Cancer is a common cause of death among children, but improved treatments have significantly increased survival, especially in high-income countries. A prerequisite for this development is research. When we think of a hospital, we think mainly of the care given to patients there. But care and research are largely developed together in the hospitals. Treatments […]
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All communications require a shared language and fruitful discussions rely on conceptual clarity and common terms. Different definitions and divergent nomenclatures is a challenge for science: across different disciplines, between professions and when engaging with different publics. The audience for science communications is diverse. Research questions and results need to be shared within the field, […]
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Somewhat simplified, we usually understand biomarkers as substances in the body that can be detected, for example, through blood or urine tests, and that indicate a biological state, such as cancers or diabetes. Biomarkers can be used to make a diagnosis, predict disease risks and to monitor an ongoing treatment. Nowadays, people also talk about […]
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Philosophers have an ambiguous position in the knowledge society which could support democratic conversations where truth and openness are united. On the one hand, philosophers are driven by a strong desire for the truth. They ask questions more often than they give answers, and they do not give answers until they have thoroughly explored the […]
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The neuroethics group at CRB has just started its work as part of a new European research project about artificial awareness. The project is called “Counterfactual Assessment and Valuation for Awareness Architecture” (CAVAA), and is funded for a duration of four years. The consortium is composed of 10 institutions, coordinated by the Radboud University in […]
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Can a hospital stay make the disease worse? It sounds paradoxical, but of course it can occur as a result of, for example, misdiagnosis and negligence, or of overtreatment. When it comes to psychiatric illnesses and ailments, which are often sensitive to the interaction with the environment, it can be difficult to see how the […]
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How should patients be prioritized in health care? In many countries’ regulations, the answer to this question is formulated in terms of severity: the more severe the illness of a patient is, the higher the patient should be prioritized. Although other things may matter for health care priorities, such as cost-effectiveness, severity should be at […]
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Clinical psychologists receive degrees from universities, training them to effectively apply psychotherapy programs in psychiatry settings. But after graduation, whose responsibility is it to train, or perhaps re-train, clinical psychologists to practice “proper” therapy? Is it the responsibility of the owner of a three-letter branded protocol, such as DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), SFT (Schema Focused […]
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In science, correctly stated co-authorship is essential. Being transparent about who did what can be said to belong to the documentation of the research. Incorrectly stated co-authorship does not only give a distorted picture of the research, however. It also creates injustice between researchers and unfairly affects who gets employment or research grants. This also […]
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We are used to thinking that research is either theoretical or empirical, or a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches. I want to suggest that there are also studies that are neither theoretical nor empirical, even though it may seem unthinkable at first. This third possibility often occurs together with the other two, with which […]
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Welcome to the Ethics Blog!
This blog is published by the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB) at Uppsala University.
Supported by the Human Brain Project, Neuroethics and Philosophy.
Meet the editor
Pär Segerdahl is the editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB)
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