Categorie archief: Artikels
An ethical minefield. Stepping from the worst to the best population ethical theories
About ten years ago, during my studies in moral philosophy, I encountered the area of population ethics. It is clearly one of the most tricky areas in ethics, a minefield of very counterintuitive conclusions. But it is also one of … Lees verder
Cost-effectiveness distributions, power laws and scale invariance
The cost-effectiveness of policies, actions and interventions measures how much good is done (how many lives are saved, greenhouse gases are mitigated, diseases are cured, education levels are improved,…) per dollar investment. Cost-effectiveness is often difficult to measure, but sometimes … Lees verder
Rational altruism and risk aversion
Let’s start with a very hypothetical but tricky dilemma. The importance of this dilemma will become clear at the end. Suppose I give you a choice between two options. If you choose option A, I will save one person. If … Lees verder
Big is beautiful. On the dangers of too much distrust in big institutions and high-tech solutions.
Imagine a covid19 pandemic without big institutions such as governments, tech companies and pharmaceutical companies. We would rely on personal, voluntary behavioral change such as social distancing and washing hands, added with low tech solutions such as face masks. These … Lees verder
De begrensde reddingsboot. Reactie op de boekbespreking van Open Grenzen
Als veganist, atheïst en ecohumanist zit ik vaak op dezelfde lijn met Floris van den Berg. Verschillende van zijn boeken heb ik reeds besproken. Maar hier en daar hebben we meningsverschillen. Iemand met een andere mening geeft ons een mogelijkheid … Lees verder
Clean technology innovation as the most cost-effective climate action
Main takeaways Funding research and development of clean technologies, in particular clean protein and clean energy, is probably the most cost-effective method to avoid dangerous climate change. Clean protein is animal-free protein such as cell-based meat and fermentation-based dairy and … Lees verder
Veganmodernisme: de val van de vee-industrie?
Dit artikel verscheen ook op de blog van het Humanistisch verbond. 1894. Londen kampt met een ernstig milieuprobleem: de grote paardenmest crisis. Het platteland werd omgevormd tot gigantische hooischuur, maar al dat paardenvoer belandt uiteindelijk op straat onder de vorm … Lees verder
Discrimination biases
Unwanted arbitrariness is the most important threat for a rational ethic. An important category of unwanted arbitrariness, is discrimination, with the three most known and important examples: sexism, racism and speciesism. Discrimination is fundamentally immoral and should be avoided. However, … Lees verder
Relativistic welfare, farm animal abolitionism and wild animal welfarism
Brief summary: whether someone’s aggregate welfare is positive or negative is morally relevant. If welfare is negative, life is not worth living and it would be better not to exist (or better to be euthanized). However, especially when it comes … Lees verder
The extreme cost-effectiveness of cell-based meat R&D
Updated October 2020: improved calculations. In previous articles, I argued that supporting research and development of cell-based meat technologies could be perhaps the most important strategy to protect animal rights and improve animal welfare (with a possible exception of research … Lees verder
