Nearly everyone would agree that a device or drug that relieves pain, or alleviates symptoms of depression confers a benefit – plausibly, a substantial benefit – on its user. No matter what your goals are, no matter what you enjoy, you are …

(Photo: Daily Telegraph) I am a bitter opponent of private education. All my political hackles rise whenever the subject is mentioned. Yet of my four currently school-aged children, one (‘A’) is educated privately (at a specialist choir sch…

Written by: Rajiv Shah, PhD Candidate, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge Donald Trump suggested that women who have abortions should face punishment. For that he was criticised by both the pro-choice side and the pro-life side. The la…

The Panama Papers comprise a leak of 11.5 million files from Mossack Fonseca, the world’s fourth biggest offshore law firm. The leak has tainted the reputations of many celebrities, and some public officials have been forced to resign, incl…

by Dominic Wilkinson @Neonatalethics Consultant neonatologist, Director of Medical Ethics   Next week, junior doctors in England and Wales will be taking part in industrial action for 15 hours over two successive days. This is the late…

Written by Simon Beard, Research Associate at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge How can we study the pathogens that will be responsible for future global pandemics before they have happened? One way is to…

Philosophers Take On the World is based on this blog, ‘Practical Ethics in the News’, and edited by David Edmonds. It is published by OUP and is due out in September 2016. Every day the news shows us provoking stories about what…

Written by Professor Julian Savulescu and Professor Kelton Tremellen This is a cross posting of an article which was originally published at The Conversation How much should the state spend on helping people to have children? At present, go…

Asbestos kills more people per year than excessive sun exposure, yet it receives much less attention. Tom Douglas (Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics) explains why asbestos is still a serious public health threat and what steps shoul…

This essay received an Honourable Mention in the Undergraduate Category of the Oxford Uehiro Prize of Practical Ethics Written by New College Oxford student Raphael Hogarth Three moral agents walk into a bar. They get to joking and, with ea…