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Conjoined Twins, Cloning and Artificial Intelligence
Rosie and Ruby Formasa at 12 weeks are two ‘normal, smiling bubbly babies’. But they have already survived major surgery, just one day after their birth. Conjoined at the abdomen at the level of the umbilicus, the girls shared an intestine. Pregnancy scans in the second trimester had identified that the twins were conjoined, but
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Religious vs. secular ethics and a note about respect
By Brian Earp See Brian’s most recent previous post by clicking here. See all of Brian’s previous posts by clicking here. Follow Brian on Twitter by clicking here. This is a rough draft of a lecture delivered on October 1st, 2012, at the 12th Annual International Symposium on Law, Genital Autonomy, and Children’s Rights (Helsinki, Finland). It
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The most important unsolved problems in ethics (Or, How to be a high impact philosopher, part III)
In 1900 the mathematician David Hilbert published a list of 23 of the most important unsolved problems in mathematics. This list heavily influenced mathematical research over the 20th century: if you worked on one of Hilbert’s problems, then you were doing respectable mathematics. There is no such list within moral philosophy. That’s a shame. Not
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Jeremy Hunt, Abortion, and the Sorites Paradox
Controversy erupted last week when the UK Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that the law on abortion should be changed. But before looking at what he said, can I ask what you think? Here are some options:
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Physician Assisted Suicide and the Conflict Between Autonomy and Non-Maleficence
In the run-up to the 6th November ballot in Massachussets concerning the prescription of medication to end life, two prominent US physicians, Dr. Ronald Pies and Dr. John Grohol, have been debating the pros and cons of physician assisted suicide (PAS). In his article, Dr Ronald Pies argues against the legalisation of PAS, claiming in
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A Tale of a Designer Baby and Distributive Injustice
Melissa and Brad’s story is a heart wrenching one. Having to sell the family car in order to have a healthy baby. From the government’s perspective, this is a bizarre situation. The care of a baby born with cystic fibrosis can cost over half a million dollars or more. Melissa and Brad both saved the
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Melissa and Brad’s Story: Designer Babies
When Brad and I started dating in early 2008, Brad mentioned that if our relationship ended with us having a baby, it would be best if I was tested to see if I carried the CF gene. We meet with the geneticist at Hunter Genetics in Newcastle to have the test (which involved taking a
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Designer Babies
Tonight at 8.30 p.m. Australian Time, SBS will be airing a show on Deisgner Babies. I’ll be live tweeting during the show, and in the meantime, here are a few links to some opinion pieces, media and papers I’ve written on the topic. To join the live tweeting, use the hashtag #insightSBS Recent Opinion Pieces
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Why strongly encouraging or legally enforcing bike helmets is not necesserily a good idea
In Australia and New Zealand wearing bike helmets is compulsory. In the United States, bike helmets are strongly promoted. The message in these countries is clear – not wearing a bike helmet is stupid because it can significantly damage your health. The stigma attached to cycling without a helmet may even be comparable to that
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Yamanaka Wins Nobel Prize for Ethics
by Julian Savulescu, Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics & Director, Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics Yamaka and Gurdon have jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent: that is, already specialized cells can be taken, and using iPS technology, transformed into