You are here

UCF Digital Collections ยป Honors Collection

ETHICS IN A SHRINKING WORLD: EXPLORING THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROLIFERATION OF TECHNOLOGY ON WORLD HUNGER

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2011
Abstract/Description:
Even if they do not realize it, readers are perpetually in a condition that is strikingly similar to that of the Good Samaritan. Right now they have access to a vast network of communication that both enhances their senses and increases their sphere of influence. They can, for example, sit down at a computer and click on a certain combination of sites and the result will be that, in two weeks (or sooner), a DVD will arrive on their doorstep. Or, they can choose another combination, and the result will be that, in about two weeks (or less), a child will be saved from starvation and dehydration in some distant and destitute nation. Like the Good Samaritan, a reader of this thesis can see the desperate need of others and they have the ability to affect their condition. This perpetual Good Samaritan condition is directly a result of the recent changes the world has undergone as a result of technological advancement. This thesis is an exploration of the ethical implications of the potential perpetual good Samaritan. I will argue that (1) affluent individuals are able to affect positively the global poor and that they have a moral obligation to do so, (2) that this moral obligation is limited insofar as fulfilling the obligation requires a moral agent to sacrifice something of substantial significance (i.e., something that would cause a long term decrease in happiness), and (3) fulfilling this obligation requires specific actions on political, social, and individual levels.
Title: ETHICS IN A SHRINKING WORLD: EXPLORING THE ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROLIFERATION OF TECHNOLOGY ON WORLD HUNGER.
42 views
18 downloads
Name(s): Dupree, Kevin, Author
Stanlick, Nancy, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: Even if they do not realize it, readers are perpetually in a condition that is strikingly similar to that of the Good Samaritan. Right now they have access to a vast network of communication that both enhances their senses and increases their sphere of influence. They can, for example, sit down at a computer and click on a certain combination of sites and the result will be that, in two weeks (or sooner), a DVD will arrive on their doorstep. Or, they can choose another combination, and the result will be that, in about two weeks (or less), a child will be saved from starvation and dehydration in some distant and destitute nation. Like the Good Samaritan, a reader of this thesis can see the desperate need of others and they have the ability to affect their condition. This perpetual Good Samaritan condition is directly a result of the recent changes the world has undergone as a result of technological advancement. This thesis is an exploration of the ethical implications of the potential perpetual good Samaritan. I will argue that (1) affluent individuals are able to affect positively the global poor and that they have a moral obligation to do so, (2) that this moral obligation is limited insofar as fulfilling the obligation requires a moral agent to sacrifice something of substantial significance (i.e., something that would cause a long term decrease in happiness), and (3) fulfilling this obligation requires specific actions on political, social, and individual levels.
Identifier: CFH0003797 (IID), ucf:44713 (fedora)
Note(s): 2011-05-01
B.A.
Arts and Humanities, Dept. of Philosophy
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): ethics
world hunger
global poverty
affluence
morality
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003797
Restrictions on Access: campus 2014-04-01
Host Institution: UCF

In Collections