Autonomy

Mentally challenged can be “walking targets”

Jared Yee | 27 October 2011

A horrifying story from Philadelphia has brought to light the complexity of the issue of autonomy. Paroled murderer Linda Ann Weston dragged several mentally challenged adults along to Social Security offices to sign off as their representative payee – someone who helps manage their monthly benefits of between US$600 and $900, authorities say.

Are we morally obliged to participate in research?

Michael Cook | 22 October 2011

Bioethics debates are often robust, but it’s not every day that they make a reader sick. This was the reaction of Professor Bill Gleason, of the University of Minnesota Medical School, a columnist for the Chronicle of Higher Education. He had just attended a seminar at his university, “Do people have a moral obligation to participate in research?”. The contrarian views of Rosamund Rhodes, of Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, in New York, were so unsettling that he needed three beers to come back to earth.

Transhumanist sets goalposts for the future

Michael Cook | 23 July 2011

American political science commentator Francis Fukuyama once called transhumanism the world’s most dangerous idea. Whether this is true depends on your aspirations for society. But a brief article in Discover by a staffer with the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies, a transhumanist thinktank, Kyle Munkittrick, at least shows that society will be very different if transhumanism gets traction.

Should patients be forced to participate in clinical trials?

Michael Cook | 10 December 2009

Stem cell scientst calls for mandatory participation