Things I’ve learned (so far) about how to do practical ethics
By Brian D. Earp Follow Brian on Twitter by clicking here. Things I’ve learned (so far) about how to do practical ethics I had the opportunity, a few months back, to look through some old poems I’d written in high school. Some, I thought,…
Read MoreGiving alcohol to alcoholics: not as controversial as it seems
A Dutch program pays chronic alcoholics in beer for cleaning the streets and parks. A Canadian homeless shelter provides their alcohol clients with six ounces of white wine every 90 minutes. Giving alcohol to alcoholics, it seems counterpro…
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Computer vision and emotional privacy
A study published last week (and summarized here and here) demonstrated that a computer could be trained to detect real versus faked facial expressions of pain significantly better than humans. Participants were shown video clips of the fac…
Read MoreThe future of punishment: a clarification
By Rebecca Roache Follow Rebecca on Twitter here I’m working on a paper entitled ‘Cyborg justice: punishment in the age of transformative technology’ with my colleagues Anders Sandberg and Hannah Maslen. In it, we consider how punishment pr…
Read MoreCan solitary confinement be justified?
This month an article published in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) outlined the results of a study on self-harm amongst jail inmates in New York City. Data on all jail admissions between January 2010 and October 2012 was analys…
Read MoreUses and Abuses of the Holocaust
Follow Dave on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidEdmonds100 At my advanced age, I can perhaps be forgiven for getting irritated by many things in life. But few exasperate me more than an argument or claim that draws a risible parallel to t…
Read MoreBrain training in schools?
Neurofeedback works like this: you are hooked up to instruments that measure your brain activity (usually via electroencephalography or functional magnetic resonance imaging) and feed it back to you via auditory or visual feedback. The feed…
Read MoreHow much transparency?
By Dominic Wilkinson (Twitter: @Neonatalethics) There are reports in the press this week that the remains of 86 unborn fetuses were kept in a UK hospital mortuary for months or even years longer than they should have been. The majority were…
Read MoreReconsidering the Ethics of Enhanced Punishment
Last summer, on this blog, Rebecca Roache suggested several ways in which technology could enhance retributive punishment—that is, could make punishment more severe—without “resorting to inhumane methods or substantially overhauling the cur…
Read MoreIs smoking morally wrong?
This week, I’ve been thinking about smoking. Full disclosure: My name is Jim and I am a smoker. I have smoked for nearly a decade now – since around 2005 – and I only smoke menthol cigarettes. I am addicted to the sweet menthol smoke,…
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