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Here is the article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/

Aristotle defines a rhetorician as someone who is always able to see what is persuasive.
Rhetoric is defined as the ability to see what is persuasive in every given case
The methodical core of Aristotle’s rhetoric is the theorem that there are three ‘technical’ ‘persuaders’ or ‘means of persuasion’; ethos, logos, pathos.
Some scholars writing on the rhetorical use of emotions take it to be significant that emotions also play a crucial role in Aristotle’s moral philosophy, for Aristotle defines the virtuous person not only by performing the right actions, but also by having and by being motivated through the appropriate sort of emotions.
Aristotle stresses right from the beginning of his Rhetoric that rhetoric is closely related to dialectic.

Here is the article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/

Generally regarded as one of the most important philosophers in English, David Hume (1711–1776) was also well known as an historian and essayist.
Hume’s explanation on morality is an important part of his efforts to reform philosophy. He takes his primary task to be an investigation into the origin of the basic moral ideas, which he believes are the ideas of moral good and bad.
Hume wrote forcefully and incisively on almost every central question in the philosophy of religion, contributing to ongoing debates about the reliability of reports of miracles, the immateriality and immortality of the soul, the morality of suicide, and the natural history of religion, among others.
In 1775, as he was readying a revised edition of his essays and treaties for the press, Hume sent his publisher an Advertisement, asking that it be included in this and any subsequent edition of his works.
Hume’s early studies of philosophical systems convinced him that philosophy was in a sorry state and in dire need of reform.

Here is the article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-ancient/

Ancient moral theory, does not attempt to be a comprehensive account of all the phenomena that fall under the heading of morality it tries to capture its underlying essence.
Being a just person entails qualities of character proper to the just person, in the light of which they decide what actions justice requires of them and are inclined or disposed to act accordingly.
In the Apology, Socrates says that a man worth anything at all does not reckon whether his course of action endangers his life or threatens death.
The very nature of Plato’s account of virtue and happiness leaves some aspects of the link between the two unclear.
The question we should ask here is whether and in what respect those with strong, rational convictions will be better off than the Skeptic when confronting moral dilemmas, or even everyday moral choices

Here is the link to the source: https://www.eng.auburn.edu/~troppel/courses/5530%202011C%20Robots%20Fall%2011/literature/Article_BeyondAsimov.pdf

Eight important facts are:

Since their codification in 1947 in the collection of short stories I, Robot, Isaac Asimov’s three laws of robotics have been a staple of science fiction.
Asimov’s first law of robotics states, “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”
Asimov’s second law of robotics states, “A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.”
The third law states, “A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.”
Our alternative to Asimov’s first law is “A human may not deploy a robot without the human–robot work system meeting the highest legal and professional standards of safety and ethics.”
As an alternative to Asimov’s second law, we propose the following: “A robot must respond to humans as appropriate for their roles.”
Our third law is “A robot must be endowed with sufficient situated autonomy to protect its own existence as long as such protection provides smooth transfer of control to other agents consistent with the first and second laws.”
Asimov’s laws really are robot-centric because most of the initiative for safety and efficacy lies in the robot as an autonomous agent. The alternative laws are human-centered.

Five questions to ask about the case are:

What are the three Asimov's laws?
What are the three alternative laws?
What are two key capabilities do robots need?
Why follow the three laws?
When were the three laws codified?

Three additional standard questions:

What does virtue ethics say about this case?
What does utilitarianism say about this case?
What does deontology say about this case?

Analysis. The consequentialist approach suggests in this case that the hospital was in the wrong. The deontological approach seems to imply that the nurses were trying to do the right thing by reporting the woman which differs from the consequentialist approach in that the nurses were trying to stop a case of possible fraud but is similar in that both parties were punished for their wrongdoings. A Humean analysis indicates that the woman was only acting out of desperation which seems similar to the consequentialist approach in terms of the nurses were also acting on impulse as well but different in that there is a protection for patients that nurses have to follow. It also compares to the deontological approach in that the woman still has the right to privacy but did it in the wrong way. I feel that the deontological approach works best in this case because of the duty of the health professionals convicted with their parameters, and that the deontological approach seems to give the odd result that the hospital was in the wrong, however, both the hospital, and patient were in the wrong.

