-
Free Speech: Some Comments
The issue of free speech has been directly addressed by at least one recent post and raised during the course of a number of other discussions. So, here are some of my own observations on the subject. 1 As a rough generalisation, I would say that those who discuss the subject tend to fall into
-
Kony 2012 and Saying What You Mean
Kony 2012 has become the highest profile issue of international justice on social media by far. For those without a Facebook account, Kony 2012 is a slick 30-minute YouTube film about Joseph Kony, leader of the Lords Resistance Army. The video explicitly seeks to mobilise support for efforts to arrest Kony, who has been indicted
-
Arbitrary Execution: Why the Law Needs Help from Neuroscience, Psychology and Philosophy
On February 29th, 2012, Robert Henry Moormann was executed in Arizona for murder. Back in 1984, he was in prison for kidnapping and molesting an eight year old girl, when the state gave him three days of compassionate leave. His elderly adoptive mother took a long bus trip to go and meet him. After an
-
Is it OK to have an affair if your partner is asexual?
I am desperate to start a sexual relationship with an old acquaintance but his wife, who has no interest in sex, would be appalled if she knew. Does that matter? I read this in the Guardian’s ‘Life & Style’ section. Every week, a reader can present a dilemma she/he is faced with in her/his ‘private’
-
ASSASSINATING CITIZENS: How not to fight terror
By Brian Earp See Brian’s most recent previous post by clicking here. See all of Brian’s previous posts by clicking here. In this ‘hour’ of danger: Civil liberties and the eternal threat of terror NBC’s Pete Williams reports: The U.S. government is legally justified in killing its own citizens overseas if they are involved in
-
In vitro meat, new technologies, and the “yuck factor”
In vitro meat, recently discussed on this blog by Julian Savulescu, is gradually becoming a reality. It holds great promise, notably considering that billons of animals are slaughtered for food every year, often after spending miserable lives in factory farms, and that the current production of meat contributes significantly to the emission of greenhouse gases.
-
Why Did the Journal Publish an Article Defending Infanticide?
[This is a revised version of the Editorial which appears on the JME home page. It will replace that version.] I am personally opposed to the legalisation of infanticide. However, as the Editor of the Journal I would like to explain why the Journal would publish an article defending infanticide. The ethical discussion of infanticide
-
The Fragility of Freedom of Speech
It is no doubt naïve of me, but I am shocked that so many people do not believe in the freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech we have no freedom of thought and without freedom of thought we do not have ourselves. There is nothing original in this simple point. It has been a
-
The censor and the eavesdropper: the link between censorship and surveillance
Cory Doctorow makes a simple but important point in the Guardian: censorship today is inseparable from surveillance. In modern media preventing people from seeing proscribed information requires systems that monitor their activity. To implement copyright-protecting censorship in the UK systems must be in place to track where people seek to access and compare it to