December 10, 2024

Narrative motifs and stereotypical attributions in the kaiju film genre

Genre classifications such as western, science fiction or kaiju structure our perception and evaluation of films. Despite their apparent unambiguousness, a closer look reveals their great complexity. What criteria play a role in categorization? Are stereotypical ideas served, especially in the case of non-Western works? Are ethical boundaries transgressed? Genre categories shape expectations and interpretations and reflect transcultural communication processes.

Article   

November 18, 2024

‘Your Body My Choice’

Far from constituting a coincidence or macabre joke, the slogan “Your Body My Choice” is a co-optation of feminist standpoints and might be integral to current fascist and right-wing populist narratives, as was also witnessed at anti-vaccination demonstrations during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Article  

October 01, 2024

Agricultural turnaround and recognition

The agricultural turnaround is explosive. Farmers are vociferously opposing regulations and demanding more recognition for the fact that they provide us all with food. Politicians agree with this demand and are withdrawing new regulations. But does recognition necessarily mean maintaining the status quo? No, says environmental ethicist Uta Eser. Anyone who recognizes the importance of agriculture for the well-being of us all must push for changes to current practices.

Article  

16th July 2024

Human(s) in the loop(s): On the use of AI in German law enforcement

The criminal justice system is a core area of society undergoing intense digitalization and datafication processes accompanied and accelerated by rapidly evolving artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. While the EU Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) provides the legal framework for the adoption of AI-based systems for the police, our research provides the empirical data to analyze this undertaking. By outlining the requirements for human oversight of AI applications in the context of policing, we demonstrate the importance of ethical reflection where AI use can have serious consequences.

Article  

25th January 2024

Ethical reflection as orientation knowledge

In this blog article, the problem of a lack of orientation is framed as an area of tension between knowledge of availability and knowledge of orientation, with particular consideration of ethical reflection as a form of knowledge of orientation.

Article 

October 01, 2024

Agricultural turnaround and recognition

The agricultural turnaround is explosive. Farmers are vociferously opposing regulations and demanding more recognition for the fact that they provide us all with food. Politicians agree with this demand and are withdrawing new regulations. But does recognition necessarily mean maintaining the status quo? No, says environmental ethicist Uta Eser. Anyone who recognizes the importance of agriculture for the well-being of us all must push for changes to current practices.

Article  

30th April 2024

The Shroud of Security

It is a much-trumpeted truism: there is no such thing as absolute security. In any case, the provision of security is limited in view of the associated material resources and the always limited knowledge. Moreover, security, as one value among many, must also be limited, as security ethicist Regina Ammicht Quinn emphasised.

Article 

15th December 2023

Grotesque Women in the Media

The media exert a significant influence on body images. They confirm cultural ideals of beauty, disseminate idealised images and influence social norms and values. This article will focus on how the grotesque, repulsive, obscene body, of all things, can contribute to breaking down such powerful representational conventions and questioning normative ideas of femininity.

Article 

November 18, 2024

‘Your Body My Choice’

Far from constituting a coincidence or macabre joke, the slogan “Your Body My Choice” is a co-optation of feminist standpoints and might be integral to current fascist and right-wing populist narratives, as was also witnessed at anti-vaccination demonstrations during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Article  

December 10, 2024

Narrative motifs and stereotypical attributions in the kaiju film genre

Genre classifications such as western, science fiction or kaiju structure our perception and evaluation of films. Despite their apparent unambiguousness, a closer look reveals their great complexity. What criteria play a role in categorization? Are stereotypical ideas served, especially in the case of non-Western works? Are ethical boundaries transgressed? Genre categories shape expectations and interpretations and reflect transcultural communication processes.

Article   

21st February 2022

Consulting or "ethical coating"?

Ethics counseling in the health care sector is increasingly not provided by external experts, but by grassroots trained employees from within the company, who either act as counselors themselves or, for example, conduct an ethical case discussion (...)

Article 

16th April 2024

The Self as a Multispecies Being. Ethical Aspects of the Influence of Microbes on the Physicalness

Trillions of microbes live on and in the bodies of humans, animals and plants. They form the human, animal or plant microbiome. Accordingly, microbiomes do not exist independently of each other. Through the constant circulation and interaction of microorganisms, we humans are connected to each other and to our environment in a complex way. This raises numerous ethical questions. These are examined in the following blog post. The focus is on ethical questions in the context of human physicality.

Article