Ethical Issues

Thomas Hobbes and the Psychological Egoist Motif
This essay concentrates on the moral system of renown political theorist and philosopher Thomas Hobbes. In this paper I discuss Hobbes' view of morality as it is understood by some and I defend two major contentions suggesting psychological egoism as the best interpretation of the Hobbesian moral view. For the sake of clarity and order, I present Hobbes' metaphysical world view first followed by his moral viewpoint. Following an understanding of Hobbes' world view, a two-stage argument is given to determine why such a world view is sustainable in the Leviathan manuscript.

Reply to Brian McKinley on Abortion in the Bible
A self-proclaimed Christian "pro-choice" advocate attacks the position of the pro-life movement and considers it the result of negligent and naive Christianity. I respond to McKinley's article and explain how the pro-life position enjoys a variety of biblical support and that anti-abortion is the preferred model in Holy Writ.
----------(For McKinley's original work see: http://elroy.net/ehr/abortion.html)

Immanuel Kant and the Categorical Imperative (reviewed by Dr. Cyrill Pasterk)
Many philosophers of ethics prefer the objective ethics as taught by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant. When we see how Kant's system implies the assumption of the Categorical Imperative in order to substantiate the objective nature of ethical decision-making, there appears to be a foundationless network created in the absence of God as the source of moral values. Without God, there can be no objective moral values.

The Stratospheric Ozone Debate (1994 - reviewed by Dr. Francis J. Beckwith)
In the wake of the proposed "Montreal Protocol", the standard of living for Americans is being jeopardized. Understanding that if certain lifestyles truly threaten human existence, then we ought to take action. But evidence for the depletion of the o-zone layer is weak. More importantly, even in light of this evidence, o-zone depletion advocates maintain that action ought to be taken regardless of the real threat (supposing that even a potential threat exists). But is this a real concern or just another political attempt at gaining control of the American lifestyle? This essay promotes the latter explanation as the most evident.

What Price Tolerance? Evidence from Hinduism and Mohandas K. Gandhi that Tolerance has its Limits (Reviewed by Dr. Satish Sharma; 1996)
Co-authored with Mario DelaRosa, this work is the combined efforts of a Christian and a Continental philosopher who agree that India's champion of civil rights, Mahatma Gandhi, has inscribed beliefs contradictory to basic Hinduism's notion of absolute Tolerance. This essay shows that, for Gandhi, tolerance itself has its limits. Therefore, Western philosophers should not be so quick as to parade Ethical Relativism as the product of an enlightened Eastern culture in such a way as to misconstrue Hinduism's popular advocate that tolerance is to be implemented at the expense of objective beliefs about morality and religion.