Sex in Primitive Morality

Sex selection: morality, harm, and the law.

For centuries, couples have tried to choose the sex of their children. Italian men bit their wife’s left ears during intercourse to beget daughters; Swedish men hung their pants on the right bedpost to father boys; while German woodcutters took their axes to bed and chanted: “Ruck, ruck, roy, you shall have a boy!” or “Ruck, ruck, raid, you shall have a maid!” Sex selection is now a reality. Th...

Sex Determination: Primitive Y Chromosomes in Fish

Recent analyses of the chromosomal regions that determine male development in sticklebacks and medaka have revealed several features associated with incipient Y chromosome evolution, including suppressed crossing over and the accumulation of repetitive DNA.

Sex in Development: Science, Sexuality, and Morality in Global Perspective

By focussing upon (local) sexual practices, this volume analyzes the ways in which science, medicine, technology, and planning rationalities shape (new) conceptions of sexuality. It scrutinizes the ways in which sexuality is construed through projects that ‘‘blur cultural, normative and moral boundaries’’ (p. 7). The volume consists of two elaborate introductory chapters. Theoretically, the edi...

The Philosophy of Sex and the Morality of Homosexual Conduct

Morality and Markets in the NHS

Since its establishment in 1948, the history of the National Health Service (NHS) has been characterized by organisational turbulence and system reform. At the same time, progress in science, medicine and technology throughout the western world have revolutionized the delivery of healthcare. The NHS has become a much loved, if much critiqued, national treasure. It is against this backdrop that ...