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Why edited embryos won’t lead to designer babies or eugenics (unless we want it too)
The UK became the first country to officially approve gene editing research in human embryos on Monday. The HFEA decision means experiments in which the genes of embryos are manipulated will likely begin at the Francis Crick Institute within the next few months. Gene editing (GE) technologies are immensely powerful. They have already been used
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Should we prevent Zika microcephaly using birth control?
Dominic Wilkinson, University of Oxford, @Neonatalethics The World Health Organisation is to hold an emergency meeting after considerable concern about the zika virus in South America. The epidemic has been of considerable concern particularly because it has been linked to microcephaly (unusually small heads) in newborn babies that can lead to potentially devastating brain problems.
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Video Series: Professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong on Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
Professor Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Duke University and Oxford Martin School Visiting Fellow) proposes to use the market forces to solve problems of conscientious objection in healthcare in the US. (He also has a suggestion for how to deal with conscientious objection in a public healthcare system + gives a controversial answer to my question regarding discriminatory
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Video Series: Dr Steve Clarke Discusses Conscientious Objection in Healthcare.
Dr Steve Clarke (Charles Sturt University) argues that we should use military tribunals for conscientious objectors in the military as a model for dealing with conscientious objection in healthcare.
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Guest Post: Are dilemmas really useful for analysing moral judgment?
Pedro Jesús Pérez Zafrilla. Lecturer in Moral Philosophy. Department of Moral Philosophy. (University of Valencia) The development of neurosciences has had a major impact on the field of philosophy. In this respect, Spanish philosophy is no exception. In particular, the Valencia School led by Adela Cortina has played a leading part in the momentum of
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Not content with temporal parochialism
By Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatal Ethics, Director of medical ethics Why should we care about what happens to future generations? What reason do we have to sacrifice our own well-being and interests for the sake of people who will exist after we are dead? Last night Professor Sam Scheffler from NYU gave the first of the
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Video Series: Professor Julian Savulescu Discusses Conscientious Objection in Healthcare
In an interview with Dr Katrien Devolder, Professor Julian Savulescu (Oxford) argues that doctors should not impose their religious or non-religious values on patients if this conflicts with the delivery of basic public healthcare.
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Families shouldn’t be allowed to veto organ donation
Written By William Isdale and Prof. Julian Savulescu This article was originally published by The Conversation Last year, an estimated 12 to 15 registered organ donors and candidates for donation had their decision thwarted by relatives. This was due to the so-called family veto, which enables family members to prevent organ donation even if the
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Should vegans eat meat to be ethically consistent? And other moral puzzles from the latest issue of the Journal of Practical Ethics
Should vegans eat meat to be ethically consistent? And other moral puzzles from the latest issue of the Journal of Practical Ethics By Brian D. Earp (@briandavidearp) The latest issue of The Journal of Practical Ethics has just been published online, and it includes several fascinating essays (see the abstracts below). In this blog post,
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Are Corporations Moral Agents?
Joshua Shepherd Misbehaving corporations are in the news again. In the New York Times, Jack Ewing and Graham Bowley provide an interesting look into the ‘corporate culture’ behind Volkswagen’s emissions-cheating scandal. As Ewing and Bowley note, Volkswagen has blamed “a small group of engineers.” But as their reporting suggests, any anatomy of blame in the Volkswagen