Books & ideas

Morality and Its Limits

Marlène Jouan — 2019-04-08T07:00:00Z

Ruwen Ogien defended moral minimalism, arguing that what can be legitimately prohibited is the harm caused to others, and that, for the rest, individuals should be allowed to live their lives as they see fit. He considered that ethics has meaning only when it is limited.

Beyond Commodification

Élodie Bertrand — 2018-11-01T08:00:00Z

More and more things are being commodified, from body parts to personal data. This raises not only ethical questions, but also legal and economic problems. What are the limits of commodification? And what are alternatives when we nonetheless need to transfer some of these things?

The Importance of Being a Dog

Vincent Boyer — 2017-03-16T08:00:00Z

Do animals have a moral life in the same way as humans do? The philosopher Alice Crary argues that they are visible bearers of moral qualities, as literature suggests. But can values be the object of empirical observation?

Total Incarceration

Yasmine Bouagga — 2016-03-21T08:00:00Z

There are currently two million prisoners in the USA, and the use of high security solitary confinement is on the increase. The violence of this procedure and its dramatic effects, in particular on the youngest inmates or those suffering from psychiatric conditions, has now sparked a public debate.

Neuroethics, a New Frontier in the Humanities

Stanislas Dehaene — 2014-01-09T09:00:00Z

What does the science of the brain tell us about our moral judgments and behavior? Two books address that question in presenting a new discipline: neuroethics.

The Significance of Choice

Yascha Mounk — 2012-07-11T06:14:03Z

T. M. Scanlon is one of the most highly regarded moral philosophers working today. The prime architect of contemporary contractualism in ethics, he has, besides his masterwork, What We Owe to Each Other, written transformative treatises on topics ranging from the significance of choice to the nature of permissibility, meaning and blame. With Yascha Mounk, he thinks back on his intellectual upbringing, tolerance, free will, morality, and the future of liberalism.

Is It Human Nature to Be Good?

Solange Chavel — 2012-05-30T04:46:34Z

Where does ones moral compass come from, nature or nurture? Successfully avoiding all reductionism, Vanessa Nurock reflects on the natural origins of ethics, using both the history of philosophy and empirical research on psychology and cognitive science to present her argument.

Minimal Ethics

Marc-Antoine Dilhac — 2012-02-07T16:10:12Z

Simply by analysing the moral problems of each and every one of us, Ruwen Ogien takes the stance of ‘minimal ethics'. His book reads like a good mystery novel in which the detective proves against all odds that there may be no crime, no victim, and no murderer.

A Moral History of Human Guinea Pigs

Ariel Suhamy — 2011-04-06T07:00:00Z

Is scientific progress necessarily moral? In his history of experiments on human guinea pigs, Grégoire Chamayou attempts to show that modern science, although apparently neutral, has a share in the domination and exploitation of individuals whose existence is deemed insignificant.