Barbora Badurova

Conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorizing have raised various ethical questions. Following many other authors, we distinguish between traditional conspiracy theories and the new conspiracism. This paper poses the question, What is the ethical status of the new conspiracism? We argue that the new conspiracism faces specific ethical problems. The new conspiracism has two forms: (1) the doubt-sowing branch and (2) the agitating branch. We argue that the doubt-sowing new conspiracists are culpably ignorant and can thus be morally blamed. The agitating new conspiracists have additional problems, as they take privileges they should not take and degrade political debates. We argue that people who participate in public political debates and blame others should make assertions and nothing else, as their audience has not consented to lax talk that does not assert anything. The speakers determine the illocutionary status of their sayings, and when they make wrong choices, they are morally responsible for those choices. The agitating new conspiracists are free-riders; they are responsible for speech acts that are not genuine assertions and whose main function is to signal one’s political side.

There is a widely debated issue regarding the status and impact of exponentially growing artificial intelligence. The article deals with the problem of the moral agency of animals, and artificial intelligence. The author addresses several criteria for moral agents and tries to find the answer to the question of whether we can treat animals and AI as moral agents. The author uses mostly method of philosophical analysis and comparative method. The author claims that moral agency is not a necessary condition for moral status and doubts the practicality of attributing full moral agency to animals and AI. Moreover, claims that moral agency comes in degrees and different kinds and therefore we have to consider the complex nature of moral agency when dealing with moral actions. For instance, even human moral agents are not all on the same level of development as suggested not just by empirical evidence but also virtue ethics.

Biometric technologies or biometrics are becoming widespread, and, in many ways, they help to make human life easier. As this new technology has a significant impact on not just humans but also nonhuman nature, the authors perceive that there is a need of utmost importance to deal with the evaluation of the impact from the point of view of ethics, especially environmental ethics. The article is based mainly on an interdisciplinary approach, namely, a theoretical analysis of biometric technologies from the point of view of the two most significant approaches to argumentation in environmental ethics: anthropocentric and nonanthropocentric. The study will analyze the results of empirical research conducted among consumers in Slovakia in the years (2023-2024). The authors also base the analysis on relevant empirical data, presenting their own research on consumers’ subjective perceptions of the risks and benefits of biometrics. The authors conclude that it is essential to consider subjective and objective anthropocentric arguments and nonanthropocentric arguments for and against biometrics to understand the broader consequences of this technology.

Etika vrlina pristup je normativne etike koji naglašava izvrsne karakterne osobine moralnih subjekata. Značajan broj autora ističe da ovaj pristup ima veliki potencijal u suvremenom etičkom obrazovanju. Rad se usmjerava na mogućnost uporabe etike vrlina u etičkom obrazovanju u Slovačkoj. Jedan od najznačajnijih autora u razvoju ove teme je Ladislav Lenz koji je napisao i ključne tekstove za nastavnike o etičkom obrazovanju. Njegov se koncept temelji na pedagoškim i psihologijskim osnovama, a inspiriran je konceptom prosocijalnosti španjolskog psihologa R. R. Olivara. Ipak, neki od Lenczovih radova iskazuju i elemente etike vrlina. U ovome radu istaknut ćemo mogućnosti uključivanja etike vrlina u etičko obrazovanje.

In daily debates, people often use the words “natural” and “naturalness”, and the meaning is often regarded as unproblematic. However, as the author points out, this can lead to misunderstanding in discussions, especially those regarding ethical matters. This paper relies mostly on philosophical methods of conceptual analysis and synthesis. The purpose of this study is to find answers to the question - Is respect for life natural and if so, in what sense? An analysis of several concepts of naturalness is presented, and later, applied to the concept of respect for life in environmental ethics for the purpose of synthesis. By analysing the concept of naturalness, the author is inspired, mostly by the investigations made by M. Sagoff and by H. Siipi. Regarding the findings, the author concludes that some senses of naturalness are not appropriate for the ethics of respect for life, because they are, for instance, not specific enough and ethically irrelevant in this context, while others may be useful in argumentation for respecting non-human living beings. The author claims that the most suitable sense seems to be the sense of naturalness in accordance with Aristotelian telos, although also modified for the sake of non-anthropocentric environmental ethics. Even though several authors dealt with the concept of respect for life and the concept of naturalness, this contribution enriches the discussion in the environmental ethics as it seeks answers to a question - if the respect for life is natural, in what sense of naturalness is it? The philosophical methods of asking related questions, and conceptual analysis of the term “naturalness”, as well as seeking its application and synthesis, can also be applied in schools when promoting the critical and philosophical thinking of students, who can, at once, become citizens dealing responsibly with ecological crisis and environmental problems.

The text deals with the possibilities of the utilisation of cross-curricular themed Environmental education in the school subject, “Ethical education in Slovakia”, especially in lower secondary education. The text partly stems from work on the project APVV-14-0176 “Didactic Means Facilitating the Implementation of Selected Cross-Curricular Topics in the Teaching of Ethical Education at the Second Level of Primary School”, and offers a brief overview on how the topics of ethical education may overlap with environmental education. To achieve this goal, the first part of the text briefly characterises ethical education in Slovakia, and introduces its key figures and principles, as well as the elements of environmental education in ethical education, and a brief summary of the content of the cross-curricular topic, “Environmental Education in the Current National Curriculum” follow. The suggestions for implementation of environmental education in ethical education in Slovakia, form the last part of the paper, where the author also describes some problem areas of the subjects. The author concludes that it is also possible to apply environmental themes in current ethical education; however, it requires some creativity, critical thinking, suitable teaching materials, and competent, dedicated teachers.

The term respect is frequently used in ordinary communication however it also has a significant role in philosophical discussions focused on environmental ethics. This essay deals with the ambiguity of the term respect. The author analyzes respect from a philosophical point of view claiming that several possible interpretations of what the word respect means and what standards of behavior to which it is to be related. It is pointed out that the issue of whether respect should be understood as an attitude or behavior. The author highlights the problem of constraints imposed by respect and the relation of respect to intrinsic and instrumental value. The approach is analyzed also from the point of view of Kant’s ethics, nevertheless the author examines it also from the standpoints of various contemporary environmental ethicists (e.g. Taylor, Goodpaster, Katz, Lo). However, author concludes that understanding respect as a virtue appears to be a most promising approach in contemporary environmental ethics because it can solve the problem of finding balanced interpretation of respect.