-
22CommentaryJournal of Medical Ethics 31 (2): 113-113. 2005.To resort to hypoxic air machines—would that be to cheat? This clearly depends on whether such machines are prohibited or not. So the important question is this: Should sport authorities prohibit them or not?One way of approaching this question may be to argue casuistically. Erythropoietin is prohibited. Blood doping is prohibited. Training at high altitude is allowed. Does the hypoxic air machine bear more resemblance to training at high altitude than to the use of EPO? If that is the case it s…Read more
-
94A realist and internalist response to one of Mackie’s arguments from queernessPhilosophical Studies 172 (2): 347-357. 2015.If there is such a thing as objectively existing prescriptivity, as the moral realist claims, then we can also explain why—and we need not deny that—strong internalism is true. Strong conceptual internalism is true, not because of any belief in any magnetic force thought to be inherent in moral properties themselves, as Mackie argued, but because we do not allow that anyone has ‘accepted’ a normative claim, unless she is prepared to some extent to act on it
-
15Ought We to Sentence People to Psychiatric Treatment?Bioethics 11 (3-4): 298-308. 1997.In principle, there seem to be three main ways in which society can react when people commit crimes under influence of mental illness. (1) The standard model. We excuse them. If they are dangerous they are detained in the interest of safety of the rest of the citizens. (2) The Swedish model. We hold them responsible for their criminal offence, we convict them, but we do not sentence them to jail. Instead, we sentence them to psychiatric treatment. (3) My model. We sentence them to jail, but offe…Read more
-
36Must We, the Reader and I, Make Great Sacrifices In Order to Save Starving Children?Theoria 66 (1): 115-122. 2000.Peter Unger, Living High and Letting Die. Our Illusion of Innocence (Oxford and New York Oxford University Press, 1996.
-
60In Defence of Theory in EthicsCanadian Journal of Philosophy 25 (4). 1995.Particularism is in vogue in ethics today. Particularism is sometimes described as the idea that what is a sufficient moral reason in one situation need not be a sufficient moral reason in another situation. Indeed, it has been held, on particularism, what is a reason for an action in one situation might be a reason against the same type of action, or might not be a reason at all, in another situation. However, this description is insufficient. Even a generalist, such as a utilitarian, may admit…Read more
-
36Doom soon? (review)Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 40 (2). 1997.No abstract
-
81Conservatism for our timeRoutledge. 1990.1 THE CONSERVATIVE ATTITUDE THE HARD CORE OF THE CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY What is conservatism? It may seem a hopeless task to characterize a timeless concept ...
-
88Social psychology and the paradox of revolutionSouth African Journal of Philosophy 26 (2): 228-238. 2007.No. South African Journal of Philosophy Vol.26 (2) 2007:228-238
-
20A concrete view of intrinsic valueIn Toni Rønnow-Rasmussen & Michael J. Zimmerman (eds.), Recent Work on Intrinsic Value, Springer. pp. 207--211. 1999.
-
Recension av Knut Erik Tranøy: Medisinsk etikk i vår tid (review)Norsk Filosofisk Tidsskrift 1. 1993.
-
173Why should we respect the privacy of donors of biological material?Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 14 (1): 43-52. 2011.Why should we respect the privacy of donors of biological material? The question is answered in the present article in general philosophical terms from the point of view of an ethics of honour, a libertarian theory of rights, a view of respect for privacy based on the idea that autonomy is of value in itself, and utilitarianism respectively. For different reasons the ethics of honour and the idea of the value of autonomy are set to one side. It surfaces that the moral rights theory and utilitari…Read more
-
10Moral RealismRowman & Littlefield Publishers. 1989.'...the book is very dense with ideas...arguments concerning innumerable interesting points are always worth pondering.'-THE PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW.
-
2415 The genetic design of a new AmazonIn Claudio Marcello Tamburrini & Torbjörn Tännsjö (eds.), Genetic Technology and Sport: Ethical Questions, Routledge. pp. 181. 2005.
-
68Understanding Through Explanation in EthicsTheoria 72 (3): 213-220. 2006.In morality, as in science, we seek understanding through explanation. While old fashioned non‐naturalistic moral realism renders such explanation available to us, neither moral irrealism nor moral naturalism does. This does not prove any of these theories wrong, of course. It does indicate, however, that, if we feel that we have to resort to them, there is a high intellectual price to be paid.
-
83The morality of clinical research – a case studyJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 19 (1): 7-21. 1994.The paper is a record of a debate which took place between a group of clinicians and the author concerning a clinical trial of a drug supposed to postpone the time when HIV-patients develop AIDS. A problem with the trial was that on available (inconclusive) evidence it appeared that one patient out of 500 was killed by the drug. The question raised was whether, in view of this evidence, it was morally defensible to go on with the trial. The discussion came to involve general topics such as the a…Read more
-
15Moral doubts about strict materialismInquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 30 (4): 451-458. 1987.It is argued that there are moral costs of our accepting ‘strict materialism’, the view that there is no such phenomenon as an irreducible first‐person point of view. If we accept strict materialism, then we have to give up some considered moral views, such as the principle of an agent‐relative morality and the hedonistic principle. The necessity involved is not logical, however, but pragmatic. Strict materialism does not imply that these moral views are false; it is our belief in them that is u…Read more
-
127Taking Life: Three Theories on the Ethics of KillingOxford University Press USA. 2015.When and why is it right to kill? When and why is it wrong? Torbjörn Tännsjö examines three theories on the ethics of killing in this book: deontology, a libertarian moral rights theory, and utilitarianism. The implications of each theory are worked out for different kinds of killing: trolley-cases, murder, capital punishment, suicide, assisted death, abortion, killing in war, and the killing of animals. These implications are confronted with our intuitions in relation to them, and our moral int…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Normative Ethics |