-
AbortionIn Hugh LaFollette (ed.), The Oxford handbook of practical ethics, Oxford University Press. 2003.
-
181The ambiguity of the embryo: Ethical inconsistency in the human embryonic stem cell debateMetaphilosophy 38 (2-3). 2007.We argue in this essay that (1) the embryo is an irredeemably ambiguous entity and its ambiguity casts serious doubt on the arguments claiming its full protection or, at least, its protection against its use as a means fo research, (2) those who claim the embryo should be protected as "one of us" are committed to a position even they do not uphold in their practices, (3) views that defend the protection of the embryo in virtue of its potentiality to become a person fail, and (4) the embryo does…Read more
-
2Experiments on Embryos (edited book)Routledge. 1990.Covering scientific, legal, ethical, historical, theological and public policy aspects of human embryo research, the cases for and against are put strongly and clearly. Scientific evidence is cogently presented by leading embryologists
-
74Moral enhancement and pro-social behaviourJournal of Medical Ethics 37 (3): 130-131. 2011.Moral enhancement is a topic that has sparked much current interest in the world of bioethics. The possibility of making people ‘better,’ not just in the conventional enhancement sense of improving health and other desirable qualities and capacities, but by making them somehow more moral, more decent, altogether better people, has attracted attention from both advocates 1 2 and sceptics 3 alike. The concept of moral enhancement, however, is fraught with difficult questions, theoretical and pract…Read more
-
62Does a Fish Need a Bicycle? Animals and Evolution in the Age of BiotechnologyCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 20 (3): 484-492. 2011.Animals, in the age of biotechnology, are the subjects of a myriad of scientific procedures, interventions, and modifications. They are created, altered, and experimented upon—often with highly beneficial outcomes for humans in terms of knowledge gained and applied, yet not without concern also for the effects upon the experimental subjects themselves: consideration of the use of animals in research remains an intensely debated topic. Concerns for animal welfare in scientific research have, howe…Read more
-
11A companion to genethicsIn Dennis M. Patterson (ed.), A Companion to Genethics, Blackwell. 1996.
-
46William Andereck, MD, is Chair of the Ethics Committees at California Pacific Medical Center and the Pacific Fertility Center, San Francisco, California. Lori B. Andrews, JD, is Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent College of Law and Senior Scholar at the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at the University of Chicago, Illinois (review)Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 7 117-118. 1998.
-
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
-
480Multiplex parenting: IVG and the generations to comeJournal of Medical Ethics 40 (11): 752-758. 2014.Recent breakthroughs in stem cell differentiation and reprogramming suggest that functional human gametes could soon be created in vitro. While the ethical debate on the uses of in vitro generated gametes (IVG) was originally constrained by the fact that they could be derived only from embryonic stem cell lines, the advent of somatic cell reprogramming, with the possibility to easily derive human induced pluripotent stem cells from any individual, affords now a major leap in the feasibility of I…Read more
-
20Personal or Public Health?In Michael Boylan (ed.), International Public Health Policy & Ethics, Dordrecht. pp. 15--29. 2008.Intuitively we feel that we ought (to attempt) to save the lives, or ameliorate the suffering, of identifiable individuals where we can. But this comes at a price. It means that there may not be any resources to save the lives of others in similar situations in the future. Or worse, there may not be enough resources left to prevent others from ending up in similar situations in the future. This chapter asks whether this is justifiable or whether we would be better served focusing on public healt…Read more
-
148Stem Cells, Sex, and ProcreationCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 12 (4): 353-371. 2003.Sex is not the answer to everything, though young men think it is, but it may be the answer to the intractable debate over the ethics of human embryonic stem cell research. In this paper, I advance one ethical principle that, as yet, has not received the attention its platitudinous character would seem to merit. If found acceptable, this principle would permit the beneficial use of any embryonic or fetal tissue that would, by default, be lost or destroyed. More important, I make two appeals to c…Read more
-
44The age-indifference principle and equalityCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 14 (1): 93-99. 2005.The question of whether or not either elderly people or those whose life expectancy is short have commensurately reduced claims on their fellows, have, in short, fewer or less powerful rights than others, is of vital importance but is one that has seldom been adequately examined. Despite ringing proclamations of justice and equality for all, the fact is that most societies discriminate between citizens on the basis both of age and life expectancy
-
140The Creation Lottery: Final Lessons from Natural Reproduction: Why Those Who Accept Natural Reproduction Should Accept Cloning and Other Frankenstein Reproductive TechnologiesCambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics 13 (1): 90-95. 2004.Opponents of destructive embryo research, such as embryo rightists, as well as proponents accept that natural reproduction is permissible. There is an alternative to natural reproduction—to remain childless. John Harris began this series of articles by asking, what does a commitment to the permissibility of natural reproduction entail? Harris has argued that a commitment to the permissibility of natural reproduction entails a commitment to the permissibility of destructive embryo research. Julia…Read more
