What if Congress turns down President Obama’s request for authorization to attack Syria? And what if the president proceeds anyway -- even though the American people are saying in polls that they oppose such a move?
How ethical would that be?
Some might say that when it comes to matters of life and death, an American president ought to have the backing of Congress or the American people.
Then there’s this looming question of whether the U.S. and other nations should boycott the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The reason? Russia’s anti-gay laws.
And what about Russia's old partner: Cuba. Should the U.S. determine where its citizens can visit?
Thursday on Up to Date the Ethics Professors - UMKC philosophy professor Clancy Martin and UMKC School of Arts & Sciences Dean Wayne Vaught return to discuss these questions of ethics between nations.
Guests:
- Wayne Vaught is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, professor of philosophy and medicine, and director of the Center for Applied and Professional Ethics at UMKC. His primary research focus is in the area of biomedical ethics, with an emphasis on ethical issues in pediatrics. He received a bachelor's degree in philosophy, psychology and religion at Georgetown College in Georgetown, Ky., a master's in philosophy at Baylor University, and a Ph.D. in philosophy with a concentration in medical ethics from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.
- Clancy Martin is a professor of philosophy at UMKC. He works on 19th and 20th Century European philosophy, the intersections of philosophy and literature, and the ethics of advertising and selling. Clancy has authored, coauthored and edited several books in philosophy, including Love, Lies, and Marriage, Honest Work with Robert Solomon and Joanne Ciulla, and The Philosophy of Deception. He has published more than two dozen articles and reviews on Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Romanticism and the virtue of truthfulness and has also translated Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Clancy also publishes fiction in Noon, McSweeneys and elsewhere. Clancy earned his Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Texas at Austin.
