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1975 was the year that the Vietnam War ended; the year Jaws was released in cinemas worldwide; and the year the animal rights movement was brought to the forefront of philosophical and ethical debate when Australian born philosopher Peter Singer released his book Animal Liberation, in which he popularised the...
Over the past fifty years there has been an explosion of ethical challenges facing doctors and other healthcare professionals. Ranging from abortion to euthanasia, via human enhancement technologies, many of the arguments Christians put forward in debate revolve around the principle of the sanctity of life – the intrinsic value...
Everyone would recognise Michelangelo's painting of a naked man (Adam) lounging on the ground, pointing towards a figure sitting in the sky (God) who points back to the man. The painting can be found on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City and is called 'Creation of...
How important is the family? Is there compelling scientific evidence demonstrating its importance for mental public health? Is youth crime related to family breakdown? This article weaves together three strands of evidence. First is the research on imprinting of the psychosocial environment in the neurological development of the brain. [1]...
All human enhancement technologies, start from the premise that we can overcome present limitations. A consistent desire is to develop anti-ageing technologies. Transhumanists take the idea a step further with the aim of engineering a 'better' human being. This could be via genetic enhancement or the development of human-machine cyborgs,...
We have become used to modernism, and got the hang of postmodernism but what comes next? Perhaps post-humanism? Christians and humanists mostly get along. We share a broadly similar and liberal vision of what is good for society because we both believe that being human is special and valuable. To...
Until recently there has been very little debate about the relative status of humans and animals. This has largely been because both Christians and humanists believe that human beings hold a special position in the natural world. Christians see humans as special because we are created by God in his...
'What does it mean to be human?' is a question that has been asked throughout the ages, and definitions are difficult to find. As Pete Moore recognises, 'Any approach to define who I am is doomed from the outset because we will always be more complex than can be catered...
What does it mean to be a person? Is it possible to be a human being but not a person? What duties do we owe to persons as opposed to non-persons? These sound like the abstruse musings of philosophers light years away from the practical issues of modern medicine. But...
