Procreative Beneficence, Obligation, and Eugenics

The argument of Julian Savulescu’s 2001 paper, “Procreative Beneficence: Why We Should Select the Best Children” is flawed in a number of respects. Savulescu confuses reasons with obligations and equivocates between the claim that parents have some reason to want the best for their children and the more radical claim that they are morally obligated to attempt to produce the best child possible. Savulescu offers a prima facie implausible account of parental obligation, as even the best parents typically fail to do everything they think would be best for their children let alone everything that is in fact best for their children. The profound philosophical difficulties which beset the attempt to formulate a plausible account of the best human life constitute a further independent reason to resile from Savulescu’s conclusion. Savulescu’s argument also requires parents to become complicit with racist and homophobic oppression, which is yet another reason to reject it. Removing the equivocation from Savulescu’s argument allows us to see that the assertion of an obligation to choose the “best child” has much more in common with the “old” eugenics than Savulescu acknowledge

Captive reptile mortality rates in the home and implications for the wildlife trade

The trade in wildlife and keeping of exotic pets is subject to varying levels of national and international regulation and is a topic often attracting controversy. Reptiles are popular exotic pets and comprise a substantial component of the live animal trade. High mortality of traded animals raises welfare concerns, and also has implications for conservation if collection from the wild is required to meet demand. Mortality of reptiles can occur at any stage of the trade chain from collector to consumer. However, there is limited information on mortality rates of reptiles across trade chains, particularly amongst final consumers in the home. We investigated mortality rates of reptiles amongst consumers using a specialised technique for asking sensitive questions, additive Randomised Response Technique (aRRT), as well as direct questioning (DQ). Overall, 3.6% of snakes, chelonians and lizards died within one year of acquisition. Boas and pythons had the lowest reported mortality rates of 1.9% and chameleons had the highest at 28.2%. More than 97% of snakes, 87% of lizards and 69% of chelonians acquired by respondents over five years were reported to be captive bred and results suggest that mortality rates may be lowest for captive bred individuals. Estimates of mortality from aRRT and DQ did not differ significantly which is in line with our findings that respondents did not find questions about reptile mortality to be sensitive. This research suggests that captive reptile mortality in the home is rather low, and identifies those taxa where further effort could be made to reduce mortality rate

Classical and revisionary theism on the divine as personal: a rapprochement?

To claim that the divine is a person or personal is, according to Richard Swinburne, ‘the most elementary claim of theism’ (1993, 101). I argue that, whether the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal is construed as an analogy or a metaphor, or a combination of the two, analysis necessitates qualification of that concept such that any differences between the classical theist’s concept of the divine as a person or personal and revisionary interpretations of that concept are merely superficial. Thus, either the classical theist has more in common with revisionary theism than he/she might care to admit, or classical theism is a multi-faceted position which encompasses interpretations which some might regard as revisionist. This article also explores and employs the use of a gender-neutral pronoun in talk about God

The Mind and the Machine. On the Conceptual and Moral Implications of Brain-Machine Interaction

Brain-machine interfaces are a growing field of research and application. The increasing possibilities to connect the human brain to electronic devices and computer software can be put to use in medicine, the military, and entertainment. Concrete technologies include cochlear implants, Deep Brain Stimulation, neurofeedback and neuroprosthesis. The expectations for the near and further future are high, though it is difficult to separate hope from hype. The focus in this paper is on the effects that these new technologies may have on our ‘symbolic order’—on the ways in which popular categories and concepts may change or be reinterpreted. First, the blurring distinction between man and machine and the idea of the cyborg are discussed. It is argued that the morally relevant difference is that between persons and non-persons, which does not necessarily coincide with the distinction between man and machine. The concept of the person remains useful. It may, however, become more difficult to assess the limits of the human body. Next, the distinction between body and mind is discussed. The mind is increasingly seen as a function of the brain, and thus understood in bodily and mechanical terms. This raises questions concerning concepts of free will and moral responsibility that may have far reaching consequences in the field of law, where some have argued for a revision of our criminal justice system, from retributivist to consequentialist. Even without such a (unlikely and unwarranted) revision occurring, brain-machine interactions raise many interesting questions regarding distribution and attribution of responsibility

Free Will & Empirical Arguments for Epiphenomenalism

While philosophers have worried about mental causation for centuries, worries about the causal relevance of conscious phenomena are also increasingly featuring in neuroscientific literature. Neuroscientists have regarded the threat of epiphenomenalism as interesting primarily because they have supposed that it entails free will scepticism. However, the steps that get us from a premise about the causal irrelevance of conscious phenomena to a conclusion about free will are not entirely clear. In fact, if we examine popular philosophical accounts of free will, we find, for the most part, nothing to suggest that free will is inconsistent with the presence of unconscious neural precursors to choices. It is only if we adopt highly non-naturalistic assumptions about the mind (e.g. if we embrace Cartesian dualism and locate free choice in the non-physical realm) that it seems plausible to suppose that the neuroscientific data generates a threat to free will

Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important animal health policy issue in Britain, which impacts farmers, the public, domestic farmed cattle and the wild badger population. The Westminster government’s badger culling policy in England, which began in 2013, has caused considerable controversy. This is in part because the Independent Scientific Group advised against culling, based on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Those opposed to badger culling support more stringent cattle-based measures and the vaccination of badgers. This paper argues for ethical analysis of public policy options which impact sentient species. It provides a summary Animal Welfare Impact Assessment of (1) a do-nothing approach, (2) badger culling, and (3) badger vaccination. A utilitarian analysis is then applied to these policy options considering human wellbeing and animal welfare. The analysis compares a badger culling policy that achieves a 19% reduction in bovine TB incidence, a badger vaccination model achieving a 12.5% reduction, and a do-nothing approach. Policy options are assessed over 9 years and a longer timeframe, and uncertainty is considered. The analysis finds that non-culling approaches, particularly badger vaccination, result in greater total utility, compared to badger culling. Badger culling causes 30% reduction in the badger population in England as well as substantial harms due to the culling process. Culling is opposed by public opinion and is associated with considerable risks and uncertainty. In contrast, non-culling approaches, such as cattle-based measures and badger vaccination, are supported by public opinion and are not associated with such risks

Socio-cognitive determinants of consumers’ support for the fair trade movement

Despite the reasonable explanatory power of existing models of consumers’ ethical decision making, a large part of the process remains unexplained. This article draws on previous research and proposes an integrated model that includes measures of the theory of planned behavior, personal norms, self-identity, neutralization, past experience, and attitudinal ambivalence. We postulate and test a variety of direct and moderating effects in the context of a large survey with a representative sample of the U.K. population. Overall, the resulting model represents an empirically robust and holistic attempt to identify the most important determinants of consumers’ support for the fair-trade movement. Implications and avenues for further research are discussed

So what do we really mean when we say that systems biology is holistic?

Background: An old debate has undergone a resurgence in systems biology: that of reductionism versus holism. At least 35 articles in the systems biology literature since 2003 have touched on this issue. The histories of holism and reductionism in the philosophy of biology are reviewed, and the current debate in systems biology is placed in context. Results: Inter-theoretic reductionism in the strict sense envisaged by its creators from the 1930s to the 1960s is largely impractical in biology, and was effectively abandoned by the early 1970s in favour of a more piecemeal approach using individual reductive explanations. Classical holism was a stillborn theory of the 1920s, but the term survived in several fields as a loose umbrella designation for various kinds of anti-reductionism which often differ markedly. Several of these different anti-reductionisms are on display in the holistic rhetoric of the recent systems biology literature. This debate also coincides with a time when interesting arguments are being proposed within the philosophy of biology for a new kind of reductionism. Conclusions: Engaging more deeply with these issues should sharpen our ideas concerning the philosophy of systems biology and its future best methodology. As with previous decisive moments in the history of biology, only those theories that immediately suggest relatively easy experiments will be winners

Сельскохозяйственная кооперация Урала за 1926-27 хозяйственный год и за I квартал 1927-28 г.: материалы к III собранию уполномоченных Уралселькустсоюза

