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Torture, but do no harm
After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration redefined acts that were previously recognised as torture and thus illegal as ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’ (EITs). From then on subjecting detainees to, for example, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, waterboarding and exposure to extreme temperatures could be legal. The line between torture and EITs is a fine…
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Drugs in Sport debate and special edition
Over the next month Oxford Online Debates will be tackling the motion "Performance enhancing drugs should be allowed in sport". We will try to collect together relevant materials and blog posts below in this special edition.
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The ethics of geoengineering – comments welcome
Should we encourage or avoid large scale environmental manipulation, for example in order to reduce climate change? Measures such as carbon dioxide capture or ocean iron fertilisation have the potential to mitigate global warming, but what ethical issues are raised by these technologies? How should we take into account the potential risks of such measures,…
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Ethics commentary – Fraught with peril
One issue emerging from the recent media circus over Craig Venter’s apparent creation of a synthetic life form is the potential danger … of ethics commentary itself.
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The Brainy or the Rich: who should inherit the Earth?
Does it matter if Britain is ruled by toffs? Nineteen British Prime Ministers attended one extremely expensive boarding school for boys on the far western outskirts of London, an astonishing statistic. David Cameron is the latest Old Etonian Prime Minister. Tomorrow the nominations close for the Labour Party leadership and commentators (many of them Oxbridge-educated)…
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Paying people to lose weight
Winton Rossiter, of London weight-loss firm ‘Weight Wins’, was in the news this week, following the completion of a trial in which obese patients were paid to lose weight.
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Bioethics and enhancement – an interview with Julian Savulescu
Interview by Olga Campos, Mª Ángeles Arráez, Miguel Moreno, Francisco Lara, Pedro Francés, and Javier Rodríguez Alcázar in Dilemata No 3 2010
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Putting GM in a Lead Coffin
by Julian Savulescu It is time to put the GM debate in a lead-lined coffin. To lay it finally to rest. And get things in perspective again.
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Philosophers’ Carnival CIX
by Dominic Wilkinson Roll up, roll up for the 109th Philosophers' Carnival… There weren't a huge number of submissions, so the following is partly drawn from my own wanderings across the blogosphere. Thanks for all those who did submit posts. Main tent – fight club In the big top this month we have a series…
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A Sting for Absolutes
Sam Harris can sting. Well known for his sharp criticisms of religion, this social gadfly has picked a new target: moral philosophy. His recent TED talk and later articles about the science of morality (here and here) have caused a bit of a ruckus in philosophical circles as well as a feisty response from the…