Jan Deckers and Dominic Hall ask whether relatives of patients with a genetic disease should be told that they themselves are at an increased risk. Sporadic Alzheimer’s Disease is the commonest cause of dementia, and one of the most prevalent diseases in those over 65. It must be distinguished from familial (early onset) Alzheimer’s disease, …
Simon Kolstoe says that all is not well with medicine. It is said that philosophy is driven by concerns about mortality. If there is even a small grain of truth in this, then from a purely self-interested perspective the philosopher has good reason to be supportive of the work of doctors and health scientists. After …
Marco Kaisth asks, could radical genetic engineering create ethical factory farms? Pigs are exceptionally intelligent animals. They’re able to solve odor quizzes, recognize themselves in mirrors, and even play rudimentary video games. One Cambridge University Professor, Dr Donald Bloom, has even claimed that pigs “have the cognitive ability to be quite sophisticated. Even more so …
Keith Tidman overhears a prophetic dialogue about the pluses and minuses of genetically engineering children. Sally: I’ve decided to have a baby! I’m sure that won’t surprise you, Pat. But the real news is, I have no intention of rolling the dice over the health and characteristics of my baby. The old-fashioned way was to …
Michael Voytinsky finds another take on a classic utilitarian dilemma. A hypothetical example comes up in many discussions of utilitarianism and its implications: three people with three different failing organs lie dying in a hospital when a healthy person arrives with a minor injury. If utilitarians are serious about wanting the greatest happiness for the …
Three Guys with Failing Organs vs One Guy with Good Organs Read More »
Jeffrey Spike explains the place of medical ethics within bioethics and in relation to philosophy. What I want to do in this brief introduction is (1) help define what bioethics is, (2) identify its major aspects, and (3) clarify its relationship to philosophy. To this aim I will outline how bioethics has developed three distinct …
by Ololade Olakanmi and Laura Purdy Organ transplantation saves thousands of lives every year, and is arguably one of the most significant medical innovations of the past century. At present however, the worldwide demand for organs far outstrips supply. For instance, in 2004, the United Network for Organ Sharing (United States) found that over 100,000 …
Kidney specialist Mahendra Govani recommends a particular variety of evolved ethical behaviour. During the recorded and unrecorded evolutionary march towards happiness, the ultimate goal, humanity has mastered many mountains, walked through a variety of valleys, and tumbled into dozens of dreadful ditches. However, one can argue that in the arena of social and ethical development …
Robert Card on the ethics of medical care at the end of life. It is natural for humans to want control over their own lives. Since death is an inevitable part of being human, it is also understandable that people want control over the circumstances of their own death, if at all possible. As the …
Landon D.C. Elkind explains why Russell believed logic can set thought free. Using Bertrand Russell’s remarks on something as a foil, I shall try to explain why he thought studying logic and philosophy is valuable. As almost any Russellian knows, Russell abhorred teaching Aristotelian logic, also called traditional logic. To take two quotes: “If you …