LifeEthics
philosophy
>Short course (long post) on medical ethics.
> Are doctors killing patients or taking life when they withdraw or withhold care? Do families who don’t insist that “everything be done” kill their loved one? Do patients who refuse ventilators, dialysis, etc., commit suicide? For that matter, does a ventilator equal dialysis equal a feeding tube? Can the patient who refuses all attempts … Continue reading
Endarkenment and humans
Wesley Smith has had a bit of time to consider and reconsider the way he was called out and singled out at lunch by Alta Chara on Friday, July 14th at the Bioethics and Politics Summer Conference of the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities. I am unabashedly human-centric and a human species-ist. Any other … Continue reading
The fatherhood question
Kevin T. Kevin questions my post concerning the rights of fathers to choose to be fathers or not to be fathers. Irony was the point, Kevin. There definitely is no child for hours to days after ejaculation. There’s not even an embryo or fetus. Where is the logic in determining the “personhood” based on one … Continue reading
Genocidal elitist honored by the Texas Academy of Science
Recently, this blog mentioned the advocacy of “death with dignity” for all humans who desire the help of physicians and modern medicine in their quest for self-induced death. But, there’s a worse ethical position, one I thought had died out (excuse the pun). Eric Pianka, Ph.D, a tenured professor in the Integrative Biology department of … Continue reading
To thine own self be true
This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. This ancient proverb, phrased so beautifully by William Shakespeare in the form of fatherly advice (Polonius, in Hamlet) echos Socrates’ “Know thyself,” and Jiminy Crickets’ “Still, small voice … Continue reading
More on ethics guidelines on stem cell research
Just noticed that the Hinxton panel that decided to come to a consensus on what to do with human embryos, but ignored the very nature of human embryos themselves, included Julian Savulescu. The Oxford ethics professor is the author of a piece in the British Medical Journal (sorry, subscription only) in which he stated that, … Continue reading
How human is human-enough?
A group of very well respected scientists, philosophers and ethicists (all involved in bioethics and stem cell research) have joined together to discuss and draft what they call a “consensus” on stem cell research, both destructive embryonic stem cell research and non-destructive, ethical non-embryonic stem cell research. The document can be accessed at the Berman … Continue reading
Life, intelligence, and feelings
I received an email from one of the readers. (Evidently, my spam program diverted it.) I make it my usual policy to only respond to reader’s comments on the blog, but I won’t post his name, since he chose not to post it here. Here’s the body of his message, and my reply: Dear Beverly … Continue reading
>What kind of world do we want to live in?
>A most appropriate question on this day, when the Supreme Court ruled that Oregon’s laws allowing physicians to write prescriptions intended to cause the death of patients. This time, the question is asked by Kathryn Hinsch,the founder of the Womens Bioethics Project, in her “guest column” in the Seattle Post Intelligencer. The subject of the … Continue reading
Professor Chooses to Deny Free Will (at Cornell)
This is not a religious blog, although I would never deny my faith or that my world view is strongly influenced by the fact that I’m a Christian. I just believe that the big Truths are pretty evident, even for those without faith. This is the heart of ethics: there are rights and wrongs, “yeses” … Continue reading
Visit WingRight
- “American Fiction,” the movie – and life
- Maternal Morbidity with Premature Rupture of Membranes
- Counterintuitive abortion report
- Paris at Café de la Paix
- Political, purposeful lies (Francis Collins & Anthony Fauci)
- Comprehensive review of Texas’ Heartbeat Act
- Biden to Ask OSHA to Mandate Vaccines at Businesses With 100 or More Workers
- Long Post Reviewing COVID19 Myths
- Afghanistan: Read this
- Conversation with January 6 protester
LifeEthics 