> Issue Briefs > Bioethics

Google and Violating Patients’ Privacy: It’s Worse Than It Appears

Posted: November 27, 2019
By: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

Even though the phrase “do no harm” doesn’t actually appear in the Hippocratic Oath, there’s something Hippocratic about Google’s “unofficial motto” and corporate conduct code, “don’t be evil.” Or, at least, until Google jettisoned the phrase from its code in … Read

Persons, not Compost: How to Think About Dead Bodies

Posted: February 15, 2019
By: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

“Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Familiar words to many, a reminder of the shortness of life and the need to use our time well. While some may find the sentiment morbid, it is actually a … Read

New York’s Take on Fundamental Rights

Posted: January 18, 2019
By: R. J. Snell, Ph.D.

In recent days, news outlets have reported on the likely passage of the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) in New York state. Among other changes, the RHA repeals the requirement for abortion to be performed by a licensed physician and expands … Read

Psychological Effects of Infertility and In Vitro Fertilization

Posted: November 1, 2018
By: Frank J. Moncher, Ph.D.

Forty years ago the first baby conceived using artificial reproductive technology was born, and since that time, there have been an estimated 8 million more babies born using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and related technologies. This is hailed by many … Read

Designer Grandchild: Wealthy British Couple Paid to Create a Grandson

Posted: September 24, 2018
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Two grandparents in the United Kingdom have confirmed the adage that if something can be done, no matter how bizarre, somebody will eventually do it. According to the U.K.’s Mirror Online, these grandparents, described as “extremely rich,” created a designer … Read

Personalism: Harmony between Anthropology and Morality

Posted: May 30, 2018
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

The way we understand humans shapes the way we think about many things, especially our morality. If we look at the various moralities on loan from the history of philosophy, we see that they all aim to elucidate a common problem, the problem of human happiness. For Plato, happiness came from wisdom; for Aristotle, from virtue; for classical Hindus, it is freedom from desire; and for many in Jacksonville Beach, where I live, it comes from a burnished and bronzed body that has no more than 13% body fat. How do we best understand ourselves so that the happiness we seek can be rightly found?

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In Vitro Fertilization and the Welfare of Human Embryos

Posted: April 24, 2018
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

In my bioethical work over the past twenty years, I have found the morality of in vitro fertilization (IVF) to be one of the most difficult issues for sincere people to grasp. One reason is that IVF involves bringing life into existence. People often have a niece or nephew or grandchild conceived that way. They love these children and feel the world is a better place because of them. Anything that casts doubt on the morality of their conception causes them to feel defensive. And yet, the ethical problems raised by IVF only continue to get worse. Read

How Not To Do Bioethical Reasoning

Posted: April 10, 2018
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

Last month, the prestigious AMA Journal of Ethics published an article entitled: Why Crisis Pregnancy Centers [CPCs] Are Legal but Unethical, arguing that religious ideology motivates CPCs to engage in a campaign of deception against vulnerable women in order to undermine the noble aims of abortion clinics. While the essay is a good example of secular thinking, it is also a particularly good example of bad ethical reasoning. Hence, it may be instructive to review its arguments in order to see where its weaknesses lie. Read

Uterus Transplants. Ethical?

Posted: December 14, 2017
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

An estimated 15% of women of childbearing age suffer from absolute uterine infertility (AUI), which means their uterus is either non-functioning or non-existent. Up till now, fertility specialists have told them that if they want a child they should either adopt or do surrogacy. Now there may be a third option, at least for wealthy women, who have $500,000 to pay for the expensive procedure. The desire for children runs deep, but is such a transplant ever morally legitimate? Read

Can Cars be Moral?

Posted: September 29, 2017
By: E. Christian Brugger, D.Phil.

You are speeding down a highway. You round a sweeping bend and confront a tragic dilemma. A family of four with two small children is standing in one lane and an elderly couple is in the other. They’ve had an accident. You have almost no time to react. Two lanes, one-of-two unavoidable outcomes: slam into the family or run down the couple. Which would you choose? Which would your driverless car choose? Read