and risks of engineered crops during their first decade and give his insights into the challenges and issues that face this technology in the coming years. He will discuss the transparency and integrity of the US regulatory system and identify solutions that might increase consumer confidence in these foods.  Finally, he will provide an international perspective of how this technology is spreading around the world. (more)

Sponsored By:

The Rutland Institute for Ethics

School of Agricultural, Forest, and Environmental Sciences

College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences

Hyla Willis

Artist/Co-Founding Member

SubRosa, cyberfeminist art collective

Photo Courtesy of Larry Rippel

Hyla Willis

"Hyla Willis,  SubRosa, Cyberfeminist Art Collective"

The cyberfeminist art collective subRosa, has been producing
site-u-ational multimedia performances and installations since 1998.
With a socially engaged art practice, subRosa creates platforms for
public discussion about how women participate in the globalized
biotech industry. Biological materials and labor have tremendous value
because they can be used to produce and reproduce whole organisms and tissues. This bio-value and its distribution points can be privatized
and there is a growing gulf between who is providing the raw materials
and who is receiving the benefits of emerging therapies, including
assisted reproductive technologies. This lecture will illustrate
subRosa's performances and art installations, and situate some of our
concerns within a history of Eugenics. (more)

http://cyberfeminism.net/

Sponsored By:

The Rutland Institute for Ethics

The Center for Visual Arts

Department of Art

Women's Studies

Daniel R. Vasgird, Ph.D., CIP

Director, Office of Research Integrity and Compliance

West Virginia University

Daniel Vasgird

Science and the Global Public:
The Importance of Integrity to the Social Contract

Integrity and responsibility are words with profound implications, especially for those who participate in the global community of science. They cut across time and culture, and yet their fruition in the guise of an ethical lifestyle depends on one’s ability to conceive an ideal, aspire to it, and abide by its dictates to the best of one’s ability. In turn, the truly ethical society depends on its ability to crystallize that conception of the ideal in the hearts and minds of its practitioners. As Richard Livingstone once said, “One is apt to think of moral failure as due to weakness of character; more often it is due to an inadequate ideal.” It is the role of societies (with science being one) that wish to flourish to provide the means for their constituents to truly internalize their highest and most worthy ideals.(more)

Sponsored By:

The Rutland Institute for Ethics

Office of Research Compliance