Winners of this year’s Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics & Ethics Week Reminder

March 10, 2025

Ethics Week begins with a celebratory announcement of the winners of the Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics. The winners are:

Faculty Awards:

“Climate Change, Marginalized Communities, and Pandemics: A New Paradigm for Transforming Industrial Animal Agriculture through ESG.”

Valerie Watnick | Professor, Department of Law

Notes from the Briloff Committee: “This is a comprehensive and professional study of the effects of factory farming, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). What is unusual about the paper is that it does not appeal to what are now standard arguments about the suffering of non-human animals on factory farms. Nor does the article assume any claim about the rights of non-human animals. Instead, the paper shows how factory farming is bad for us humans, in many different ways, through the release of greenhouse methane gases, through pollution of land and streams, and through the facilitation of epidemics. If you think you know about these problems, guess again.”

“Revising, or Rejecting: ‘Reasonable Prospects of success” in Just War: Lessons from Ukraine.”

Rhiannon Neilson | Assistant Professor, Marxe School of Public and International Affairs

Notes from the Briloff Committee: “The incidence of war in the world seems to be rising, so there is growing need for deep analysis of ethical issues related to war/peace. Conventional ethics requires that wars be just, and according to standard “just war theory,” just wars cannot be futile wars. This paper notes that the Ukrainian situation is one that has been, and is currently characterized by some, as “futile,” and observes that these judgments of futility are often wrong. They certainly were wrong in 2022. This paper contends that the concept of just war should be revised. The rule that futile wars cannot be just wars should be dropped, because of practical inapplicability of the concept “futile.”

Student Award:

“Does an Enemy Have the Moral and Strategic Right to Possess Nuclear Weapons?”

The student prize goes to Jason Chen, a senior majoring in accounting and minoring in philosophy. The Committee selected his paper on the ethical pros and cons associated with the acquisition of nuclear weapons. The paper uses the Prisoner’s Dilemma to establish that it is strategic for nations to acquire nuclear weapons for purposes of nuclear deterrence, not actual nuclear use. It then problematizes that conclusion by establishing that nuclear deterrence requires an intention to use them, which would be murderous and pointless once a nuclear attack has occurred. The Committee wrote: “The paper is characterized by hard thinking rather than mere opining”. It challenges us to grapple with the inherent ethical dilemmas associated with the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

You can read all three winning entries here.

Congratulations to the winners!

___________________________________________________________

Ethics Week Events

We ask that members of the faculty consider organizing some of their class time this week around ethical issues as they relate to their subject or discipline. Thefollowing distinguished visitors will be speaking on Ethics in open forums, as below:

TUESDAY, MARCH 11

à NVC 14-285, 1:00 – 2:00 PM

Faux Feminism: Why We Fall for White Feminism and How We Can Stop

Prof. Serene J. Khader | Jay Newman Chair in Philosophy of Culture, Brooklyn College and Professor of Philosophy
and Women’s and Gender Studies at CUNY Graduate Center

This talk argues that white feminism, and other feminisms that prioritize elite women, is characterized by a commitment to the wrong values. Feminisms for the few hold that feminism is a movement for individual freedom. Feminism needs to be committed, as bell hooks famously argued, to ending oppression. To learn more about Prof. Khader, click here.

THURSDAY, MARCH 13

à Library and Technology Building, H-750, 12:00 – 2:00 PM

Navigating Professional Growth and Workplace Best Practices

Stephanie Cuba | Real Estate Consultant and Legal Advisory at Paul Hastings

This event will explore the intersection of professional development and workplace hygiene. While the primary focus of this talk will be on the best practices for professional growth and workplace conduct, the discussion will also touch on the ethical implications of these practices. By the end of the event, attendees will walk away with actionable strategies for navigating the challenges that arise in the pursuit of career excellence. A light lunch will be served. More information and register here.

An annual event at Baruch since 2004,Ethics Week evolved from curricula in our three Schools that include emphases on ethical reasoning and/or decision-making.

Winners of this year’s Abraham J. Briloff Prizes in Ethics & Ethics Week Reminder

___________________________________________________________

Ethics Week Events

An annual event at Baruch since 2004,Ethics Week evolved from curricula in our three Schools that include emphases on ethical reasoning and/or decision-making.

*******

Ethics Week is generously supported by the Charles Dreifus Ethics-Across-the-Curriculum Initiative.