Conclusions. I believe that the hospital should not have been sued and were not in the wrong. They genuinely believed that the woman could've impersonated someone. It was not the hospital's fault that her real name got out, but the press themselves. I don't believe the hospital should've been held responsible.

Future Environment. If in the future immigration laws change, I believe cases like this would be minimal. It could be possible the woman was an immigrant and did not have the proper paperwork or identification to be treated in the US without being caught by ICE. As controversial as this claim is, it would be a thing in the past if in the future citizenship would not dictate livelihood.

Future scenario. In the future, the woman could just go in and tell the nurses what was wrong with her and she gets the best care. She shouldn't have to worry about health insurance or identification. Nor should a hospital be sued just because they felt that a crime was being committed.

How do We Fix the Problem?

Problems from the past that have hurt our economy today have only protected the wealth of upper-class Americans. It is true that growth increased drastically after the 1982 tax cut, reaching as high as 7.3% in 1984. However, as the Reagan-Bush, Sr. administrations went on and taxes for the rich were slashed even further, growth fell to negative levels during 1991, at the heart of the last recession. And, two of the three years with the highest growth were during the 1950s, when the top tax rate was 91%. Overall, there seems to be no close relationship between the top tax rate and the GDP growth rate, and statistical analysis backs this up: the correlation coefficient between the two variables is 0.03, meaning that there is essentially no connection. (If tax cuts were strongly related to GDP growth, we would see a coefficient close to -1.) So much for upper-class tax cuts boosting the economy; now it's on to median income growth. https://www.faireconomy.org/trickle_down_economics_four_reasons

I suggest we fix our problems by doing trickle-down economics but in reverse. The ARPA and AJP represent “trickle-up” economics, putting dollars directly in the hands of consumers who are most likely to spend them, creating demand for products and services that generate more economic growth than trickle-down. Consumer spending is 70 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). But the Trump tax cuts disproportionately benefited America’s wealthiest. The wealthy save rather than spend, so they don’t generate much demand and restrain corporate investment and hiring, widening America’s income and wealth gaps. https://thehill.com/opinion/finance/550007-bidens-trickle-up-economics-is-just-what-america-needs/

Lower and Middle-class citizens are less likely to conserve money due to their backgrounds. And as mentioned above, if we give more attention and opportunities to lower-income citizens, the economy will see a return on investment. Rather than giving budget cuts and tax exemptions that only benefit making upper-class citizens richer. This will of course create a more competitive society as now lower and middle-class people will have a much easier time breaking the glass ceiling and making the wealthy work harder to separate themselves from the masses as they want to achieve exclusivity.

Here is the link to the case: https://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/memorial-hermann-ordered-pay-24-million-over-immigrant-incident

Eight important facts are:

Memorial Hermann Health System has gotten slapped with a $2.4 million fine after being found liable for breaking HIPAA rules by releasing the name of a patient who was arrested, even though the identity became public through police records.
In September 2015, a patient at one of Memorial Hermann’s clinics presented an allegedly fraudulent identification card to office staff, according to HHS. Staff immediately alerted authorities, and the patient was arrested.
Between Sept. 15 and 19, 2015, Memorial Hermann disclosed the patient’s name through press releases issued to 15 media outlets and reporters
The patient was 44-year old Blanca Borrego, an immigrant from Mexico who was arrested at a gynecologist’s office after presenting a fake ID
Borrego’s fate since the 2015 incident is not known
The resolution agreement, signed on April 20 by Memorial Hermann President and CEO Benjamin Chu, MD, agrees to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $2.4 million and to adopt a comprehensive corrective action plan.
This case reminds us that organizations can readily cooperate with law enforcement without violating HIPAA, but that they must nevertheless continue to protect patient privacy when
making statements to the public and elsewhere.