-
17Michael Tooley and the Jolly Nasty ConclusionJournal of Applied Philosophy 3 (2): 255-259. 1986.Some recent powerful and persuasive arguments seem to imply that a world of people with lives that are barely worth living is preferable to a world which contains fewer people all of whom have extremely satisfying lives. This ‘repugnant conclusion’ is clearly to be rejected if possible—but is it possible? Many attempts to reject or avoid it have failed. One of the latest, by Michael Tooley, looked promising but the present essay argues that this attempt has also failed
-
245Wonderwoman and Superman: the ethics of human biotechnologyOxford University Press. 1992.Since the birth of the first test-tube baby, Louise Brown, in 1977, we have seen truly remarkable advances in biotechnology. We can now screen the fetus for Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, and a wide range of genetic disorders. We can rearrange genes in DNA chains and redirect the evolution of species. We can record an individual's genetic fingerprint. And we can potentially insert genes into human DNA that will produce physical warning signs of cancer, allowing early detection. In fact, biotechnol…Read more
-
115Should we presume moral turpitude in our children? – Small children and consent to medical researchTheoretical Medicine and Bioethics 24 (2): 121-129. 2003.When children are too young to make their ownautonomous decisions, decisions have to be madefor them. In certain contexts we allow parentsand others to make these decisions, and do notinterfere unless the decision clearly violatesthe best interest of the child. In othercontexts we put a priori limits on whatkind of decisions parents can make, and/or whatkinds of considerations they have to take intoaccount. Consent to medical research currentlyfalls into the second group mentioned here. Wewant t…Read more
-
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
-
39Sparrows, hedgehogs and castrati: reflections on gender and enhancementJournal of Medical Ethics 37 (5): 262-266. 2011.In a number of papers, including the one published in this journal, Robert Sparrow has mounted attacks on consequentialism using principally what he takes to be an important fact, which he believes constitutes a reductio ad absurdum of consequentialism in its many forms and of this author's approach to enhancement and disability in particular (see page 276). This fact is the current longer life expectancy of women when compared with men. Here the author argues that Sparrow's arguments and entire…Read more
-
583Moral enhancement and freedomBioethics 25 (2): 102-111. 2010.This paper identifies human enhancement as one of the most significant areas of bioethical interest in the last twenty years. It discusses in more detail one area, namely moral enhancement, which is generating significant contemporary interest. The author argues that so far from being susceptible to new forms of high tech manipulation, either genetic, chemical, surgical or neurological, the only reliable methods of moral enhancement, either now or for the foreseeable future, are either those tha…Read more
-
397Enhancing Evolution: The Ethical Case for Making Better PeoplePrinceton University Press. 2007.In Enhancing Evolution, leading bioethicist John Harris dismantles objections to genetic engineering, stem-cell research, designer babies, and cloning and makes an ethical case for biotechnology that is both forthright and rigorous. Human enhancement, Harris argues, is a good thing--good morally, good for individuals, good as social policy, and good for a genetic heritage that needs serious improvement. Enhancing Evolution defends biotechnological interventions that could allow us to live longer…Read more
-
88Extending human lifespan and the precautionary paradoxJournal of Medicine and Philosophy 27 (3). 2002.This paper argues that a precautionary approach to scientific progress of the sort advocated by Walter Glannon with respect to life-extending therapies involves both incoherence and irresolvable paradox. This paper demonstrates the incoherence of the precautionary approach in many circumstances and argues that with respect to life-extending therapies we have at present no persuasive reasons for a moratorium on such research.
-
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.
-
13BiobankingIn Bonnie Steinbock (ed.), The Oxford handbook of bioethics, Oxford University Press. 2007.This article looks at some of the chance discoveries and elegant ideas that were borne out through the availability of archived tissue samples. It then discusses some of the planned changes to the method and purpose of tissue storage and collection. The changes are in the form of new types of tissue bank, or biobank as they are conceived. These banks are part of a trend to move towards a preventative approach to public health rather than the current costly interventionist model. This approach is…Read more
-
37An Ethical Framework for Stem Cell Research in the European UnionHealth Care Analysis 13 (3): 157-162. 2005.Paper providing an ethical framework for stem cell research in Europe
-
152Ageism and equalityJournal of Medical Ethics 38 (5): 263-266. 2012.This paper rebuts suggestions made by Littlejohns et al that NICE is not ageist by analysing the concept of ageism. It recognises the constraints that finite resources impose on decision making bodies such as NICE and then makes a number of positive suggestions as to how NICE might more effectively and more justly intervene in the allocation of scarce resources for health