From Discover, could evolution ever yield a “perfect” organism? Nathaniel Scharping wants to know. What’s a species, anyways? The search for the red wolf’s origins have led scientists to a new theory about how evolution actually works. James Elwick (York): Distrust That Particular Intuition: Resilient Essentialisms and Empirical Challenges in the History of Biological Individuality. Jay Odenbaugh (Lewis and Clark): Human Nature, Anthropology, and the Problem of Variation. From Cosmos and History, Gregory C. Melleuish (Wollongong) and Susanna G. Rizzo (Campion): Limits of Naturalism: Plasticity, Finitude and the Imagination; and Peter Corning (ISCS): The Science of Human Nature and the Social Contract. Sinisa Malesevic (UCD): How Old is Human Brutality? On the Structural Origins of Violence. Human kind: Fascinating new lines of research suggest that we are good people, tolerating bad things. When Scott Solomon heard data from an island had proven humans are still evolving, he had to visit. Moises Velasquez-Manoff on how the western diet has derailed our evolution: Burgers and fries have nearly killed our ancestral microbiome. The introduction to The Real Planet of the Apes: A New Story of Human Origins by David R. Begun. The first chapter from The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution, Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter by Joseph Henrich.
Richard Heersmink (Macquarie): Extended Mind and Cognitive Enhancement: Moral Aspects of Cognitive Artifacts. Jonathan Birch (LSE) and Alfred Archer (Tilburg): Moral Enhancement and Those Left Behind. John Danaher (NUI Galway): Human Enhancement, Social Solidarity and the Distribution of Responsibility. Brett M. Frischmann (Yeshiva): Thoughts on Techno-Social Engineering of Humans and the Freedom to Be Off (or Free from Such Engineering). Steve Paulson on Julian Savulescu, the philosopher who says we should play God: Why ethical objections to interfering with nature are too late. Steven Pinker on the moral imperative for bioethics (and a response).
Ruha Benjamin (Princeton): The Emperor’s New Genes: Science, Public Policy, and the Allure of Objectivity. Mark A. Rothstein and Laura Rothstein (Louisville): How Genetics Might Affect Real Property Rights. Kevin Loria on why “everyone should have their genome sequenced yesterday”. Clinical genetics has a big problem that’s affecting people’s lives: Unreliable research can lead families to make health decisions they might regret. Carolyn Y. Johnson on why you shouldn’t know too much about your own genes.