The action plan requires MHHS to update its policies and procedures on safeguarding private information from impermissible uses and to train its workforce.

Five questions to ask about the case are:

If a patient gives a fake ID and a healthcare provider leaks their information, does it still violate HIPAA laws?
Do you think the fine was too much or is it justified?
Do you think the hospital or the press was to blame?
Do you believe the case was racially motivated?
What do you think became of Borrego?

1. The video was intended as life advice to whom?

This video was intended for his children.

2. List the advice items that you/your group can recall below. (Many, but not all, are related to ethics.) For each, note whether you agree or not.

Imagine freely don't take limitations - Agree
Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted -somewhat agree
Don't forget your childhood dreams. -somewhat agree
Brick walls are not there to stop us getting something it's there to check how badly we want something. -disagree
Imagine your life as a game, see challenges as adventure enjoy every day. -agree
You might as well be selling something worthwhile like education -agree

The facts of the case:
During a conversation, Terence Heng, asked Vivian Weil whether Illinois Tech had a university-wide code of Ethics. However, the college did not. At the meeting to create a code of ethics, they decided to take the bottom-up approach to developing the code. Instead of allowing one group or person at the top to write the code, the Exploratory Committee decided to hold a series of focus groups made up of members from each major constituency of the Illinois Tech Community. Even though it was never fully ratified, the code is an important model for how a campus code of ethics can be developed through a collective process involving all departments.

Analysis:
The consequentialist approach suggests in this case that the school was in the right to want to develop a code of ethics and pass it off as a living document. No negative consequences were applied. The deontological approach seems to imply that it was the responsibility of most of the departments to ensure the code of ethics would apply to everyone and be in agreeance.

My conclusions:
My conclusions for this case is that it is a great model for any and all organizations should have. There should be a collective group effort of how an organization should run. The Illinois Tech Institute pioneered a very positive example of group effort.

Future environment:
I believe as tension continues to grow, more cases like this need to be studied. As it stands, many individuals in an organizations are deciding to keep to themselves or act as their own individual department. Jobs might be conducted on a personal basis.

Future scenario:
I believe in the future, cases like these would rarely happen. With the recent move to more remote jobs, there wont be opportunities for collaboration. Hopefully we could see a hybrid of remote and collaboration that is similar to this case.

The source of my case is: https://ethics.iit.edu/projects/iit-code-ethics

Eight important facts are:

The process of writing a university-wide code of ethics for the Illinois' Institute of Technology was begun in spring, 2005 by the Center for the Study of Ethics in the Professions
A university code of ethics would clearly articulate the ethical principles shared by members of the Illinois Tech Community, and serve as a guide for how we as individuals, and the institution as a whole, should conduct ourselves.
In June of 2005, an exploratory committee made up of CSEP faculty members, Bruce Fisher, Institute of Psychology, and members of the Center’s advisory board, Jack Hartray, William Parks, and Greg Barrett of the Institutional Advancement Staff met to discuss how the code should be developed
After reviewing existing university-wide codes of ethics, the Exploratory Committee used the University of Southern California's Code of Ethics as a starting point and wrote the first rough version of the Illinois Tech Code of Ethics.
From November 2005 to December 2006, focus groups were held for students, faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees.
The latest version of the Illinois Tech Code of Ethics has been reviewed for endorsement by focus groups representing students, trustees, administrators, faculty, and staff, as was recommended at combined meeting of members from each of the five focus groups and members of the Exploratory Committee.
The Illinois Tech Code of Ethics expresses a set of common ground rules for all members of the university community and a set of standards that we should strive to achieve.
CSEP hopes that the Code of Ethics will be a living document, something that individuals turn to when they are faced with an ethical situation, and that will be modified in relation to new situations that may arise.

