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Gene-Editing Mosquitoes at The European Youth Event 2018
By Jonathan Pugh The below is a slightly extended version of my two 5min presentations at the European Youth Event 2018, at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. I was asked to present on the following questions: What are the ethical issues surrounding gene-editing, particularly with respect to eradicating mosquitoes? Should the EU
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Utilitarian Supervillains, Moral Enhancement, and Enforced Vegetarianism
By Hazem Zohny Bad utilitarians make for great supervillains. Take Thanos, the purple CGI nemesis the Avengers have to face this year in what feels like the gazillionth Marvel movie. In his sincere desire to reduce suffering, Thanos is trying to kill half of all life in the universe. Like all utilitarian-type supervillains, he
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Illness and Attitude – Richard Holton’s 3rd Uehiro Lecture
By Jonathan Pugh In the final lecture of the 2018 Uehiro lecture series, Richard Holton concluded his reflections on the theme of ‘illness and the social self’ by turning to questions about how attitudes can play a role in the onset of medical disorders, with a particular focus on psycho-somatic disorders. You can
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Should Abortion be a Matter of Referendum?
Alberto Giubilini Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities and Oxford Martin School, University of Oxford I am writing this post on the 25th of May, as the Irish abortion referendum is taking place. However, you will probably be reading it once the results are already known. I am not going to write in support of either
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Addiction, Desire, and The Polluted Environment – Richard Holton’s 2nd Uehiro Lecture
By Jonathan Pugh In the second of his three Uehiro lectures on the theme of ‘illness and the social self’, Richard Holton turned to the moral questions raised by addiction. In the first half of the lecture, he outlined an account of addictive behaviour according to which addictive substances disrupt the link between wanting
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Hell, Damnation, The Royal Wedding, And The Thrashing Of Schoolboys
By Charles Foster Image: Holly Fisher, a Conservative Christian blogger from West Virginia, posing with gun, Bible, and US flag: from www.nydailynews.com There was a near universal consensus that Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was magnificent. ‘Frock Star’, panted the Sun. The Bishop ‘stole the show…and is
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Video Series: Francesca Minerva on Discrimination Against Unattractive People
Is discrimination against unattractive people (lookism) a serious problem? What are the costs of lookism ? What should we do about lookism? In this interview with Katrien Devolder, Dr Francesca Minerva (Philosopher, Ghent University) addresses these thorny questions.
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Dementia and the Social Scaffold of Memory
By Jonathan Pugh The number of individuals suffering with dementia is steadily increasing; as such, the moral issues raised by the neurodegenerative diseases that bring about the symptoms typifying dementia are of pressing practical concern. In this context, Richard Holton’s topic for the first of his three 2018 Uehiro lectures (on the theme “Illness
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Why It’s Important to Test Drugs on Pregnant Women
By Mackenzie Graham Crosspost from The Conversation. Click here to read the full article. The development of accessible treatment options for pregnant women is a significant public health issue. Yet, very few medications are approved for use during pregnancy. Most drug labels have little data to inform prescribing decisions. This means that most medicines taken