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Press Replay on Ethics: How AI Debate Panels Surface Hidden Value-Trade-Offs

TL;DR High-stake policy decisions often involve conflict between values, like fairness versus efficiency, or individual rights versus the common good. The various committees (like hospital ethics boards or policy advisory groups) tasked with resolving these conflicts often work in ways that are hard to scrutinize, their conclusions shaped by the specific people in the room.… Read More »Press Replay on Ethics: How AI Debate Panels Surface Hidden Value-Trade-Offs

A medical professional holding a needle ready to inject. For illustrative purposes only.

On plans to extend use of chemical castration for sex offenders in England

Secretary of State for Justice Shabana Mahmood is reportedly looking into a potential ‘national rollout of voluntary chemical castration for sex offenders’. The proposal is one of the recommendations outlined in the recently published Independent Sentencing Review led by former Lord Chancellor David Gauke, commissioned to investigate ‘the prison overcrowding crisis and to consider alternative… Read More »On plans to extend use of chemical castration for sex offenders in England

Uterus Transplants – Ethical and Legal Challenges in the Mexican Context

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Author: Dr César Palacios-Gonzalez Discussions about maternal health and rights in Mexico tend to focus on health outcomes and access to healthcare. Academics and activists have long campaigned for the government to invest more resources in maternal health. Unfortunately, healthcare provision for women who want to have a child and are struggling to conceive hasn’t received enough… Read More »Uterus Transplants – Ethical and Legal Challenges in the Mexican Context

Justifying Exclusion From Public Sport

Graduate Highly Commended paper in the 2025 National Uehiro Oxford Essay Prize in Practical Ethics. By Edward Lamb. During the 2024 Paris Olympics, the inclusion of Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde generated serious controversy. Van de Velde had previously been sentenced to four years in British jail, convicted of child rape.[1] After… Read More »Justifying Exclusion From Public Sport

Bridging the Gaps: How Language Models Can Connect Ethics, Science, and Policy

What this post explores: At its best, practical ethics addresses normative questions with philosophical rigor while remaining grounded in empirical evidence and offering meaningful input for policy. However, the field frequently faces challenges in demonstrating clear connections between normative analysis, empirical and policy research.   The Structural Disconnect The challenge is partly due to the… Read More »Bridging the Gaps: How Language Models Can Connect Ethics, Science, and Policy

The Doctor Will Speak as You Prefer? How AI Could Personalize Medical Communication

(This blog post was originally published in the JME Forum) By Hazem Zohny, Jemima Winfried Allen, Dominic Wilkinson, and Julian Savulescu. When you go to the doctor, there’s little telling what kind of communicator you’ll get. Some doctors are on the paternalistic side, telling you what you should do without much discussion. Others just give… Read More »The Doctor Will Speak as You Prefer? How AI Could Personalize Medical Communication

Banning first cousin marriage would be eugenic and ineffective

Dominic Wilkinson, University of Oxford A bill that proposes to ban first-cousin marriage in the UK will receive its second reading in the House of Commons on March 7. The bill, proposed by Conservative former minister Richard Holden, follows the introduction of a ban on cousin marriages that came into effect in Norway in 2023… Read More »Banning first cousin marriage would be eugenic and ineffective