In Buddhism, actions that are deemed good or bad are framed as being ‘skillful’ or ‘unskillful’. In this conception of ethics, morality is distinguished from other religious traditions, such as Christianity – where we find the concept of sin – or common notions of morality where we speak of actions being morally right or wrong.…
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Blaise Pascal (1623-62) was a French mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and Catholic theologian. One of his most influential contributions to the philosophy of religion is a philosophical argument known as Pascal’s wager. This idea was published posthumously in Pascal’s Pensées (“Thoughts”). This post will describe how Pascal’s wager can be usefully applied to animal ethics, namely,…
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In everyday situations, we are faced with moral conundrums: Is this action better than another one? Should I refrain from acting, and does that refrain make me morally implicated in the outcome? Will this action improve, alleviate, worsen, or cause suffering to others or other sentient beings? What is the appropriate or proportionate way to…
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The urge to travel is ubiquitous. It’s something we all experience, from time to time. Often, we may get an itch to pack up and leave the country when we feel bored with our routine, burdened by the stresses of everyday modern life, or simply because we cannot shake the enticing prospect of new and…
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