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Guest Post: The Real Problem With Human Head Transplantation
Written by Michael S. Dauber, MA In 2015, Sergio Canavero announced that he would perform a therapeutic head transplant procedure on a human subject by December 2017. Since then, he has recruited the assistance of surgeon Xiaoping Ren and switched from Valery Spiridonov to an anonymous Chinese patient whose medical condition remains undisclosed. The procedure, which…
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Paddington Bear and the Evangelicals
By Charles Foster Last night, long after everyone else I know, I went with the kids to see Paddington 2. As everyone agrees, it’s wonderful. It’s a modern morality tale. There is plainly a big appetite for morality. Interestingly, though, it is a Christian morality tale.1 Paddington’s behaviour neutralizes violence. In the face of…
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In Defence of Impulsivity
Written by Dr Rebecca Brown It has become commonplace to identify a lack of impulse control as a major cause of poor health. A popular theory within behavioural science tells us that our behaviour is regulated via two systems: the fast, impulsive system 1 (the ‘impulsive’ or ‘automatic’ system) and the slower, deliberative system 2…
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Cross Post: Sacred Places and Traditions with Lea Ypi
Suppose a religious community regards a site – with, say, a stone circle – as sacred. It has for centuries been used as a place of prayer and contemplation. The land is owned by the state and they want to sell it off to build apartment blocks. You might think that the deep attachment the…
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Video Series: John Harris Defends Gene-Editing in Human Embryos
Novel gene editing technologies, such as CRISPR/Cas9, allow scientists to make very precise changes in the genome of human embryos. This could prevent serious genetic diseases in future children. But the use of gene editing in human embryos also raises questions: Is it safe? Should prospective parents be free to choose the genetic characteristics of…
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Super Soldiers, Civ-Mil Relations, and the 21st Century Coriolanus
Written by Michael Robillard “Let me have war, say I: it exceeds peace as far as day does night; it’s spritely, waking, audible, and full of vent. Peace is a very apoplexy, lethargy; mulled, deaf, sleepy, insensible; a getter of more bastard children than war’s a destroyer of men.” ― William Shakespeare, The Tragedy…
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Criticisms of Ableist Language: Empirical Commitments?
Written by Neil Levy As I have discussed previously, there is a growing concern about the use of ‘ableist’ language. Ableism is discrimination on the basis of disability, when disability is not in fact relevant. There has long been a move to eradicate sexism from our language. Most of us do not think it’s appropriate…
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2017 Annual Uehiro Lectures in Practical Ethics: Audio Recordings Now Available
We were extremely honoured to welcome Professor Larry Temkin (Rutgers University) to Oxford to deliver the 2017 Annual Uehiro Lectures on 6, 8 and 10 November. The engaging lectures were fully booked well in advance, and were each followed by a lively discussion.
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Pedophilia and Child Sexual Abuse Are Two Different Things — Confusing Them is Harmful to Children
By Brian D. Earp (@briandavidearp) Republican politician Roy Moore has been accused of initiating sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl when he was in his early 30s. Social media sites have since exploded with comments like these: Roy Moore is now FUNDRAISING to conservative Christians after being outed as a pedophile. This is truly sick. pic.twitter.com/NF5NLIGWKA…
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Webinar – Charlie Gard Case: Questions and Lessons
by Dominic Wilkinson (@Neonatalethics) Webinar given recently for the Children’s Mercy Centre for bioethics as part of the excellent (and free) Children’s Mercy webinar series (great resource for those interested in paediatric bioethics)