Skip to content
  • Video Series: Charlie Gard should be allowed to die, says Dominic Wilkinson

    Dominic Wilkinson, Consultant Neonatologist and Professor in Medical Ethics, argues that Charlie Gard should be allowed to die and that disagreement about this case is not necessarily ‘reasonable’ disagreement. He also explains what could possibly change his mind about the case.  

    Read more

  • Burke and Wills, Bowen and Gard: The English Courts, Best Interests and Justice

    The Case of Donald Wills Donald Wills is a self-made man. He is billionaire British banker who has taken an interest in technology. He believes the Singularity is near and wishes to live as long as possible. He completes an advance directive to use his money to keep him alive at all costs, should he

    Read more

  • Video Series: Peter Singer on the Pros and Cons of Defending Controversial Views

    Peter Singer has probably done more good than many of us will ever do. Despite this, he has received threats, people have protested to stop him from lecturing, his views have been compared to those defended by Nazis, etc. How has this affected him? Should we ever refrain from defending controversial views? Is it okay

    Read more

  • How Social Media Distorts Our Perceptions of Groups.

    We know that groups are internally diverse. For any group you care to pick out (Brexit supporters, feminists, tea drinkers), we know intellectually that they will disagree among themselves about a great deal. When people identify as a group member, they may feel pressure to conform to the group view, but there are countervailing pressures

    Read more

  • Revised Press Statement: Gard Legal Decision Questionable on Secular Ethical Grounds

    Julian Savulescu and Peter Singer Charlie Gard should have been allowed to go to US for experimental treatment back in April (or better January when it was first considered) because there was some possibility of him having a life worth living after treatment. That possibility may have been slim, but it does not appear (to

    Read more

  • The sad case of Charlie Gard and the rights *and wrongs* of experimental treatment

    By Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics   In a blog post published yesterday, Julian Savulescu argues that Charlie Gard should have received the experimental treatment requested by his parents 6 months ago. He further argues that “we should be more aggressive about trials of therapy where there are no other good options”. I have previously argued (in

    Read more

  • The Moral of the Case of Charlie Gard: Give Dying Patients Experimental Treatment … Early

    The tragic case of Charlie Gard has captured the imagination of social media, the Pope and President Trump. All of Charlie’s legal options appear to have been exhausted so, despite the tsunami of opinion, it looks like treatment will be withdrawn, barring some act of God or other authority. I argued back in April  and

    Read more

  • Targeted Killing and Black Boxes

    Written By Mitt Regan and Michael Robillard             Various aspects of the US targeted killing program have attracted considerable attention and some criticism in philosophy and international law. One important aspect of the program that deserves more attention is how targeted killing reflects how the growing number of conflicts involving non-state actors are eroding conventions regarding

    Read more

  • The non-identity problem of professional philosophers

    By Charles Foster Philosophers have a non-identity problem. It is that they are not identified as relevant by the courts. This, in an age where funding and preferment are often linked to engagement with the non-academic world, is a worry. This irrelevance was brutally demonstrated in an English Court of Appeal case,  (‘the CICA case’)

    Read more