This four-week course in applied ethics will look at some of the most difficult and controversial issues in contemporary life. We will apply traditional ethical systems such as virtue ethics, utilitarianism, and deontology to these questions. With ethics, there are no final answers but perhaps we can think more clearly about the ethical implications of issues... This program is being presented with limited enrollment to foster discussion.

LECTURES:

 1. The Ethics of the New Reproductive Techniques: what ethical issues are raised by practices to treat infertility such as artificial insemination, in vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and cloning?

 2. The Ethics of Animal Rights: Do animals have rights? And if so, what animals? Should we eat animals, do medical research on animals, or keep animals in zoos and aquariums? Do we have the right to keep pets?

 3. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence: What ethical issues arise as machines are able to imitate human intelligence? How can we deal with issues of privacy, copyright protection, bias in decision-making, and the threat of deepfakes? Does a machine have ethical obligations?

 4. The Ethics of Gender: This is perhaps the most controversial issue today. Is gender a biological fact or something chosen at birth? Can someone change their gender or choose to be non-binary? How does this affect issues such as women's private spaces or women's sports?

Rabbi Michael Gold, Ph.D., is the spiritual leader of Temple Beth Shalom in Boca Raton, FL, and an adjunct professor of philosophy and religion at Broward and Miami-Dade Colleges. He has authored seven books, including Does the Universe Have a Soul?, and earned his doctorate from Florida Atlantic University with a focus on process philosophy and Jewish mysticism.

"Rabbi Gold was an excellent speaker and his handouts were very enlightening" OLLI Patron