Questions to ask about the case are:

What are codes of ethics?
How did Susan Feinberg of the Humanities Department, describe the code?
How often did the Exploratory Committee would meet to discuss how development of the code was progressing?

Three additional standard questions:

What does virtue ethics say about this case?
What does utilitarianism say about this case?
What does deontology say about this case?

What was the USA’s plan in the event of an economic crisis?
- Fiscal policy is the use of government spending and taxation to influence the economy. Governments typically use fiscal policy to promote strong and sustainable growth and reduce poverty. The role and objectives of fiscal policy gained prominence during the recent global economic crisis, when governments stepped in to support financial systems, jump-start growth, and mitigate the impact of the crisis on vulnerable groups.
- Antonio Maria Costa, then head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, told The Guardian at the time that this funding from drug cartels was "the only liquid investment capital" available to these struggling institutions. He did not name specific banks or specific transactions but claimed to have seen evidence from intelligence agencies and government investigations. Costa even went so far as to imply that by propping up those key international institutions, the entire financial system was kept afloat.
Being rich in an economic crisis
- A stock market rebound helped the world’s ranks of millionaires climb 17 percent to 10 million, while their collective wealth surged 19 percent to $39 trillion, nearly recouping losses from the financial crisis, according to the latest Merrill Lynch-Capgemini world wealth report. Stock values rose by half, while hedge funds recovered most of their 2008 losses, in a year marked by government stimulus spending and central bank easing. “We are already seeing distinct signs of recovery and, in some areas, a complete return to 2007 levels of wealth and growth,” Bank of America Corp wealth management chief Sallie Krawcheck said.
How does the middle-class fare in an economic crisis
- Middle-class income growth has been subpar for decades. Not only has it failed to keep pace with income growth at the top, but it has, more surprisingly, even lagged income growth among the bottom fifth of the income distribution. Specifically, income growth in the middle 60 percent of the distribution (those with incomes between $40,00 and $154,000 for a household of three) grew by 47 percent from 1979 to 2016 after accounting for taxes and transfers. Most of the growth in middle-class incomes was created by more women going to work and earning higher wages. That source of growth cannot continue forever and has now fallen behind that of other advanced countries.

“The facts of the case.” Marcus is in conflict with the ethics of his company's data policy. He is also hesitant to provide his medical information to the public for advertising.
“Analysis.” Is it up to Marcus to determine how much is enough to spread personal medical information to companies? Is it ethical to outsource information so that people can receive accurate medicinal treatment for their problems?
“Conclusions.” It is hard to say if it is right or wrong. On the one hand, it can help the users, but on the other hand, it can be seen as exploitative. I believe that this can be taken to court if there is a data breach. Ethically I do not think it is right.
“Future environment.” In the future, this case would be filed as a civil matter. The company would be accused of leveraging user medical documents for profit. If there is a data breach then the situation could get worse and the company can be sued for negligence.

“Future scenario.” I believe an app like this would have never been created. They would see the risks and deem it not worth the risks. If it were to exist, there would be high data tracking and non-disclosure forms for every employee.

The source of my case is: https://www.scu.edu/ethics/focus-areas/more-focus-areas/engineering-ethics/engineering-ethics-cases/a-violation-of-privacy/

Eight important facts are:

A computer engineer is asked to divulge private medical data for marketing purposes.
Marcus is a computer engineer who has recently developed an app that helps users keep track of medical information, doctor’s appointments, and prescriptions.
Information about the user is stored in this app, including what prescriptions they are taking and how frequently they schedule doctor’s appointments.
The marketing department requests Marcus supply them with customer-specific information so they can better target ads and app suggestions to the users.
Marcus understands that he is part of a company, but also feels that the privacy of the app users should be protected.
Marcus feels that as an engineer, he should be responsible to those who use his technology.
Company employees can access personal information from users.
Mark is in conflict with supplying his medical records.

