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Special Guest Blog – The problem of militarism
by Tony Coady Israel’s decision to institute an inquiry into the military misadventure with the flotilla attempting to break its blockade of Gaza and its subsequent partial relaxation of restrictions on aid to Gaza represent grudging concessions to international outrage about the flotilla episode. Any recognition by Israel that its military policies are offensive to
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Critical Care ethics series – the ethics of maxiple pregnancies
by Dominic Wilkinson Quads, Quins, Sexts, Septs, even Octs! High order multiple pregnancies such as the Suleman octuplets in California generate enormous media attention. However, they also raise some unique ethical questions. In the second of a series of seminars on critical care ethics, the neonatal grand round today looked at ethical questions arising from
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Robolove – Robot Machines as Companions
Robot companions are being used in Japan and the the US for elderly patients in nursing homes. They take advantage of our innate tendency to develop affection for things that are cute and appear to respond positively to us. Paro is a robot modeled after a baby harp seal. It trills and paddles when petted,
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On Knowing (or Not)
Judy is an intelligent, articulate woman with a great sense of humor. She is also completely paralyzed on her left side. Trouble is, she doesn’t know she is. On the contrary, she knows that she isn’t. What’s going on? Self-deception? Denial? Puzzling examples like this are scattered throughout a recent series in the NY Times,
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Don’t forget to vote in the Drugs in Sport debate
Would relaxing the ban on doping lead to a fairer, safer sporting field with a better spectacle for audiences? Or would it distort and undermine the very nature of sporting endeavour and run contrary to the virtues that are the essence of sport? What have the debaters got right and where have they gone wrong?
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Drugs in sport debate: Moderator’s closing comment
Our debate could have been polarized, between a pure libertarianism which advocates the lifting of all restrictions on performance-enhancing drugs in all sports, and a pure prohibitionism (similar to the WADA's) which rules out any use of such drugs in any sport. In fact, it has been more nuanced. There has been a good deal
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Drugs in sport debate: Opposer’s closing statement
by John William Devine I have advanced two main lines of argument in favour of a ban on doping: 1. Doping may preclude the display of certain excellences that we value in sport, 2. Even where doping does not preclude the display of relevant excellences, it may disrupt the balance of excellences in a sport.
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Drugs in sport debate: Proposer’s closing statement
by Julian Savulescu At the beginning of this debate, I said doping would be a part of the World Cup. Lionel Messi, arguably the greatest footballer playing today, will star in the line up for Argentina against Germany in the Quarter Finals. At the age of 15, Spanish football team Barcelona paid for him to
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The Rational Bigot
There are a few old white ladies in their 80s who might wish to blow up a plane, but on the whole, if your job is in airline security and security is your only concern, it would be rational to pay closer scrutiny to passengers who are single, young males, probably of south Asian or
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Survey on community attitudes on early and late abortion
Do Australians’ believe that women should be able to access abortion later in pregnancy? A new survey (Australian attitudes on access to early and late abortion. Lachlan de Crespigny, Dominic Wilkinson, Thomas Douglas, Mark Textor, Julian Savulescu MJA 2010; 193: 1-4) of 1050 Australians published in the Medical Journal of Australia shows that the answer