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Can We Rely on Science to Catch Up?
In an article published in the Australian on 12 October 2009 (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,26195539-30417,00.html ), Des Moore the director of the Institute for Private Enterprise (http://www.ipe.net.au/ipeframeset.htm ), makes an interesting contribution to debate about the appropriate policy response to the threat of climate change. He suggests that we should rely on science to produce a viable solution…
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The ethics of mind-reading
Recent developments in neuroimaging have created concerns about the ethics of 'mind-reading'. A technology called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has led to significant advances in the ability to determine what someone is thinking by monitoring their brain activity. Early research focused on determining very simple features of a person’s mental state, such as whether or…
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Protecting our borders with snake oil
The UK Borders Agency has recently come under fire for looking into the use of DNA tests and isotope analysis to determine the true nationality of asylum seekers. It is not just refugee support groups who are outraged, scientists are equally upset (perhaps more). The problems are many: there is no reason to think ancestry…
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Cheating Darwin? The Ethics of Sexual Selection
Cheating Darwin? The Ethics of Sexual Selection In a recent article titled “Cheating Darwin: The Genetic and Ethical Implications of Vanity and Cosmetic Plastic Surgery” in the July issue of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, Kristi Scott considers the potential evolutionary harms of cosmetic plastic surgery and other beauty-related enhancements. Her ‘worry’ is that…
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Non-resisted suicide and depression
In late 2007 a young woman with a history of depression and several previous suicide attempts presented to an emergency department following an overdose. She gave doctors a copy of her living will, written 3 days previously, in which she made it clear that she wanted no measures to be taken to save her life.…
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Suicide woman allowed to die
By Julian Savulescu As read about in the Telegraph, doctors allowed 26-year-old Kerrie Wooltorton to die after she swallowed poison and gave them a letter instructing them not to intervene. Reference: Savulescu J. Should All Patients Who Attempt Suicide Be Treated? Modern Medicine 1995; Feb:113-120. Reprinted in: Monash Bioethics Review 1995; 14: 33-40. With…
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Reshaping the financial system after the storm
The question of the social utility of the financial services and of the appropriate modes of remuneration of its actors has occupied a central place at the G20 meeting held in Pittsburgh. Indeed, the G20 leaders expressed a shared willingness to back new global regulatory standards for the banking industry. Yet, their reasons for doing…
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Living Wills and Assisted Suicide
Kerrie Wooltorton is believed to have been the first person to use a living will as part of a successful attempt to commit suicide: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/oct/01/living-will-suicide-legal . The 26-year-old wrote her will, and then three days later took poison and called an ambulance. The will said that no steps were to be taken to prolong her…
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Should we be afraid of virtual reality?
Prominent authors like Susan Greenfield and Roger Scruton have raised worries about the rise of virtual worlds such as Second Life, which they fear might have a negative impact on human relationships, as people increasingly spend their lives hidden behind an “avatar”. The movie Surrogates, recently released, precisely pictures a future humanity that lives as…
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T-illegal actions and the case for legal ambiguity
Question: When is a crime not a crime? Answer: when it will never be prosecuted. The release this week by the Director of Public Prosecutions of his interim policy on prosecution of assisted suicide raises a number of questions – as discussed yesterday in this blog by Simon Rippon. The new policy formalises what has…