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Should the Danish Ban on Marmite be Spread?

Should the Danish Ban on Marmite be Spread?

It has been widely reported that Denmark has banned the sale of Marmite, a move that has shocked and outraged many Britons who love Marmite. Similarly, many Australians have been shocked and outraged by reports of a Danish ban on Vegemite. These reports are somewhat inaccurate. Companies that wish to market products that are fortified with extra vitamins, minerals and other substances are required to seek prior approval from the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration before the product can be placed on the Danish market and this has yet to happen in the case of Marmite (or Vegemite). These regulations have been in place in Denmark since 2004 but have not been applied to the case of these fortified food spreads until now. See: http://www.amblondon.um.dk/NR/exeres/8A56692E-1780-495E-8176-F0E366653F52,frameless.htm?NRMODE=Published

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Annoucement: Bio-ethics Bites

We are pleased to announce the launch of Bio-ethics Bites, a freely-available series of interviews with leading thinkers on issues in practical ethics. Already posted: an interview with Jeff McMahan (Rutgers) on the question of moral status, and an interview with Julian Savulescu (Oxford) on designer babies. In the pipeline: interviews with Peter Singer (Princeton),… Read More »Annoucement: Bio-ethics Bites

Should we be able to know how long we have to live?

A new test, soon to become available to the general public in the UK, can tell people how fast they are aging, thereby allowing them to estimate their life expectancy. The test, which should be available for €500 (£435), is based on an analysis of the telomeres, small protective caps at the extremities of a person’s chromosomes. Short telomeres are associated with a shorter lifespan and indicate a more advanced biological age (by contrast with the person’s chronological age). The test has been described as opening an “ethical Pandora’s box”. Concerns have been raised regarding people’s possible reaction to information about how long they still have to live. Some are also worried that the test might be used by organizations selling dubious “anti-aging” remedies to attract potential customers, and that insurance companies might demand to have access to such information before providing cover, requiring people with shorter telomeres to pay higher premiums. Should the prospect of the public availability of such a test concern us, and should we try and restrict it?

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A New Life Unexamined may be More Worth Living

Suppose that you’re part of an interracial, black African and white Caucasian, couple. You have a baby together, and immediately after the birth you phone around your friends and family to tell them the happy news. They all seem to have just one question, which you keep hearing over and over, immediately after you tell them that you have a new baby: “What skin tone does it have?”

As soon as you consider replying “light” or “dark” or “in-between”, you begin to wonder why the people you love are so strangely focussed on an unchosen and ultimately unimportant feature of your baby’s physical make-up. Do they think that your baby should be thought of or treated differently, merely on account of its skin colour? Instead of answering the question, you tell them this: “What does it matter? It’s not for us to impose our categories and expectations on the child. Let’s leave the child the freedom to form and choose its own identity as it grows old enough to do so.”

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Strauss-Kahn, Schwarzenegger, and the Failure of Public Discourse

First came Strauss-Kahn. Then Schwarzenegger. And now Goodwin. Three powerful men, all married, all accused of sexual impropriety. Cue the inevitable trend pieces in the press: why do influential men cheat? But something is wrong here: one of these does not belong. The accusations against Dominique Strauss-Kahn – that he sexually assaulted a housekeeper at his Manhattan luxury hotel – are vastly different from those confronting Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sir Fred Goodwin. The fact that our media culture seems incapable of properly distinguishing rape from simple adultery suggests a failure of moral sensitivity, and perhaps a triumph of prurient gossip-mongering over sincere ethical concern.

TRIGGER WARNING: if you experience discussion of sexual assault as potentially traumatizing, it may be best to read no further.

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From Ivory Coast to Ivory Tower

The former president of Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbabgo, did little to enhance his democratic credentials by refusing to step down from power after defeat at the polls. President Barack Obama, it has recently transpired, tried to encourage him to depart by offering him an ivory tower carrot – an academic post at a prestigious East… Read More »From Ivory Coast to Ivory Tower

Belgium: where rapists and muffin thieves are treated alike

Some recent prison sentences in Belgium, as reported in several articles in De Standaard, one of the major Flemish newspapers: Repeated rape of 13-year old stepdaughter: 2,5 years Repeated rape of 15-year old girl:2 years Rape of 2 mentally disabled girls: 2,5 years Repeated rape of 2 girls younger than 15, making one pregnant: 2… Read More »Belgium: where rapists and muffin thieves are treated alike

Should Journalism be Amoral?

George Orwell was not a peace journalist; he was a proper journalist!

 

Jean Seaton, professor of media history at the university of Westminster and official historian for the BBC, hurled the comment from her seat in the audience onto the stage, interrupting the current speaker, Richard Keeble, professor at the University of Lincoln’s school of journalism. Keeble’s passing claim on George Orwell in last Saturday’s OxPeace conference on “Media in Conflict and Peace building” (recordings of the talks will shortly be available on OUCS iTunes) visibly (and audibly) upset Seaton, who was present also as a speaker.

Why did Seaton treat the title of “peace journalist” as an insult?

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‘No smoking’ signs trigger urge to light up: Communism, Marriage, Evidence-Based Medicine and the Fate of the World

Before you read the blog, please take:

General Knowledge Ethics Quiz

  1. What is the main cause of climate change?
  2. What is main cause of global poverty?
  3. Why does terrorism exist?
  4. What caused the Fukushima nuclear reactor disaster?

Write your answers on a piece of paper for reference. I will provide my answers presently and we can compare.

THE BLOG

Brian Earp, a master’s student at Oxford University’s Department of Experimental Psychology, has found that ‘no-smoking and anti junk food adverts can be counter-productive by encouraging the behaviour they warn against’. Mr Earp asked 29 smokers to look at 25 images, some of which included ‘no smoking signs’. He found that when they viewed images of the signs they were more motivated to smoke than when they did not see the images.

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