On his blog in The Independent, John Rentoul has a long-running feature called “Questions to which the Answer is No“. In it, he examines the kind of screaming rhetorical-question headline much beloved of certain middle-market tabloids: “Is this photographic evidence of Nessie?”, “Does coffee cure cancer?”, “Does coffee cause cancer?”, “Does MMR bring down house prices?“* and […]
Category: The Academy
Philosophy, Bioethics and Otherworldliness
Hmmmm. So Brian L picked up on Catarina’s post that picked up on Brian E’s post that picked up on the ever-simmering stuff about male circumcision – and the American Academy of Pediatrics’ latest policy position in particular – with the comment “Philosophers are a bit unworldly, but this is still quite something”. I take the […]
Congratulations, Peter Singer
Just a quick post to note that Peter Singer has been made a Companion of the Order of Australia – which is, apparently, the Aussie equivalent of a KBE. The right-wing press ain’t happy – but irrespective of whether or not you agree with his claims, or his methods, Singer’s contribution to bioethics (and ethics more […]
CFP: Wellbeing and Public Policy
This may be of interest to readers… MANCEPT Workshops in Political Theory – Ninth Annual Conference Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT), University of Manchester 5th – 7th September 2012 Workshop on Well-being and Public Policy: Call for Abstracts David Cameron, in a recent speech on introducing national measures of well-being to inform public policy, […]
JOB: Research Fellow in Bioethics/ Philosophy
School of Health and Population Sciences/ College of Medical and Dental Sciences, University of Birmingham This post was created as a result of securing funds under the EU FP7 security call for collaborative research project SURVEILLE (Surveillance: Ethical Issues, Legal Limitations and Efficiency). In brief, SURVEILLE is a multidisciplinary project combining law, ethics, sociology and […]
Exporting and Using Medical Equipment
A student writes: I am a 5th Year Medical Student involved in a charity organisation that collects medical goods that are recycled/past expiry dates but still in good condition for re-use/excess from stocks, and aims to provide more impoverished clinics and hospitals abroad with these goods through students’ electives. I have been trying to find […]
Consultation: Emerging Biotechnologies
The Nuffield Council on Bioethics has announced that it has opened a consultation on emerging biotechnologies: The Council is seeking views on the ethical issues posed by emerging biotechnologies. Your views will be valuable in shaping and informing the deliberations of a Working Party that was recently set up to consider this topic. The Working Party […]
Good News from Keele
It was announced yesterday that both the Centre for Professional Ethics, and the philosophy programme at Keele, have been spared the axe. From Angus Dawson’s Facebook message: We are delighted to announce that due to substantial discussions over the last two days the proposals to close PEAK (the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele University) […]
Medical Ethics at Keele to be Axed?
This was supposed to be embargoed, but there’ve been enough leaks to make me think I can go public with it: news has emerged today that the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele (PEAK) is facing the axe, as is the Keele Philosophy programme. A Senate Paper detailing the proposed cuts is widely available, and people […]
Conference: Synthetic Biology: A Better Future?
This workshop looks potentially interesting. Public Dialogue Wednesday 9 March Lindisfarne Centre, St Aidan’s College, Durham University 5pm Wednesday March 9th Programme 5.15 pm Introduction to the Meeting – Dr Patrick Steel (Durham University) 5.20 – 6.45 pm A series of short talks from experts in the field providing a personalised view of synthetic biology and its […]