Written by Dr Rebecca Brown In the mid-1990s, Joseph Overton, a researcher at the US think tank the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, proposed the idea of a ‘window’ of socially acceptable policies within any given domain. This came to be …

By Doug McConnell Chandra Sripada (2016) has recently proposed a conative self-expression account of moral responsibility which claims that we are responsible for actions motivated by what we care for and not responsible for actions motivat…

By Jonny Pugh This blog was originally published on the Journal of Medical Ethics Blog   Happy new year to readers of the blog! I always approach the new year with some trepidation. This is not just due to the terrible weather, or even…

Adrien Locatelli, a French teenager claims to have injected DNA strands encoding verses from the Bible and the Quran in his thighs. “I did this experiment only for the symbol of peace between religions and science … It’s just symbolic.” he …

Written by César Palacios-González It seems that in the not-so-distant future, scientists will be able to create functional human gametes (i.e. eggs and sperm) in a laboratory setting. In other words, they will be able to create human gamet…

By   Charles Foster Wrongful life cases (typically where a birth has resulted from a failed sterilisation procedure), used to be big business. The parents would sue the negligent steriliser for the costs of bringing up the unwanted child. T…

By Mackenzie Graham In late November, a radio station in Cleveland Ohio announced it would be removing the song ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside’ from its holiday playlist, in response to listener complaints. Several other radio stations followed, …

Written by Alberto Giubilini Oxford Martin School and Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities University of Oxford   As we all know, Santa Claus is a good and benevolent old chap: he brings presents and tries the best he can to fulfi…

Think back to the last time you were faced with a really great menu in a restaurant. Loads of options, all of them appealing. Plus you’re very hungry. Culinary choices, though typically trivial, can also be hard. This is because it can be t…

Written by Roger Crisp Last month, Helen Small, Merton Professor of English Language and Literature, gave a fascinating and wide-ranging presentation in the New St Cross Special Ethics Seminar Series, on the function of cynicism at the pres…