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The moral philosopher John Rawls, whose theory of distributive justice will likely get mentioned at some point in discussions about the end of the filibuster for presidential nominations, would likely sit back and belly laugh at the change in these rules.  He might laugh because he could be of the opinion that it is long overdue.

How is a noun, a thing, an ethic of human endeavor, a platform for innovation, a lens through which we look at how we do what we do.

“We were a little appalled” said lead researcher Dr. Nicole E. Ruedy after the team concluded that unethical behavior can trigger “positive affect, which we term a ‘cheater’s high.'”

It takes a fair amount to get my blood boiling at 5:21 a.m., but an NPR Morning Edition interview with a new savior of investigative journalism, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, […]

This South African case raises many questions. An HIV-positive Aids counsellor, who was convicted of attempted murder for having unprotected sex with his unsuspecting girlfriend, has lost his appeal... (SAPA) […]

The “visionary” and “philosopher” Zoltan Istvan says that, as an atheist, he must be a transhumanist.  You probably  think I’m going to start mocking transhumanism again.  Once again, you’ve misjudged […]

Many characteristics of the sociopathic personality—charm, ambition and impatience, an ability to attack problems with cold-hearted logic (not letting emotions get in the way)—are useful to society.

If we want to fail fast and fail hard, we should be sure to be mindful about disrupting gurus of innovation.

In 1837, the Royal Danish Society sponsored an essay contest, asking participants to tackle the following question: Are the source and foundation of morals to be looked for in an […]

An information diet has to be about personal responsibility. 

An information diet has to be about personal responsibility. 

“Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here.” –Thomas Carlyle, 1840 1. Be that […]

A disquieting paper has been published in the journal Criminal Justice Ethics, that suggests the decisions of forensic scientists are being influenced by payments for convictions. The authors Roger Koppl […]

Citing the increase in abortions of female fetuses, students Sonya Davey, Samir Devalaraja and Neil Davey propose that companies with patents for genital-blurring ultrasound software file them in India, where sex determination is officially illegal.

It’s explanation all the way down even though we won’t get to it because the explanations are infinite and we’re finite. That’s Spinoza’s guide.  

Few Chinese terms survived the translational onslaught during the age of European imperialism.

We often think that if people get happy, they’ll stop working hard or that happy people are unintelligent.  And what we’re finding is just the opposite. 

Markets can move mountains. But we must guide their power, using empirical behaviors. They should serve us, not we them.

The ethics of “first contact” was the subject of a panel discussion at last week’s Starship Congress, where attendees hashed out the logistics and consequences of becoming an interstellar civilization.

The more ambitious economics becomes the more it has to engage with hard moral questions.

Every time we learn something it’s a journey.  We think we understand it, then we keep going, then we get confused again.  

News of a company behaving unethically has become so common that it hardly raises an eyebrow except, perhaps, in the most egregious cases – and even then the outrage is […]

Would you kill a baby if you knew he would grow up to be Hitler? Psychologist and author Kevin Dutton explores the mindset of psychopaths as a window into this fascinating ethical question. 

In the July issue of The Scientist magazine, my colleague Declan Fahy and I contributed a commentary discussing the need for scientists and ethicists to engage the public on major trends and […]

THIS JUST IN: “A large percentage of American college students who post professor evaluations at Ratemyprofessors.com consider courses to be high-quality when the professor is attractive and the course is easy.”

Here’s what two excellent sociologists have concluded about marriage today: Thanks to falling working-class wages, the outsourcing of American manufacturing, the thinning of company benefits, and the rise of part-time […]

There appears to be a bizarre stigma around people – especially women – who voluntarily decide not to procreate.

The stem cell scientist Sir Ian Wilmut who cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996 has outlined how to resurrect a woolly mammoth by using cells from frozen carcasses. 

This article originally appeared on RealClerScience. You can read the original here.  The government of the United Kingdomrecently announced its intention to draw up regulations for an innovative and controversial in vitro […]

If you look at the terms of political discourse today in the United States, it’s not a pretty picture.