Paije Richardson's dreams of a new life were crushed tonight as the public voted him from the X Factor final rounds. On Dec 9, the fate of another young hopeful will be decided by the people’s choice. But this time it will be a life and death choice. A couple... Continue reading

Having started to work in the field of neuroethics a couple of years ago, I have become staggered by the misunderstanding of what neuroscience can tell us. The best example is a recent BBC story which goes by the wonderful title “Libido problems: 'brain not mind'” . It starts by... Continue reading

Imagine that Herman has toxic radioactive waste from his laboratory. He decides to bury it in the ground next to his laboratory, knowing that it will expose the surrounding houses to dangerous radiation. As a result, Gertrude develops cancer some years later and dies at the age of 37. Herman... Continue reading

"The Charade of Blood Dope Testing The latest weapon in the arsenal of doping tests is the blood passport. It aims to track the red blood cell count over the last year. Changes during competition indicate doping. Of course it is doomed to fail. The reason is red blood cells... Continue reading

I justed posted this on the Practical Ethics Blog. Equality is an ideal born of the vice, or one of the seven deadly sins, of envy. It has no intrinsic value but panders to our vicious nature to be envious of others. Levelling down is absurd. And why level up... Continue reading

It is time to put the GM debate in a lead-lined coffin. To lay it finally to rest. And get things in perspective again. It is the role of a father to educate his children, if he can. That includes dispelling myths, belief in witches and ghosts and other false... Continue reading

Audio: See interview with Walter Sinnott-Armstrong on addition too: http://tinyurl.com/386ltlx Walter argues that addiction is: 1. a disorder of self-control that comes in degrees. It is essentially pathological self-control, like compulsive hand-washing, where the addict has limited control in some circumstances but not enough self-control. 2. a mental disease. Bennett... Continue reading

Check out the latest blog with Tom Douglas http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2905343.htm And just did a podcast with Nigel Warburton http://virtualphilosopher.com/2010/05/julian-sa.html Continue reading

Ilina Singh and colleagues are said argue that the use of drugs such as Ritalin among young people is becoming so common that family doctors should be able to prescribe them as study aids to school pupils aged under 18 in arecent article in the Guardian. While the Guardian article... Continue reading

Dominic is right thataddicts are competent to decide on sponsored sterilisation. I have argued that addicts can be autonomous and can consent to research trials involving drugs of addiction (Foddy, B., Savulescu, J.. (2006). ‘Addiction and Autonomy: Can Addicted People Consent to the Prescription of Their Drug of Addiction?’ Bioethics.... Continue reading

A relationship counsellor, Gary McFarlane, 48, in Bristol was sacked in 2008 for refusing to provide sex therapy to a gay couple. He took action against his former employer, Relate Avon, arguing that it had failed to accommodate his Christian beliefs. He lost, appealed and his appeal has just been... Continue reading

The prospect of a hung parliament following the upcoming UK election has raised several interesting ethical issues. One such issue which has been discussed is what are the responsibilities of the party which holds the balance of power? Should members of that party support the party holding the majority of... Continue reading

In Australia, Norrie is understood to be the world’s first person to have ‘Sex Not Specified’ on their birth certificate. The NSW government has legally recognised that Norrie is neither male nor female. “Norrie, 48, was born in Scotland and registered as male at birth. At age 23 Norrie commenced... Continue reading

Israel has come up with a new answer. In Israel, many orthodox Jews will accept an organ but have religious objections to donating one. It has one of the lowest organ donation rates. So there is a move to change this: sign a donor card, and you and your family... Continue reading

When doing something is worse than doing nothing According to a study reported in the Guardian, when people feel they have been morally virtuous by saving the planet through their purchases of organic baby food, for example, it leads to the "licensing [of] selfish and morally questionable behaviour", otherwise known... Continue reading

Imagine someone offered you £1 000 000 to cross a busy road. There is a small chance you might lose your life or a limb. But most people would accept the chance. I certainly would. We do that kind of thing every day for trivial reasons, such as to buy... Continue reading

Imagine that I went to the pharmacist to obtain chemotherapy for my chronic leukemia. Jenny, the pharmacist, refuses to dispense it because she believes the packaging is environmentally unfriendly. It is not Green enough. Imagine that I went to the pharmacist with a prescription for morphine tablets for my chronic... Continue reading

What is practical ethics? How should we do it well? There are two broad approaches. The first, the Evangelist Model, aims to convert people to be better citizens, to cause people to behaviour more ethically. It is premised on knowledge of ethical truths, of clear insight into what is right... Continue reading

In an article in the New York Times, Lisa Belkin relates the story of Laurie Strongin Allen Goldberg who tried to use PGD to create a sibling to provide bone marrow to treat their son, Henry, suffering from Fanconi anemia. Congress, however, shut down the lab that was working on... Continue reading

The UK Science and Technology Committee and the US Congressional Science and Technology Committee are both starting new inquiries into the regulation of geoengineering. This may well be one of the biggest ethical issues the world will face this century. We are of course geoengineering the planet on a daily... Continue reading

Sometimes people ask me, “Which enhancers do you use?” Despite having defended doping in sport, I have never taken drugs to improve my physical performance. I have refused to have cosmetic whitening of my teeth and plastic surgery to correct damage to my leg from a skiing accident. I have... Continue reading