"We've got a problem!" women and prenatal diagnosis

This feminist qualitative research addresses the lack of women's voices in the ethical debates surrounding prenatal diagnosis (PD). The conclusions reached challenge current ethical debates around PD programmes which, through the exclusion of groups intimately affected by PD, remain partial and inadequate.

Plagiarism, the internet and student learning : improving academic integrity

Written for higher education educators, managers and policy-makers, 'Plagiarism, the Internet and Student Learning' combines theoretical understandings with a practical model of plagiarism and explains why and how plagiarism developed.

Converting potential organ donors : a situational analysis of Australian physicians

This theory-building research suggests that the key to unlocking Australia's potential organ donor pool is to reduce the ethical ambiguity and legal uncertainty plaguing physicians' interepretation of the patients's best interests standard. This may generate a greater acceptance of organ donation as part of end-of-life patient care amongst our physicians.

Public opinion and ethics

The article reports on the complicated relationship between public opinion and ethics and discusses how large a role, if any, public opinion should play in issues related to health care, such as euthanasia. In the article the author offers her opinions on democracy and on the role that public opinion plays in solving ethical issues related to health care.

Torture : when the unthinkable is morally permissible

Content: Overview of the torture debate -- Torture : reality and legal position -- The moral status of torture -- The slippery slope illusion -- Live saving torture is a humane practice -- Torture is effective -- Torture is not anti-democratic -- The real divide : where responsibility starts and ends -- Why the torture debate really matters (and why a "meta analysis" of the torture debate supports our argument) -- The ends justifies the means

Women's decisions about amniocentesis : new dilemmas, new fears

Explores how the development and availability of prenatal diagnostic testing creates dilemmas for pregnant women that previous generations of women never had to face. Examines the reasons for the women's decisions about amniocentesis in the context of their reproductive, personal and social circumstances. The thesis concludes that, regardless of whether the study participants had accepted or rejected the medical offer of prenatal diagnosis, it was shaped by their desire to gain a sense of control in reproduction.

The dehumanisation of the other

This dissertation utilises film and the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas to expose the dehumanising characteristics of genocide. Through four films across four different cases of genocide, the investigation reveals that defining genocide as mass murder alone limits the potential to understand the crime.

Investigation of mystery in ecological knowing

The focus of this thesis is the internal incoherence of contemporary western understandings of ecology. Ecology suggests that everything within our world is interrelated. As this includes the generation of human knowing, our knowing of ecology and the structure and functioning of the world is called into question. An argument is developed which considers ecological knowing as belief, and specifically as a type of religious belief.

Technogyny : the transformation of reproduction

Explores the major social and political consequences of new reproductive and genetic technologies. Increasingly the experience and process of reproduction is dominated by technology and medicine. Suggests an international institution such as the UN is likely to be the most effective in addressing the concerns associated with the technologies' adverse effects. Such intervention is unlikely without active and sophisticated lobbying from women around the world.

Tertiary education for social justice in an age of uncertainty

This thesis is concerned with tertiary teachers in a range of disciplines who focus on social justice. It found that current conditions of tertiary education are challenging for teachers and suggested that a "capabilities" approach can provide the basis for attending to professional and ethical issues for tertiary teachers.

Same information, different behaviour

Over the last three decades the literature on ethical decision-making has burgeoned. Despite this, a number of recent corporate collapses have been attributed to unethical business practices. Through an online simulation study, the research found that an individual's cognitive predispositions, anxiety and moral identity are key contributors to unethical behaviour.

Understanding euthanasia debate : the Northern Territory experience in historical context

The thesis analyses the principles and philosophies behind the public submissions into the Northern Territory's Rights of the Terminally Ill Act [1995], which mirror wider debate over euthanasia since 1945. It argues that religious prohibitions against euthanasia have been largely replaced by slippery slope arguments that effectively obstruct law reform.

Industrial relations and catholic social doctrine

This paper reviews the key principles of Catholic Social thought as they pertain to relations between labour and capital. It is argued that such principles are foundational for the conduct of ethical relations and the exercise of moral values in the workplace, and are recognisable in the right of workers to employment and just compensation for their labours, in the duty of employers to provide safe and engaging work for those in their charge, and in the obligation of the state to dispense wise governance in a manner that guarantees the welfare and security of all its citizens. It is argued that these principles have had de facto airing in Australian political and economic history, and that they might be usefully drawn upon again to protect the rights of workers under the current ascendency of neo-liberal policy solutions.

Catholic social thought and labouring ideals in Australia's new industrial context

This article sets out the principles of Catholic social doctrine as they pertain to the rights of employees, the duties of the employers and the obligations of the state. It relates these to the historical development of industrial work and employment in Australia, noting the close proximity of the principles to the social and political arrangements that emerged over the period of the Australian Settlement. It goes on to identify the more recent demise of Catholic activism, which, in combination with the pursuit of neo-liberal policy solutions and market reforms, has purged previous arrangements of their former notions of `fairness' and equity. It concludes that those opposing such solutions and reforms should think beyond simply framing arguments in terms of the economic or the instrumental, and might usefully draw on the labouring ideals set out in Catholic social doctrine to develop a more thorough set of moral and ethical principles to support their cause.

Behind WorkChoices : how one company changed Australia's industrial relations

Never has a form of legislation created such contentious and wide-reaching emotional debate in Australia. It has divided the community and has resulted in extensive media activity. To the forefront are Australian academics who have often been the resource of expert comment and their reports have been prolific. In this book, academics have taken to opportunity to write their own perception of the impact of Work Choices in the workplace.