In Defense of Obfuscation
Written by Mette Leonard Høeg At the What’s the Point of Moral Philosophy congress held at the University of Oxford this summer, there was near-consensus among the gathered philosophers that clarity in moral philosophy and practical ethics …
Read MoreThe Moral Elephant in the Room – Patient Morality in Psychiatry
Cross-post from the Journal of Medical Ethics Blog. By Doug McConnell, Matthew Broome, and Julian Savulescu. In our paper, “Making psychiatry moral again”, we aim to develop and justify a practical ethical guide for psychiatric invol…
Read MoreWe Need To Have A Conversation About “We Need To Have A Conversation”
By Ben Davies When new technologies emerge, ethical questions inevitably arise about their use. Scientists with relevant expertise will be invited to speak on radio, on television, and in newspapers (sometimes ethicists are asked, too, but …
Read MoreThe Weaponization of Bullshit
by Neil Levy It’s not often that philosophers come to broader public attention, but Harry Frankfurt managed it with his 2005 book On Bullshit. The book made the best-seller lists and led to a Daily Show appearance. On Bullshit had a more re…
Read MoreAwareness of a Nudge is not Required for Resistance of a Nudge
Written by Gabriel De Marco and Thomas Douglas This blog post is based on our forthcoming paper: “Nudge Transparency is not Required for Nudge Resistibility,” Ergo. Consider the following cases: Food Placement. In order to encourag…
Read MoreVideo Interview: Prof Erica Charters on when does (or did) the Covid-19 pandemic end?
In this ‘Thinking Out Loud’ episode, Katrien Devolder (philosophy, Oxford) interviews Erica Charters, Professor of the Global History of Medicine at the University of Oxford about how we know, or decide, when the covid-19 pandem…
Read MoreWe Should Regulate Politicians’ Public Statements Like Advertisements
Written by Hazem Zohny There are strict regulations in place to stop businesses falsely advertising their products or services — why not the same for politicians? Lizz Truss and Rishi Sunak are currently trying to appeal to the Conser…
Read MoreFirst synthetic embryos: the scientific breakthrough raises serious ethical questions
synthetic mouse. Weizmann Institute of Sciences Julian Savulescu, University of Oxford; Christopher Gyngell, The University of Melbourne, and Tsutomu Sawai, Hiroshima University Children, even some who are too young for school, know you can…
Read MoreVideo Interview: Prof Peter Railton, AI and moral obligations
In this Thinking Out Loud interview with Katrien Devolder, Philosophy Professor Peter Railton presents his take on how to understand, and interact with, AI. He talks about how AI can have moral obligations towards us, humans, and towards ea…
Read MorePress release: Battersbee appeal at European Court declined
by Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics Tonight, the European Court responded to Archie’s parents’ request for a final appeal against the decision by a series of UK courts to end the treatment keeping him alive. What happened in the Eu…
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