-
62Consequentialism without Consequences: Ethics and Embryo ResearchCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 19 (1): 61. 2010.The legitimacy of embryo research, use, and destruction is among the most important issues facing contemporary bioethics. In the preceding paper, Ingmar Persson and Julian Savulescu took up an argument of John Harris and tried to find some new ways of avoiding its dramatic consequences. They noted that: “John Harris has argued that if … it is morally permissible to engage in reproduction … despite knowledge that a large number of embryos will fail to implant and quickly die, then … it is morally…Read more
-
200Stem cell research, personhood and sentienceReproductive Biomedicine Online 10 68-75. 2005.In this paper the permissibility of stem cell research on early human embryos is defended. It is argued that, in order to have moral status, an individual must have an interest in its own wellbeing. Sentience is a prerequisite for having an interest in avoiding pain, and personhood is a prerequisite for having an interest in the continuation of one's own existence. Early human embryos are not sentient and therefore they are not recipients of direct moral consideration. Early human embryos do not…Read more
-
135Helping doctors become better doctors: Mary Lobjoit—an unsung heroine of medical ethics in the UKJournal of Medical Ethics 38 (6): 383-385. 2012.Medical Ethics has many unsung heros and heroines. Here we celebrate one of these and on telling part of her story hope to place modern medical ethics and bioethics in the UK more centrally within its historical and human contex
-
43Provider, patient and public benefits from a NICE appraisal of bevacizumab (Avastin)Journal of Medical Ethics 38 (3): 187-189. 2012.There are several good reasons for the UK Department of Health to recommend the appraisal of bevacizumab for the treatment of eye conditions by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. These reasons will extend to other drugs when similar situations arise in the future
-
92The Immoral MachineCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 29 (1): 71-79. 2020.:In a recent paper in Nature1 entitled The Moral Machine Experiment, Edmond Awad, et al. make a number of breathtakingly reckless assumptions, both about the decisionmaking capacities of current so-called “autonomous vehicles” and about the nature of morality and the law. Accepting their bizarre premise that the holy grail is to find out how to obtain cognizance of public morality and then program driverless vehicles accordingly, the following are the four steps to the Moral Machinists argument:…Read more
-
113Who Owns My Autonomous Vehicle? Ethics and Responsibility in Artificial and Human IntelligenceCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 27 (4): 599-609. 2018.
-
26The future of human reproduction : ethics, choice, and regulation (edited book)Oxford University Press. 1998.The Future of Human Reproduction brings together new work, by an international group of contributors from various fields and perspectives, on ethical, social, and legal issues raised by recent advances in reproductive technology. These advances have put us in a position to choose what kindsof children and parents there should be; the aim of the essays is to illuminate how we should deal with these possibilities for choice. Topics discussed include gender and race selection, genetic engineering, …Read more
-
121Clones, Genes, and Immortality: Ethics and the Genetic RevolutionOxford University Press. 1998.In this retitled and revised version of Harris's original text Wonderwoman and Superman, the author discusses the ethics of human biotechnology and its implications relative to human evolution and destiny.
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Biology |
Philosophy of Cognitive Science |