Ethics Symposium Highlights Important Debates

Dickinson students presented alongside Dickinson alum John B. Frisch ’80 in the 2nd Annual Dickinson College Ethics Symposium to discuss “a moral responsibility to ourselves and others,” in memory of Professor Michael Poulton, according to the event’s pamphlet.

Poulton, a professor of International Business and Management at Dickinson, passed away in December of 2015, and the college established the International Business Management (INBM) Ethics Symposium in April of 2016 to “honor his legacy and extraordinary contribution in the classroom and to the college,” as stated by the event’s pamphlet.  This year, the symposium consisted of presentations from students of eight different academic programs, namely Mitchell Snyder ’19, economics and law & policy; Taylor Lezhen ’17, international studies; Wesley Smith ’17, policy management; Yanxiu “Christie” Chen ’18, INBM; Zachary Garrett ’17, religion and philosophy; David Dejvi Ndreca ’19, political science; Yueqing “Amiee” Yang ’19, economics.

Snyder, the first student speaker, presented “You have a right to an attorney…but should you?” in which he discussed his experience at the Erie County Bar Association Assigned Counsel Program to explain “every single client who walked through that door, these attorneys treated them all exactly the same [regardless of crime].”

Lezhen presented on “Privacy vs Security” and how the reveal of confidential information results “creates a distrust between the people and the American government.”  She used a hypothetical situation involving a pregnant sorority girl and her sisters to explain how “sensitive information could lead to worldwide conflict” in the context of government.

Smith discussed “A Supermarket’s Role in Combating Hunger” by relating a personal tale of an encounter with a homeless man.  Smith was stocking shelves in the supermarket, Giant, when a homeless man asked him for a piece of cardboard to use as a sign for panhandling.  Smith relayed the importance of asking ourselves “how can we as individuals help others, especially in regards to hunger relief?” as well as “how can we as a community, or you as an individual, make an impact on someone else?”

Chen examined the two sides of artificial intelligence in her presentation, “AI: Human Being’s Friend or Enemy?” She spoke on how Google’s self-driving car would have been able to make the roads safer, but also countered this pro of artificial intelligence with points on legal responsibility, privacy of users’ data and possibilities of artificial intelligence causing unemployment.

Garrett articulated the ways in which personal identity and corporate personhood are seemingly incompatible in his presentation “Personal Identity and Corporate Responsibility.”  He discussed the ways in which a corporation is not a person, however, he concluded with the idea that “perhaps corporations, despite not being persons like you and I are, can still be morally responsible.”

Ndreca, in his presentation “The Consciousness of a Politician” reflected on how “ruling, or leadership as western societies tend to call it, is power” and whether or not “our elected representatives have the moral consent and freedom to act recklessly” and if free speech, enterprise and travel truly exist.

Yang spoke of the importance of responsibility in her presentation “It’s Your Responsibility to be Responsible.”  She related the story of Zhiquan Huang, a Chinese bus driver who passed away from a heart attack while driving.  However, he demonstrated responsibility to those he was driving on the bus by pulling over in his last moments of life, saving his passengers.

The keynote speaker, Frisch, spoke on the importance of integrity, truth, listening and mindfulness and the ways in which they are all connected.  He claimed that “listening to understand is truly a lost art,” and suggested that the Dickinson graduation requirements would benefit from a class geared towards listening deeply and knowing how to lead by asking insightful questions.  “There is huge power in asking the right question and really digging to get to the heart of the matter and get to the truth,” he elaborated.

Frisch also highlighted the importance of emotional intelligence and the ability to recognize when one feels attacked.  “You can get defensive and shut down a conversation or you can sense it, shut it down and proceed with the conversation in a productive way.”

“Integrity is a choice,” Frisch emphasized.  “Authenticity is a choice.”

Making the distinction between beliefs and values, he stated “beliefs can be expressed in words; values can only be expressed by actions.”

The symposium took place in the Allison Great Hall on Tuesday, April 18 and ran from 7 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.