A Period When the 'Ends Justified the Means' Today is my birthday--March 21. I won't tell you how old I am other than to say that I was in college when JFK got shot. I lived through that horrific event and the murders of Robert Kennedy (RFK). Martin Luther King,... Read more →
Americans Do Not Trust Established Institutions According to Gallup and Pew Gallup published its 2023 results of a survey of honesty/ethics in the professions last year. The results speak volumes about which professions are trusted by most Americans. The most ethical profession is nurses with a 78% positive rating—high or... Read more →
Causes, Effects and Solutions Anyone who has read my blog over the years knows I believe that the moral values of Americans are in decline. This is an important issue to discuss, especially in light of the debate between former President Trump and President Joe Biden tomorrow night. Should we... Read more →
Why We Have Lost Our Way as a Moral Society I've never seen the level of divisiveness in America as I have for the past decade. While I have blogged about the decline of civility in America before, nothing has changed, and it has gotten much worse, so I decided... Read more →
“Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” (Aristotle) Can we teach students to be ethical? This is something I’ve thought about a lot during my 30+ years teaching ethics at the university level. On the one hand, I know that I can teach it. I... Read more →
Why Being Accountable for Your Actions Is So Important Several years ago, I authored a book about happiness and meaning in life titled Beyond Happiness and Meaning: Transforming Your Life Through Ethical Behavior. I’ve heard from many people who read it, liked it, and said they would rethink how they... Read more →
Relationship to the Law We all know that a compass is a device for determining directions by means of a magnetic needle or group of needles turning freely on a pivot and pointing to the magnetic north. The expression that your moral compass should be directed due north for ethical... Read more →
Gallup Survey Results The results of a 2023 survey conducted by Gallup shows that Americans believe morality in society is on the decline. Here are some of those results: 54% say the state of moral values in U.S. is poor; 33% only fair. 83% think U.S. moral values are getting... Read more →
What Can We Do About It? It will come as no surprise to the readers of my blogs that I believe civility is in decline. In a 2021 blog, I examined some of the examples of the lack of civility in society including: Smash and grab incidents. Mass shootings. Random... Read more →
Think Before You Act! Most educators are aware of the importance of technical skills in STEM subjects but do not necessarily recognize the importance of “soft skills” to carry out technical skills in a way that communicates personal values and logical thinking. Soft skills provide a foundation to analyze and... Read more →