0|7|Общие условия и итоги работы с.-х. кооперации за отчетный период [c. 7]0|11|Направление и темп кооперирования [c. 11]0|13|Союзное строительство [c. 13]0|13|Социальный состав пайщиков и его регулирование [c. 13]0|16|Итоги перевыборной кампании [c. 16]0|17|Аппарат системы [c. 17]0|18|Направление и характер организационной работы системы [c. 18]0|19|Культработа [c. 19]0|20|Массовая работа [c. 20]0|20|Колхозное строительство [c. 20]0|22|Кредитная работа [c. 22]0|26|Торгово-посредническая деятельность [c. 26]0|30|Финансы [c. 30]0|33|Производственная деятельность [c. 33]0|34|Агрикультурная работа [c. 34]0|35|Кустарно-промысловая кооперация в системе сел.-хоз. кооперации [c. 35]0|38|Состояние и работа системы в I кв. 1927-28 г. [c. 38]0|39|Рост колхозного движения [c. 39]0|40|Товарооборот с.-х. кооперации [c. 40]0|41|Финансовое состояние системы [c. 41]0|41|Итоги и перспективы [c. 41]0|45|Таблицы [c. 45]1|45|Сельско-хозяйственная кооперация в 1926-28 году [c. 45]2|45|Организационное состояние [c. 45]3|46|Сеть кооперативов в районах деятельности союзов сельско-хоз. и куст. пром. кооперации Уралобласти по видам [c. 46]3|47|Число всех кооперативов и членов в них в районах деятельности отдельных союзов сел.-хоз. и куст.-пром. кооперации и процент кооперированности хозяйств по округам [c. 47]3|49|Социально-имущественный состав членов-пайщиков сел.-хоз. кредитных товариществ на 1 октября 1927 года [c. 49]3|50|Состав правлений и ревкомиссий низовой сети сельско-хозяйственной кооперации до и после перевыборов 1927-28 г. [c. 50]2|51|Финансовое состояние [c. 51]3|52|Сводные балансы по отдельным видам сельско-хозяйственных кооперативов на 1-Х-1926 г. и 1-Х-1927 г. [c. 52]3|53|Сводные балансы сельско-хозяйственных кредитных товариществ на 1 октября 1927 года по союзам [c. 53]3|54|Балансы (нетто) союзов сел.-хоз. куст.-пром. кооперации на 1 октября 26 г. и на 1 октября 27 г. [c. 54]3|56|Балансы Уралселькустсоюза на 1-Х-1926 г. и 1-Х-1927 года [c. 56]3|57|Использование фондов кооперирования бедноты в 1926-27 г. и создание таковых из прибылей 1926-27 г. по низовой сети [c. 57]2|59|Хозяйственная работа и ее результаты [c. 59]3|61|Оброт по продаже товаров отдельных звеньев сельско-хозяйственной кооперации по сортиментным группам за 1926-27 год [c. 61]3|62|Распределение торговых оборотов сель.-хоз, кредитных товариществ по контрагентам в 1926-27 г. [c. 62]3|63|Общеторговые расходы сел.-хоз. кредитных товариществ за 1926-27 год [c. 63]3|64|Доходы сельско-хозяйственных кредитных товариществ за 1926-1927 год [c. 64]3|65|Агрономические предприятия низовой сети сель.-хоз кооперации на 1-Х 1927 год [c. 65]3|66|Промышленные предприятия низовой сети сельско-хозяйственной кооперации на 1-Х-1927 г. [c. 66]3|67|Товарооборот союзов сельско-хозяйственной и кустарно-промысловой кооперации за 1926-27 год [c. 67]3|68|Покупка и продажа товаров по снабжению союзами с.-х. куст. промысл. кооперации с разбивкой на контрагентов в 1926-27 г. [c. 68]3|69|Покупка и продажа товаров по сбыту союзами сел.-хоз. куст. пром. кооперации с разбивкой на контрагентов в 1926-27 году [c. 69]3|70|Доходы и обще-торговые расходы союзов сел.-хоз. и куст.-пром. кооперации в 1926-1927 году [c. 70]3|71|Наложение на себестоимость товаров в 1927-28 году [c. 71]2|72|Сельско-хозяйственная кооперация в I квартале 1927-28 года [c. 72]3|73|Сеть кооперативов в районе деятельности окружных и районных союзов, входящих в систему областного союза сел.-хоз. кооперации на 1-Х-27 г. и 1-I-1928 г. [c. 73]3|74|Число всех кооперативов и членов в них по отдельным союзам и процент кооперированости хозяйств по округам [c. 74]3|75|Сводные балансы с.-хоз. кредитных товариществ на 1 октября 27 г. и 1 января 1928 г. [c. 75]3|76|Сводные балансы (нетто) 1-ти окружных и районных союзов сел.-хоз. кооперации на 1-Х-27 и 1-I -28 г. [c. 76]3|78|Балансы (нетто) Уралселькустсоюза на 1/I-27 г., 1/I-28 г. и 1-IV-28 г. [c. 78]3|80|Оборот по продаже товаров союзов сельско-хозяйственной кооперации за I кварта 1927-28 года [c. 80]3|81|Обще-торговые расходы союзов сел.-хоз. кооперации в I квартале 1927-28 года [c. 81]3|82|Товарооборот и обще-торговые расходы союзов сел.-хоз. кооперации [c. 82]2|83|Текущие кампании [c. 83]3|84|Паевая кампания [c. 84]3|85|Перевыборная кампания 1927-28 г. [c. 85]3|85|Общие перевыборные собрания членов пайщиков сел.-хоз. кооперации в 1927-1928 году [c. 85]3|86|Перевыборные собрания уполномоченных сельско-хозяйственных к-вово в 1917-28 году [c. 86]0|87|Пояснения к таблицам [c. 87]0|90|Оглавление [c. 90