THE SHAKY HIGH MORAL GROUND OF POSTMODERNIST “ETHICS”

High-frequency oscillatory ventilation on shaky ground.

We thought it was impossible. Physiological principles maintained that ventilation at tidal volumes less than the anatomical deadspace should be ineffective (i.e., inspired air not reaching the alveolae). Data from a 1980 study dispelled that myth, showing unequivocally that ventilation with tidal volumes as small as 20 to 30 ml in dogs, a mere fraction of the anatomical deadspace, could mainta...

What Price the Moral High Ground?

Are people fundamentally selfish? In textbook accounts of rational choice, economists generally take an agnostic position on this question: a person's tastes are her own business, and rationality requires merely that she act efficiently in pursuit of whatever preferences she happens to hold. This approach affords obvious flexibility. A person's anonymous gift to charity, for example, can be rea...

Commentary: Live telecast surgery on shaky ground.

Shaken Baby Syndrome Diagnosis On Shaky Ground

An epidemic of accusations against parents and baby sitters of Shaken Baby Syndrome is sweeping the developed world. The United States and the United Kingdom are in the forefront of such questionable practice. Brain (mainly subdural, less often subarachnoid) and retinal haemorrhages, retinal detachments, and rib and other bone ‘fractures’ are considered pathognomic. However, the reality of thes...

The Moral High Ground: An Experimental Study of Spectator Impartiality

Recent developments in various branches of political science underscore the importance of empirical investigation of impartial views. This paper proposes and tests an empirical model of impartiality, inspired by Adam Smith (1759), that is based on the moral judgments of informed third parties (or spectators). The model predicts that spectatorship produces properties widely considered desirable ...