Questions to ask about the case are:

How does Marcus determine how much of the user's information should be shared with marketing?
Is this an ethical use of information or a violation of the user's privacy?
Could the case study violate HIPPA or any other privacy law?
As an employee, is it okay for employers to ask you to reveal personal information?

Discussion Question related to computer security:

If the user information is shared with the company, would they be responsible for their privacy?

Q1:

Analyzing the working class rat race. Are working class people just living machines for the upper class? Is it ethical to hold the livelihood of the American people above their heads to work for big businesses? Time and time again America continues to thrive with flaunting its wealth to the world, often not taking into account how dystopian it can often be portrayed. From the richest citizens to the poorest ones, Oftentimes the passing down of generational wealth has construed the meaning of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps". middle and lower class citizens today have to work significantly harder to keep up with the current economy. More than upper class citizens had ever had to. Is it ethical for upper class people to compensate for the lower class citizens even if they did not earn it?

What is the Great Resignation and How do we fix it?
We need to better take care of our working class. For the year 2022, ‘The Great Resignation’ is a time in which the United States experienced a heavy flow of resignations. Approximately 4.3 million people decided to quit their jobs for various reasons since the month of January. Currently, about 40% of workers consider quitting their jobs soon. Reasons vary such as hourly wage compared to cost of living, poor working conditions, stressful work environments, and little to no benefits to working for minimum wage companies. We can fix the growing public disdain for working by first offering protections to workers. Oftentimes in places that require customer service, workers feel replaceable. Not to mention workers often lose their jobs when facing up against someone who takes the saying “The Customer is Always Right”. These people have been labeled by the general public as “Karens”. The protections I would like to put in place will prevent termination in the event that workers come into contact with Karens.

What is the wealth gap in america like? “A chain is only as strong as their weakest link”. That is my philosophy when it comes to fixing the economy. The United States has a 41.4% on the Gini Scale. The Gini coefficient ranges from 0, indicating perfect equality (where everyone receives an equal share), to 1, perfect inequality (where only one recipient or group of recipients receives all the income). The United States claims to have the richest man in the world however, some of the poorest citizens in the United States make $3,194 a year. That's not a good look.

Q2: More details and statistics needs to be added to my project. It mainly uses pathos for my argument. I will also need to make arguments for upper and middle class people in the future of this project.

“The facts of the case.”: There are certain jokes or comments that people used to say in the past that does not fly over well today. Was it ever ok to make these jokes or comments in the first place or has our generation gone soft?

“Analysis.”: In terms of the consequentialist, offensive jokes or comments have results that may vary. You might not receive any consequences, you might be attacked, or you might lose your livelihood. For the deontological approach, comments that may be deemed offensive might be valid if taken into consideration. The action itself is not right, but the reasoning may be valid.

“Conclusions.”: I believe that unless you are part of a the specific demographic being referenced, you should not make any offensive comments about that group. It may seem unfair but it is the most ethically sound option. It doesn't make sense for a heterosexual white man to reference to a lesbian black woman in any offensive term. One lacks the experience and the culture of the demographic in question.

“Future environment.”: In the future I believe it could get better. Whether or not offensive terms goes back to being mainstream is up to them. However, the internet or other sharing service will be forever so they must be careful in what they post.

“Future scenario.”: I believe in the future the terms we use today may fade into history. We may not use slurs anymore, or we may not base weakness on sexuality or race. Rather, those weaknesses or offensiveness will be based off of the individual and not a whole demographic. I believe that is a better future.

Social Class: What can be Done about the Economy
The question I will be going over is "How can we fix the USA's economic disparity?"
- First I will go over the current state of our economy and the current state of each economic class.
- Second step is go over the USA's original plan for economic growth and see where do we continue to follow and where things went wrong.
- Final Step is to develop a doable plan to bridge the wealth gap to a more attainable structure.
  - An issue that could come about are how the new structure could be exploited. I will need to figure out how my plan could be exploited and how to go about it to prevent the United States from going back to where we are currently.

