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Vaccination and the omissions bias.
Vaccination has been in the news recently, as an outbreak of measles hits California. The US virtually eliminated measles around the turn of the century, but it has made a comeback. A big factor in that comeback has been ‘conscientious objection’ on the part of parents, who refuse to have their children vaccinated for religious
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Is Effective Altruism Killing the Love?
In July 1990, the Australian state of Victoria put a law requiring cyclists to wear helmets into effect (1). More than two decades later, it is unclear whether or not the introduction of the law had a net societal health benefit (2). This might be puzzling when considering that cycling with a helmet on is safer than
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An infant-sized ethics: St Cross Ethics Seminar – Dr Richard Hain
by Dominic Wilkinson @NeonatalEthics On the 29th of January, Paediatric Palliative Care Specialist Dr Richard Hain gave the first St Cross Special Ethics Seminar for Hilary Term. Dr Hain’s talk was titled “Mere Practicality? Infants, interests and the value of life”. The talk abstract and a link to a podcast of his talk can be
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Consciousness and death’s badness
1. Many think that the wrongness of killing has at least partly to do with the harm and/or badness of death. I assume that is right. 2. Many think that the harm and/or badness of death has primarily to do with the deprivation of a future. In particular, many think that the future contains valuable
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Cocaine, Loss, and the Liberal View of Addiction
A study published in the Journal of Neuroscience (behind a paywall here, but see also a media report here a a few days ago suggests that cocaine addicts may have impairments in the neural circuits that are responsible for the prediction of emotional loss. In this post, I shall consider the implications that this finding might
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On the supposed distinction between culture and religion: A brief comment on Sir James Munby’s decision in the matter of B and G (children)
On the supposed distinction between culture and religion: A brief comment on Sir James Munby’s decision in the matter of B and G (children) By Brian D. Earp (@briandavidearp) Introduction What is the difference between “culture” and “religion” … ? From a legal standpoint, this question is important: practices which may be described as being
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The Ethics of Checking People Out
You’re walking down the street. In the opposite direction comes a person whom you find very attractive. As he or she passes by, you feel tempted to turn your head so as to, well, check them out. I assume that you have felt this temptation. I, at least, have felt it many times. I have resisted turning my head,
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Should Hitler have been able to speak at the Oxford Union?
@JimACEverett www.jimaceverett.com The Oxford University Student Union (OUSU) recently voted to “condemn” the invitation of Marine LePen to speak at the Oxford Union (which is an entirely separate organization, for those outside of Oxford). In addition to condemning LePen and the Union for inviting her, the OUSU President was mandated to send an emergency letter
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The Welfare State: who should pay for the transportation of a rich person’s child to and from school?
Suppose you have a child with special educational needs. Suppose the only school that could meet your child’s needs (as set out by their Statement of Special Educational Needs) was over an hour away (as can often happen). It falls under your local authority’s duties, who agree that they cannot provide a school within your
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Living to 150
The Treasurer of Australia, the Hon Joe Hockey MP, recently received widespread attention with the statement: It’s kind of remarkable that somewhere in the world today, it’s highly probable that a child has been born who will live to be 150.[1] Hockey made the claim while discussing some of the problems Australia faces as a