Libertarian Paternalism and Health Care Policy: A Deliberative Proposal

Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler have been arguing for what they named libertarian paternalism (henceforth LP). Their proposal generated extensive debate as to how and whether LP might lead down a full-blown paternalistic slippery slope. LP has the indubitable merit of having connected the best of the empirical psychological and sociological evidence to public and private policy making. It is unclear, though, to what extent the implementation of policies so constructed could enhance the capability for the exercise of an autonomous citizenship. Sunstein and Thaler submit it that in most of the cases in which one is confronted with a set of choices, some default option must be picked out. In those cases whoever devises the features of the set of options ought to rank them according to the moral principle of non-maleficence and possibly to that of beneficence. In this paper we argue that LP can be better implemented if there is a preliminary deliberative debate among the stakeholders that elicits their preferences, and makes it possible to rationally defend them

Evolutionary Ethics and Contemporary Biology

Issues concerning an evolutionary approach to morality are discusse

"The Four Faces of Omission: Ontology, Terminology, Epistemology, and Ethics"

In this paper, the ontological, terminological, epistemological, and ethical aspects of omission are considered in a coherent and balanced framework, based on the idea that there are omissions which are actions and omissions which are non-actions. In particular, we suggest that the approach to causation which best deals with omission is Mackie\u2019s INUS conditional proposal. We argue that omissions are determined partly by the ontological conditional structure of reality, and partly by the interests, beliefs, and values of observers. The \ufb01nal upshot is that moral judgments involved in cases of omissions cannot be grounded on, but are the ground for judgments about what INUS conditions count as omissions

The Four Faces of Omission. Ontology, Terminology, Epistemology, and Ethics

In this paper, the ontological, terminological, epistemological, and ethical aspects of omission are considered in a coherent and balanced framework, based on the idea that there are omissions which are actions and omissions which are non-actions. In particular, we suggest that the approach to causation which best deals with omission is Mackie’s INUS conditional proposal. We argue that omissions are determined partly by the ontological conditional structure of reality, and partly by the interests, beliefs, and values of observers. The final upshot is that moral judgments involved in cases of omissions cannot be grounded on, but are the ground for judgments about what INUS conditions count as omissions

Causality And Methodology. Notes on Thanatochronological Estimations

I.F. 0.154 subject categories "History e Philosophy of science" 32/37 The authors propose some methodological considerations on thanatochronological estimations. They first consider the problem of the definition of death, and then they deal with the issue of the estimations of death time, that is, with the Post-Mortem Interval (PMI). As regards the first question, they note that it does not concern only the definition of death, but also the choice of a particular kind of definition of 'definition'. With reference to the second question, the authors suggest a causal model showing that the presence of many causal chains must be taken into consideration. Finally they discuss what 'most convenient and reliable causal chain' means for a thanatochronologist

Inividuo e persona. Tre saggi su chi siamo.

\u201cWho are we?\u201d has always been e central question for philosophers, theologians, scientists and jurists. Nowadays, there are great debates about issues such like how we should consider and what rights we should grant to embryos, fetes, stem cells, patients in vegetative states. From all sides, people make contrasting claims, but combatants seem to duel in the fog. In this book, which is written by three scholars, a new attempt is made to clarify the issue, by analyzing its historical genesis (between philosophy, law, and biology), and its possible solutions

Individuo e persona. Tre saggi su chi siamo

Si analizzano le nozioni di individuo e persona dal punto di vista filosofico e giuridic