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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Topics in philosophy > Ethics & moral philosophy
Virtually everyone supports religious liberty, and virtually
everyone opposes discrimination. But how do we handle the hard
questions that arise when exercises of religious liberty seem to
discriminate unjustly? How do we promote the common good while
respecting conscience in a diverse society? This point-counterpoint
book brings together leading voices in the culture wars to debate
such questions: John Corvino, a longtime LGBT-rights advocate,
opposite Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis, prominent young social
conservatives. Many such questions have arisen in response to
same-sex marriage: How should we treat county clerks who do not
wish to authorize such marriages, for example; or bakers, florists,
and photographers who do not wish to provide same-sex wedding
services? But the conflicts extend well beyond the LGBT rights
arena. How should we treat hospitals, schools, and adoption
agencies that can't in conscience follow antidiscrimination laws,
healthcare mandates, and other regulations? Should corporations
ever get exemptions? Should public officials? Should we keep
controversial laws like the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, or
pass new ones like the First Amendment Defense Act? Should the law
give religion and conscience special protection at all, and if so,
why? What counts as discrimination, and when is it unjust? What
kinds of material and dignitary harms should the law try to
fight-and what is dignitary harm, anyway? Beyond the law, how
should we treat religious beliefs and practices we find mistaken or
even oppressive? Should we tolerate them or actively discourage
them? In point-counterpoint format, Corvino, Anderson and Girgis
explore these questions and more. Although their differences run
deep, they tackle them with civility, clarity, and flair. Their
debate is an essential contribution to contemporary discussions
about why religious liberty matters and what respecting it
requires.
Philosophical and ethical discussions of warfare are often tied to
emerging technologies and techniques. Today we are presented with
what many believe is a radical shift in the nature of war-the
realization of conflict in the cyber-realm, the so-called "fifth
domain " of warfare. Does an aggressive act in the cyber-realm
constitute an act of war? If so, what rules should govern such
warfare? Are the standard theories of just war capable of analyzing
and assessing this mode of conflict? These changing circumstances
present us with a series of questions demanding serious attention.
Is there such a thing as cyberwarfare? How do the existing rules of
engagement and theories from the just war tradition apply to
cyberwarfare? How should we assess a cyber-attack conducted by a
state agency against private enterprise and vice versa?
Furthermore, how should actors behave in the cyber-realm? Are there
ethical norms that can be applied to the cyber-realm? Are the
classic just war constraints of non-combatant immunity and
proportionality possible in this realm? Especially given the idea
that events that are constrained within the cyber-realm do not
directly physically harm anyone, what do traditional ethics of war
conventions say about this new space? These questions strike at the
very center of contemporary intellectual discussion over the ethics
of war. In twelve original essays, plus a foreword from John
Arquilla and an introduction, Binary Bullets: The Ethics of
Cyberwarfare, engages these questions head on with contributions
from the top scholars working in this field today.
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