Are things currently that bad in America? In its current state it is incredibly easy to gain wealth in America.
- Is it truly that simple to gain wealth in America? Are there any drawbacks with how easy it is to gain wealth in America? Would anyone consider it a good thing long term? This section will go over American wealth.
Is the American dream still alive? Has it ever existed? This section will go over the history of the American dream.
- Should exploitation be a determining factor in how wealth is attained in America? Is it the same as slavery? What are the ethics of using money as an incentive to use lower class people
  - Compare the history of American wealth from the to now. Is it the same or is it different?
  - Is it not considered slavery if you are compensated for your work? Is exploitation the key to American wealth?
Analyzing the working class rat race. Are working class people just living machines for the upper class?
- Is it ethical to hold the livelihood of the American people above their heads to work for big businesses? Time and time again America continues to thrive with flaunting its wealth to the world, often not taking into account how dystopian it can often be portrayed. From the richest citizens to the poorest ones, often times the passing down of generational wealth has construed the meaning of "pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps". middle and lower class citizens today have to work significantly harder to keep up with the current economy. More than upper class citizens had ever had to. Is it ethical for upper class people to compensate for the lower class citizens even if they did not earn it?
What are some ways we can fix our country's economy to benefit everyone?

Current Mood: accomplished

The source of my case is https://www.scu.edu/the-big-q/the-big-q-blog/you-dont-say-that.html

Five important facts are:
1. Does American culture condone this type of language? Does the unconscious use of these terms contribute to harmful stereotypes or does everyone understand that they don’t really mean anything?
2. Justin overhears Linda telling one of her friends to “Man up.” He confronts her about the term, saying that man up implies gender norms. Linda doesn’t understand why he’s so upset with this term.
3. Linda overhears a conversation occurring at the beer pong table. One of her friends, Justin, is disappointed that his teammate is taking so long to finish his drink. She overhears him say, “That’s so gay.”
4. She tells him “gay” shouldn’t be a slang-term for lame or stupid.
5. He tells her that he is fully accepting of homosexuality and didn’t mean any harm with his words. She says that it is used universally and isn’t supposed to insult anyone.

Three questions to ask about the case are:
1. Should comments like these be acceptable?
2. How you defend these comments?
3. Do we like in a society that condones these types of comments?

Add the following three additional questions to your list of questions:
What does virtue ethics say about this case?
What does utilitarianism say about this case?
What does deontology say about this case?

1. A couple of topics that I would like to go over for my project would be topics such as race relations, social class, and/or political ethics. For the race relation topic, I would like to go over how race influences how individuals interact with the world and if it is ethical to separate the racial identity of the person in professional settings. It will also tackle topics such as dress codes, social interactions, and other rules that were implemented to avoid discrimination but actually does. The next topic will go over the ethics of each social class. First part will go over issues tackling the lower class and if it's ethical for poverty to exist. The next part will be how the middle class often take responsibility for both the upper and lower class. The final part will go over if wealthy people should take more responsibility in society, and if there should be a wealth cap. The last topic I would like to tackle would be political ethics. Is it ethical for decisions of the few affecting the majority. I will also go over if there should be stricter qualifications to run for office such as experience and an ethics quiz.

2. I am considering a research paper format for my project. However, I am open to PowerPoint presentations or an open floor discussion. The open floor discussion will also double in evaluating the ethics of the class itself. I do prefer a PowerPoint presentation since people learn better visually than reading or arguing amongst one another. Also discuss the question of individual vs. group project. I prefer my project be an individual project. However, given the nature of my topics, a second opinion may help my project. It will add a better nuance and understanding if someone challenges my argument. By the end, the project may better be understood by the most people as possible.