Vagueness and Making a Difference
Do you make the world a worse place by purchasing factory-farmed chicken, or by paying for a seat on a transatlantic flight? Do you have moral reason to, and should you, refrain from doing these things? It is very unlikely that any indivi…
Read MoreGuest Post: Mental Health Disorders in Prison: Neuroethical and Societal Issues
Guest post by Barbara Sahakian, FMedSci, DSc, a professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, and president of the International Neuroethics Society. This article was originally published on the Dana Foundation …
Read MoreGuest Post: The food environment, obesity, and primary targets of intervention
Written By Johanna Ahola-Launonen University of Helsinki Chronic diseases, their origins, and issues of responsibility are a prevalent topic in current health care ethics and public discussion; and obesity is among one of the most discussed…
Read MoreAssisted Dying and Protecting the Vulnerable
Sadly, though unsurprisingly, Rob Marris’s assisted dying bill has been rejected overwhelmingly by British MPs. The most widely accepted argument in favour of rejecting the bill seems to have been that doing so would protect the vulnerable.
Read MoreSex and death among the robots: when should we campaign to ban robots?
Today, I noticed two news stories: BBC future reported about the Korean work on killer robots (autonomous gun turrets that can identify, track and attack) and BBC news reported on the formation of a campaign to ban sex robots, clearly mirro…
Read MoreBehavioral Science, Public Policy, Ethics
The President of the United States has issued an executive order (see here) – government agencies are to use ‘insights’ from behavioral sciences to better serve the American people. In my view this is a good thing. Science is our frie…
Read MoreJudging a person by their friends.
Jim A.C. Everett www.jimaceverett.com In case any readers have been living under a rock for the last few days, the ‘hard-left’ candidate Jeremy Corbyn has been elected Leader of the British Labour Party (see here for the BBC profile on him)…
Read MoreGuest Post: Self defence and getting sacked
Written by Dr Nicholas Shackel Cardiff University If you were attacked at a work party you would expect the person who attacked you to get sacked. In this case (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11846084/London-Zoo-love-rivals-i…
Read MoreThe Virtuous Homophobe
A few days ago, Kim Davis was released from jail, where she had spent the past few days. Davis, as you probably recall, is the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples (more technically,…
Read MorePost-Vacation Musings: How rude should I be to my mother?
Written by Andreas Kappes A couple of years ago, my mother flew in from Germany to visit and help us with looking after my daughter during a school break. One night, I can’t remember the exact circumstances, she angrily told me: “Stop being…
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