This paper is about the question of whether or not virtual rape should be considered a crime under current law. A virtual rape is the rape of an avatar in a virtual world. In the future, possibilities for virtual rape of a person him- or herself will arise in virtual reality environments involving a haptic device or robotics. As the title indicates, I will study both these present and future instances of virtual rape in light of three categories of legal (...) philosophical theories on rape in order to answer the aforementioned question. I will argue that a virtual rape in a future virtual reality environment involving a haptic device or robotics should in principle count as the crime of rape; for it corresponds to rape as it is viewed under the liberal theories that currently dominate the law. A surprising finding will be that a virtual rape in a virtual world re-actualizes the conservative view of rape that used to dominate the law in the Middle Ages and resembles rape as it is viewed under the feminist theories that criticize current law. Virtual rape in a virtual world cannot count as rape under current law; however, and at the end of this paper, I will suggest qualifying it as sexual harassment instead. (shrink)

Dans un très bel ouvrage préfacé par Michelle Perrot, Juliette Rennes propose une analyse stimulante de séries de cartes postales qui mettent en scène des « femmes en métiers d’homme ». À partir d’un corpus de plus de 300 images publiées en France entre la fin du xixe siècle et la période de l’entre-deux guerres, l’auteure s’attache à saisir les enjeux et les débats qui ont accompagné la féminisation des carrières initialement tenues par les hommes et qui, tant par le (...) statut qu’elles confèren... (shrink)

In 2009 Dutch judges convicted several minors for theft of virtual items in the virtual worlds of online multiplayer computer games. From a legal point of view these convictions gave rise to the question whether virtual items should count as “objects” that can be “stolen” under criminal law. This legal question has both an ontological and a moral component. The question whether or not virtual items count as “objects” that can be “stolen” is an ontological question. The question whether or (...) not they should count as such under criminal law is of a moral nature. The purpose of this paper is to answer both the ontological question and the moral question underlying the legal question. (shrink)

We criticize the following views: only the rapist is responsible since only he committed the act; no one is responsible since rape is a biological response to stimuli; everyone is responsible since men and women contribute to the rape culture; and patriarchy is responsible but no person or group. We then argue that, in some societies, men are collectively responsible for rape since most benefit from rape and most are similar to the rapist.

Despite Stewart admitting his own “socialist” sympathies, The Daily Show often critiques not only right‐leaning but left‐leaning language. Interestingly, despite the show's ironic satire, it aims at greater accuracy as a means to the larger end of truth in general, a stream of thinking termed “modernism.” But in “postmodernism,” truth is seen more as a continuum and a process. The show and its writers “teach that deliberation is not a means to an end but an end in itself. Discussion, dialogue, (...) provocation, and questioning are valued for their own sake—not because they lead to truth but because they foster a community able to discern untruth.” Better, the author believes the show does lead to truer understanding. But more than information, the show promotes transformation—from knee‐jerk habits of mind to mindful self‐awareness. One way it does so is by catching how people try to manipulate opinion using the red herring tactic. (shrink)

Embedding ethics modules within computer science courses has become a popular response to the growing recognition that CS programs need to better equip their students to navigate the ethical dimensions of computing technologies like AI, machine learning, and big data analytics. However, the popularity of this approach has outpaced the evidence of its positive outcomes. To help close that gap, this empirical study reports positive results from Northeastern’s program that embeds values analysis modules into CS courses. The resulting data suggest (...) that such modules have a positive effect on students’ moral attitudes and that students leave the modules believing they are more prepared to navigate the ethical dimensions they’ll likely face in their eventual careers. Importantly, these gains were accomplished at an institution without a philosophy doctoral program, suggesting this strategy can be effectively employed by a wider range of institutions than many have thought. (shrink)

The syndrome of semantic dementia represents the “other side of the coin” to Alzheimer's disease, offering convergent evidence to help refine Bastin et al.’s integrative memory model. By considering the integrative memory model through the lens of semantic dementia, we propose a number of important extensions to the framework, to help clarify the complex neurocognitive mechanisms underlying recollection and familiarity.

In projects concerning big data, ethical questions need to be answered during the design process. In this paper the Value Sensitive Design method is applied in the context of data-driven health services aimed at disease prevention. It shows how Value Sensitive Design, with the use of a moral dialogue and an ethical matrix, can support the identification and operationalization of moral values that are at stake in the design of such services. It also shows that using this method can support (...) meeting the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation. (shrink)

The first part of this paper is about the notion of privacy and its grounding in law. It discusses the tension between the right to privacy and the right to receive information. The second part of this paper explores how ICTs challenge and complicate privacy claims and satisfy the right to receive information.

This fascinating collection of articles offers thoughtful reflections on issues of masculinity too often neglected in feminist philosophy.

Scholarship on Xenophanes’s F1 has had two foci, one on the rules of the symposium and the other on the religious program posed at its close. Thus far, the two areas of focus have been treated as either separate issues or as the religious program proposed in the service of the sympotic objectives. Instead, I will argue that the sympotic norms Xenophanes espouses are in the service of the broader program of rational theology.

We consider an objection of Hans Kamp (based on an example by Barbara Partee) to Robert Stalnaker's model of context.

Este artículo está escrito para una colección de ensayos introductorios sobre filosofía de las ciencias cognitivas. Es una revisión (selectiva) de la literatura sobre la psicología del juicio moral.