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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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’)
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Using AI to Predict Criminal Offending: What Makes it ‘Accurate’, and What Makes it ‘Ethical’.
Jonathan Pugh Tom Douglas The Durham Police force plans to use an artificial intelligence system to inform decisions about whether or not to keep a suspect in custody. Developed using data collected by the force, The Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART) has already undergone a 2 year trial period to monitor the accuracy of