Is there a need to enhance the way bioethicists discuss enhancement? Contemporary ethical debates on human enhancement sometimes resemble bitter political debates in a city council. Implicit or explicit political agendas are expressed as normative claims and are passed as “moral” arguments because they serve “the right cause.” Consider, for instance, James Watson who said […]
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As a philosopher, I am familiar with the image of the solitary thinker who studies the human mind though introspective study of his own. A recent article in the journal Cell reminds me of that image, but in unexpected “genomic” guise. To achieve statistical significance, medical researchers typically engage large numbers of research subjects. The […]
Continue readingThere is a persistent image of bioethics as being in symbiosis with the powerful interests of medical research and the pharmaceutical industry. Examples that could confirm such suspicions multiply, unfortunately, since pharmaceutical companies have begun to hire bioethicists as consultants. After critique, Glenn McGee, the former editor of the American Journal of Bioethics, recently resigned […]
Continue readingWhen promising technologies see the light, it can be difficult to make sound predictions about their future utility. Technical breakthroughs that promise to transform society tend to bewitch the mind. Their tremendous potential begs for interpretation by more dreamlike imaginary powers. When nuclear power was young, for example, the impact this new technology promised to have on […]
Continue readingHow should one respond when ethicists publish arguments in favor of infanticide? In the current issue of Journal of Medical Ethics, two philosophers argue that what they call “after-birth abortion” should be permissible in all cases where abortion is (even when the newborn is healthy). Not surprisingly, soon after BioEdge covered the article, the news […]
Continue readingWill new Swedish rules for research registers enable LifeGene to continue? In December 2011, the Swedish Data Inspection Board (DI) decided that the large biobank investment LifeGene is against the law. In its motivation, DI focused on the purpose of the data collection and the information to participants about this purpose. According to DI, LifeGene’s purpose […]
Continue readingOne of the ethical difficulties that confront biobank and genomics research concerns the communication of results to participants. Should biobank participants be given feedback from research? If so, under what conditions? A recent article in the European Journal of Human Genetics reports a survey of Dutch biobank researchers’ opinions on the issue. Here are some […]
Continue readingAre you interested in questions about consciousness? Would you like to participate in a conference on the subject, but cannot get on a plane? Why not participate in the fourth online consciousness conference, organized by Richard Brown! The conference is free of charge. Pär Segerdahl
Continue readingDuring the past century, a series of optimistic researchers set out to teach language to apes. This could have been no more than a queer expression of human naiveté… if it wasn’t for the fact that one of them succeeded. Who succeeded? The one who avoided teaching the apes! Why did the one who avoided […]
Continue readingPrivacy concerns and public health endeavours sometimes clash with each other. A recent example comes from the state of Minnesota. After a ruling from the state’s supreme court, one has begun to destroy blood samples taken routinely from newborns in a screening program. The practice is seen as a violation of privacy, since consent was […]
Continue readingTHE ETHICS BLOG
A research blog from the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics (CRB)
We write for researchers, healthcare staff, officials, politicians, patient organisations and anyone interested in ethics.
We comment on the research ethics and bioethics debate and discuss our own research. We address issues from current debates in the research community and in the press.
MEET THE EDITOR
Pär Segerdahl is editor of the Ethics Blog and Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Centre for Research Ethics & Bioethics.