The Ethics of Consciousness Hunting
By Mackenzie Graham Crosspost from Nautilus. Click here to read the full article When Adrian Owen, a neuroscientist at the University of Western Ontario, asked Scott Routley to imagine playing a game of tennis, any acknowledgement would hav…
Read MoreEthics Goes on Holiday
By Stephen Rainey Summer time, and the living is ethically perplexing. Hordes of holidaymakers, the shimmering sea, busy beaches, and one sun over it all. How can the eager ethicist assess how to make the most of a fortnight away? We all kn…
Read MoreFetal Reduction in a Multiple Pregnancy: the Case of Identical Twins
Written by Elizabeth Crisp and Roger Crisp When a woman aborts a single fetus, that abortion can be a morally troubling experience for her. What about a situation in which a woman is pregnant with more than one fetus, perhaps identical twin…
Read MoreVictoria’s Voluntary Assisted Dying Law isn’t on a Slippery Slope
By David Copolov and Julian Savulescu This week the Australian Senate will debate a private members’ bill that will consider whether to overturn the 21-year-old Euthanasia Laws Act that nullified the ability of Australian self-governing te…
Read MoreTerrorist Beheadings and Other Forms of Disease Transmission
By Hazem Zohny Most of us are disturbed by people who take hostages and then cut their heads off while filming it. Alexanda Kotey and El Shafee Elsheikh – the remaining members of the British Isis cell nicknamed “the Beatles” – are accused …
Read MoreUK 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…
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