So… I’ve been writing a paper on Kant, the basic thrust of which is to assert the importance of respect for autonomy over and above respect for persons. (That is, I think that Kant thinks that we ought to respect persons because they’re autonomous; this is in contrast to the modern idea that we ought […]
Latest articles
Stem-Cells: To Patent or Not?
In spare moments, I’ve been wondering about the Advocate-General of European Court of Justice’s recent recommendation that patents involving human embryonic stem-cells be prohibited, and the response that it’s generated. One of the best-publicised responses was the letter from Austin Smith et al that appeared in Nature, which complained that the recommendation would be bad […]
Language and ethics – being “let” to go overdue
By David Hunter The more I think about it the more I think that one issue bioethicists should play much closer attention to is the language used to describe things. This isn’t a new thought, Kongzi (known as Confucius in the West) said: Tsze-lu said, “The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in […]
Hyperexpensive royal weddings – the opportunity costs in terms of health
By David Hunter James Wilson (UCL) and I recently wrote a briefing paper for the Nuffield Council on Bioethics on the ethical issues surrounding hyper-expensive treatments – that is treatments which exceed NICEs usual cut off point of £30000 per quality adjusted life year (qualy). One factor that we kept coming back to was the […]
Pakistan Introduces New Gender Category
It’s not often that you get good news from Pakistan, especially in respect of sex or gender issues. Rarer still that you hear of Pakistan not only finally doing what the rest of the world has taken as minimally decent for ages, but actually taking something of a lead. On the face of it, this […]
To Breed, or not to Breed?
There’s a very interesting article on the BBC news website at the moment concerning the decision of Jono, a man with Treacher Collins Syndrome, about whether or not to have children of his own. His having the syndrome himself has led to a number of difficulties – but he seems to have got off fairly lightly […]
Assisted Dying for the non-Terminal
I’m a bit behind the curve with this, but I thought it worth noting the story of Nan Maitland, who recently travelled to Dignitas* at the start of March. She was suffering from arthritis – which, though painful, is a long way short of a terminal illness. (Her story is reminiscent of Robert and Jennifer […]
Conference: Global Health, Global Goods, and International Community
Public Lecture and Two Day Conference 1-3 June 2011 Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation, The University of Manchester The two-day conference will focus on issues in global health and questions concerning shared commitments within the international community. It will bring together leading experts from academia and policy, representing a broad diversity of disciplinary backgrounds […]
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 […]
Singer on the Value of Lives
Peter Singer had a piece in The Guardian last week comparing the way that we value lives around the world. He points out that when NATO accidentally kills Afghan civilians, it pays out compensation. This never goes above about £5000 per death. In comparison, NICE’s threshold for funding a treatment on the NHS is £20-30k […]