Ethical Issues
Should teens have plastic surgery?
What rights should animals have?
-use of animals in testing for cosmetics
-animal fighting
-factory farming of chicken, beef and pork in which animals live without any space to move
Should OHIP pay for the treatment of people who are ill or injured through their own fault?
Ex: Organ donation to people who have smoked or drank and damaged their body.
Rehabilitation of people who were injured because of reckless behaviour (ex; drinking and driving, racing)
Environmental issues
-should protection of jobs be more important than the protection of the environment?
-logging of old growth forests, mining and building of subdivisions that destroys habitat for animals, and native people’s traditional ways of living
-who should pay the costs for protecting the environment
Supporting Businesses: Do people have an obligation to collectively ensure that others be supported if the economy shifts?
Steroid use – is it always wrong?
Violence in hockey?
Plagiarism – is it really wrong?
Propoganda by the government – is it ok to slant the truth to get votes?
Ethical reporting in the news – what stories should get more space in a paper/news report? Do violence and sex get more than their fair share of attention? How does this distort the public’s view of the world?
Should professional sports players and coaches get such high wages?
-compare to police officers, fire fighters, day care providers, etc
Should parents always tell their kids the truth?
Population control – should people be forced to use birth control in countries where the population is too big to support the number of people living there
Is selective abortion – male vsfemales
Sweat shop labour
Freedom of speech
How responsible can people be? To what extent can we require that people "pull themselves up by their own bootstraps."
What if a teenager has been raised in an area that is judged to be significantly culturally, economically, or technically "behind"–to what degree should we choose to compassionately support these people?
Age Limits: What should be the proper age limits for driving, drinking, smoking, voting, going into the military, getting married without a parent's consent, having an abortion without a parent's consent, and other age-limitations.
A. Should there be any routine age limitations on the older age side? For which roles or skills?
Pornography – should there be any limits to what people do in the privacy of their homes?
Should businesses be responsible for the environmental and health problems they cause?
Drug Testing – should schools and businesses have the right to test people for illegal drugs.
Immigration – what should be the criteria for accepting immigrants into Canada? How much support should Canada provide to new Canadians?
Smokers rights – should smokers have any rights to smoke in public places?
Should computer companies and businesses secretly gather information about their customers (using cookies)?
Should movie makers/game designers be forced to use less violence?
Should the media be made to avoid using stereotypes – about mental health,
sexism, racism, ageism, sizism, Nepotism – should people get jobs more easily because they know someone already working for a company?
Degrees of Wealth: Should a distinction be made between those who earn moderately more than the average and those whose income is hundreds or thousands of times greater than those who earn a minimum wage? Should there be a steeply graduated income tax or inheritance tax so as to reduce this discrepancy?
International Obligations: Are wealthier nations obliged to help other nations or governments, not just with humanitarian aid, but with military aid, or even more, are we obliged to intervene if those governments institute or enable or condone massive human rights abuses?
A. What if the governments collapse in civil war? Or become chaotic and ineffective? Or allow or encourage genocide ("ethnic cleansing")?
Is it ok to lie?
Should people have to pass a test before being alllowed to have children
Is adultery really immoral?
Do we have an obligation to help people who are poor?
Do we have an obligation to help people who are poor in other countries?
What rights do people in prison have?
Is prison the best way to rehabilitate people who have done crimes?
What is a reasonable amount of taxes to pay?
Should the rich pay more taxes?