Revisiting the Euthanasia Debate: Why the Slippery Slope Argument Doesn’t Stack Up

Nazi-style euthanasia was an infamous form of euthanasia carried out by physicians in Nazi Germany. It involved the death of some 90,000 individuals and began with the killing of infants and children. These 90,000 victims were killed because of their physical and mental infirmities, which, according to Nazi doctors, made them unworthy of life. In…

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Animals Deserve the Right Not to Be Held in Captivity

When people hear the term ‘animal rights’, it can elicit a certain reaction, which will depend on your outlook. You may think it’s absurd and meaningless to ascribe rights to non-human animals, believing rights can only be afforded to people. Animal rights may also conjure up images of those who advocate for such – perhaps…

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Should All Drugs Be Legalised?

This is the dissertation I wrote for my Philosophy undergraduate degree in 2012. Some of the statistics may be a bit out of date, but recent developments in drug liberalisation (such as in the US) and research on the illicit drug trade – as well as the therapeutic application of certain illicit drugs – are still…

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Is Speciesism Like Racism?

Speciesism is discrimination on the grounds of species – or mistreating another creature because they belong to a different species than you. If a person claimed she had a right over a cow’s life just because she belonged to the species homo sapiens, then this would be an example of speciesism. The claim that a…

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Is It Immoral to Use Pack Animals for Trekking?

This is a question which interested me when I started noticing how in many countries, multi-day hikes often rely on the use of pack animals to carry gear and supplies. This isn’t always the case, of course. For example, during my 3-day hike on Mount Rinjani, the second-highest volcano in Indonesia, superhuman porters were employed…

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