Margaret Thatcher has died.  A few people have declared that this is grounds for celebration.  ‘A great day’, they have announced.  Pop open the champagne.

Wednesday 27th November, 5 – 7pm Lecture Theatre Oxford Martin School Old Indian Institute 34 Broad St (corner of Holywell and Catte Streets) Oxford OX1 3BD ALL WELCOME The Oxford Centre for Neuroethics & International Neuroethics Socie…

It was reported yesterday that the Tate gallery has decided to remove prints created by the artist Graham Ovenden following his conviction for child sex offences (on Tuesday 2nd April). Ovenden’s conviction itself raises difficult moral que…

In a new book edited by John Mair, After Leveson? The Future for British Journalism, Phil Harding, former controller of editorial policy at the BBC, recommends mid-career ethical training for all journalists.

I was having a friendly discussion/argument the other day:  it had something to do with my militant, Dawkins-esque atheism, and my disparagement of some sorts of religious ritual.  “At least I believe in something”, said my sparring partner…

Previous posts in this line here  and  here The next justification of political authority that Michael Huemer considers in his book The Problem of Political Authority is what is called Hypothetical Social Contract Theory. The broad idea is …

Laurie Paul’s fascinating paper on the rationality of choosing to have children has already received a great deal of attention in the blogosphere. Perhaps everything worth saying has already been said. But I wanted to point to some evidence…

A recent poll says that nearly all General Practitioners in the UK have given placebos to at least one of their patients. The story can be seen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-21834440   Everyone loves placebos. If you are a sci…

Last year, Julian Savulescu of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics here at Oxford debated Robert Sparrow of Monash University on the issue of using techniques like embryo selection to ensure one’s children have the best life possible.  S…