This chapter examines economists’ indefensible attachment to the positive-normative distinction, and suggests a behavioral economics explanation of their behavior on the subject. It reviews the origins of the distinction in Hume’s guillotine and logical positivism, and shows how they form the basis for Robbins’ understanding of value neutrality. It connects philosophers’ rejection of logical po...

Although the “usual, customary and reasonable” concept may have been reasonable and workable as a basis for [physicians] billing individual patients, it has been a failure as a basis for reimbursement from insurance funds. Because it contains none of the limits or standards that are applied to other services covered by insurance, the charges for medical services have escalated, with little or n...

In the article 'After-birth abortion: why should the baby live?' arguments are made in favour of the moral permissibility of intentionally killing newborn infants, under particular conditions. Here we argue that their arguments are based on an indefensible view of personhood, and we question the logic of harm and interest that informs their arguments. Furthermore, we argue that the conclusions ...

Abstract Young people experience different treatment compared to older adults in the English welfare and homelessness systems, encountering varying levels of protection disadvantage. This paper uses a value-pluralist perspective explore normative rationales for ethical defensibility these policy differences. Evidence from 38 key informant interviews suggests that system is shifting towards vuln...

Proposed in this article is one possible framework for classifying multiple types of ethical issues in risk communication research and practice to help continue a discussion initiated in 1990 by Morgan and Lave. Some of the questions that each stage of the process for planning risk communication strategies appears to pose for ethics are discussed (e.g., selecting issues to be communicated, know...