This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, ...

(Inside Science) -- If your car was in a lethal accident, would you prefer for it to kill one innocent bystander or five? By posing variations of this problem online to volunteers nearly 40 million ...

1. I’m 65 years old. My son, who is 32, has offered to pick up the groceries. But he has asthma. I’m in a quandary as to who should go? One of the leading ethical theories is “utilitarianism,” which ...

In my 40-plus years in the workforce, there were many times I would be faced with a moral dilemma. Actually, at the time, I wasn’t fully aware that each would be a defining moment, but reflecting back ...

As we approach the anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, we should reflect not only on the events that transpired but also on the deeper and more universal tragedy of war. Tragedy, in its ...

We've generally been brought up to see two sides to every situation: good and evil. Like two sides in a never-ending war vying for advantage in many societal, financial, scientific and other issues.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been very interesting as a topic of study for social scientists, including psychologists. Even after numerous restrictions, we have often seen policies fail—whether it be ...

Check out these popular moral principles: Be intolerant of intolerance. Don't listen to people who don't listen. Don't compromise with people who don't compromise. Shame on people who shame people.

Last week I made a presentation to some staff at CSIS on moral dilemmas in the trade area. It was a discussion, not a lecture, so no “right” answers were provided. Indeed, there may not be any, ...

If you asked a multilingual friend which language they find more emotional, the answer would usually be their mother tongue—the one they used while growing up and probably still use at home. This does ...

To have a job in an industry where you are equipped and required to look good sounds like a win-win. Your literal job expectation is to spread beauty, but as that old saying goes, “beauty is in the ...