1. What is the relationship between the natural sciences
and social responsibility? Choose a recent scientific and/or technological
development as a focus and consider its ethical implications. Who bears the
moral responsibility for directing or limiting development of such knowledge,
and on what basis can that responsibility be justified?
2. How do the human sciences help us to understand
many of the misunderstandings and friction which frequently arise between
groups of people? Identify a contemporary problem involving the interaction of
groups (for example, ethnic, racial socioeconomic, or religious groups) and
consider the knowledge given by psychology, anthropology and economics. In what
ways can these disciplines illuminate the causes and the characteristics of the
problem? In what ways might they also be relevant to possible solutions? Are
there other disciplines, which would increase our understanding of the
particular issue?
3. Does history tell us the truth? Choose any single
historical incident and use it to explore the nature and complexities of
historical truth. In what ways is this exploration of the past relevant to an
understanding of the present? Is there any contemporary incident, which it
illuminates?
4. How do we know whether we are acting in a 'good' or
'moral' way? Select any ethical issue and examine it from two or more ethical
viewpoints. The purpose is to seek the differing grounds on which claims to
justifying moral behavior may be made, not to prove that one way is the 'right'
way.
5. On what bases do spiritual beliefs rest? Choose an
example of a particular belief (for example, about the creation of the world or
the nature of a life after death) and consider it from the point of view of
atheism and at least two major religions, presenting in each case the
justifications which persuade the believers. Your goal is not to establish any
religion as right or wrong., but to explore belief and justification. To what
extent can spiritual belief be classified as 'knowledge'?. Would denying a
belief the status of knowledge decrease its value or significance?
6. Identify an issue of interest in your local area
(for example, genetically modified food in Germany, native land claims in
Canada, construction of hydroelectric dams in Chile, the destruction of the
Amazon forest in Brazil, or drug policy in The Netherlands), which introduces a
conflict of concepts and values. Examine the facts,, languages and images used
by at least two sides in the conflict in their representation of the issue. In
the process, identify assumptions, justifications, values and emotions,, which
diverge. To what extent can you find valid arguments?
7. Identify an issue of global significance (for
example, AIDS, genocide, refugees, abuses of human rights, desertification, pollution
and global warming, and uneven distribution of world resources) which
introduces a conflict of concepts and values. Examine the facts, language,
statistics, and images used by at lest two sides in the conflict in their
representation of the issue. In the process, identify assumptions,
justifications, values and emotions,, which diverge. To what extent can you
find the truth of the issue?
8. Select one new development in knowledge, and
consider its effect on the discipline within which it has developed, and its
challenge to ethics or Areas of Knowledge. In science and technology, for
example, you might focus on the human genome project, cloning, nuclear power,
or the IT revolution. In the arts, you might focus on computer‑generated
art or electronic music.
9. Can purposely misleading the public be justified,
as sometimes occurs in politics or advertising? Consider cases of intentional
misinformation, or cases of the use of fallacious arguments, in these and other
Areas of Knowledge such as science, the arts, or history.