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Keywords: Ethics

  • AUSTRALIA

    Faking friendship: The rise of the AI companion

    • Daniel Nellor
    • 25 October 2024

    An AI-driven companion designed to connect with people living with dementia raises important questions about companionship, care, and the human experience. Can an AI truly replace the role of a human caregiver, or are we compromising what it means to connect? 

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  • ENVIRONMENT

    The forest wars

    • Tony Smith
    • 04 October 2024

      The Forest Wars reveals how vested interests make life difficult for the scientists and activists who attempt to defend the environment, a war waged through deforestation on one hand and deception and obfuscation on the other. Linenmayer asks: if we continue to allow vested interests to drive deforestation, how long before the forests — and the future they promise — are lost beyond repair?

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A second try at combatting disinformation

    • Frank Brennan
    • 25 September 2024

    The Government is making another valiant effort to rein in the adverse effects of ungoverned digital platforms. But in debating such a detailed bill without the backstop of a constitutional or statutory bill of rights recognising the right to freedom of expression, there are no clear guard rails for getting the balance right. 

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    How 'Slow Horses' became the show of the moment

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 12 September 2024

    Slow Horses is one of those dramas that are even better than the books they’re based on. The TV series is blessed by having Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb, the grisly spy-genius with a preternatural instinct for sniffing out hidden agendas. 

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  • RELIGION

    Francis’ Church may be more transparent and accountable, but don’t call it democratic

    • Bill Uren
    • 04 September 2024

    The Synod on Synodality begins its second session in October. And while the synodal process may involve consultation, Pope Francis is keen to remind those hoping for reform that teaching authority remains with the Pope and bishops. As the Pope has insisted on a number of occasions, the Church is not a democracy, and the synod is not a parliament.

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  • ARTS AND CULTURE

    TV cops and cop-outs

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 29 August 2024

    With contemporary crime dramas increasingly suffused with a sense of grim fatalism, The Rookie stands out for its optimism, a refreshing throwback to the days when crime series used to be about the mostly goodies chasing the mostly baddies.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    A national declaration of dignity

    • Joseph Camilleri
    • 28 August 2024

    As Australia faces numerous moral crises from domestic inequality to global militarization, a proposed national charter of principles could to reshape our society and redefine our global role. This declaration would acknowledge Indigenous dispossession, prioritize human rights, and shift focus from military alliances to human security.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    In an unjust world, can war ever be just?

    • Daniel Nellor
    • 27 August 2024

    Amidst the conflict in Gaza, can ancient moral frameworks guide modern warfare? Nigel Biggar's recent analysis invokes 'Just War Theory', sparking debate on the ethics of Israel's response to Hamas. As casualties rise, questions of proportionality and 'just cause' take on a new significance, challenging leaders and citizens alike to navigate the fraught intersection of security, morality, and human dignity.

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  • INTERNATIONAL

    Olympic ceremonies as liturgies

    • Juliette Hughes
    • 07 August 2024

    You have to admit, the French have form for mocking religion. But with their peculiar take on the Lord's Supper with all its Dionysian excess, the colourfully irreverent opening ceremony left many asking: has Paris 2024 turned the Olympics into a ritual of performative ethics? 

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  • RELIGION

    Vatican document focuses on process, not problems

    • Bill Uren
    • 30 July 2024

    The Vatican's new Instrumentum Laboris outlines the path forward for the Synod on Synodality, but with a heavy emphasis on process over substance. While it acknowledges the need for greater women's involvement, it firmly reinforces the authority of the Pope and bishops, raising questions about the true potential for change.

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  • AUSTRALIA

    The Productivity Commission's magical thinking

    • Michael McVeigh
    • 25 July 2024

    While proposing broader access to tax deductibility for some charities, the Productivity Commission's new report on charitable giving suggests removing benefits for religious entities. This raises serious questions about the role of religion in fostering charitable giving and the potential consequences of these reforms for Australia's charitable landscape.

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  • RELIGION

    The Bishop of Rome and universal jurisdiction: An ecumenical obstacle?

    • Bill Uren
    • 11 July 2024

    The recent Vatican instruction terminating the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in St Patrick’s Cathedral is a prime example of Vatican officialdom overriding local episcopal authority. Let us hope that in a more decentralized Church some traditional obstacles to ecumenism may be removed without respective ecclesiastical loss of face on the part of the contributing Churches.

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