UK Supreme Court Decision Means Patients No Longer Forced to Live
By Mackenzie Graham On July 30, The UK’s Supreme Court ruled that there is no requirement to obtain court approval before withdrawing clinically assisted nutrition and hydration (CANH), when there is agreement between physicians and the fam…
Read MoreThe Dangers Of Deferring To Doctors
By Charles Foster (Image: tctmd.com) There is a dizzying circularity in much medical law. Judges make legal decisions based on the judgments of rightly directed clinicians, and rightly directed clinicians make their judgments based on what …
Read MoreShould Gene Editing Be Compulsory?
Written by Julian Savulescu Hypothetical Case 1: Enzyme Replacement Therapy for Gaucher’s Disease Consider a hypothetical version of a real life disease, Gaucher’s Disease. Gaucher’s disease is an inherited disorder caused by a …
Read MoreWhat’s Wrong With Simulation in Football?
Written by Doug McConnell The 2018 edition of the football world cup has brought with it a renewed bout of hand wringing over ‘simulation’, e.g. players falling, diving, and tumbling under imaginary fouls, rolling around in mock pain, or cl…
Read MoreVideo Interview: Richard Holton on Addiction
Is addiction within or beyond our control? What turns something into an addiction? What should we do (more of) to tackle addiction? In this interview with Dr Katrien Devolder (philosophy, Oxford), Professor Richard Holton (philosophy, Cambr…
Read MoreThe Psychology of Uncertainty, Vaccinations, and Protecting the Most Vulnerable: Was Rawls Right After All?
written by Andreas Kappes (@AnKappes), Anne-Marie Nußberger (@amnussberger ), Molly Crockett (@mollycrockett ) & Julian Savulescu (@juliansavulescu) Measles is making a comeback in Britain and Europe with numbers rising to record level…
Read MorePain for Ethicists #2: Is the Cerebral Cortex Required for Pain? (Video)
Here’s my presentation from the UQAM 2018 Summer School in Animal Cognition organised by Stevan Harnad: I also highly recommend Jonathan Birch’s talk on Animal Sentience and the Precautionary Principle and Lars Chittka’s a…
Read MoreVideo Interview: Richard Holton on Dementia and the Social Self
In this interview with Dr Katrien Devolder (Philosophy, Oxford), Professor Richard Holton (Philosophy, Cambridge) argues that those interacting with people suffering from dementia have an important role to play in buttressing their identity…
Read MoreFree Will Sceptics: We’re Not So Bad.
Written by Neil Levy A number of philosophers and psychologists suggest that belief in free will – whether it is true or not – is important, because it promotes prosocial behavior. People who disbelieve in free will might become fatalists, …
Read MorePain for Ethicists: What is the Affective Dimension of Pain?
This is my first post in a series highlighting current pain science that is relevant to philosophers writing about well-being and ethics. My work on this topic has been supported by the W. Maurice Young Centre for Applied Ethics, the Oxfor…
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