Chapter Page
Introduction xi
Acknowledgments xix
Big Questions
A Pale Blue Dot at the Hinge of History 3
Does Anything Matter? 8
Is There Moral Progress? 12
The God of Suffering 18
Do You Have a Moral Plan? (with Agata Sagan) 22
Are We Ready for a "Morality Pill"? (with Agata Sagan) 26
The Empathy Trap 30
Can Ethics Be Taught? 34
Thinking about the Dead 39
Should This Be the Last Generation? 44
Animals
The Case for Going Vegan 51
Why Loving Our Animals Is Not Enough (with Agata Sagan) 58
Learning from Europe's More Ethical Eggs 62
If Fish Could Scream 66
The Nation of Kangaroos 70
Who Is a Person? 74
The Cow Who ¡¦ 78
The Measure of Moral Progress 82
Are Insects Conscious? 86
Plant Liberation? 90
Life and Death
The Real Abortion Tragedy 97
Abortion, Democracy and the Reversal of Roe 101
Treating (or Not) the Tiniest Babies 105
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Mercy Killing of Newborns 108
Should ...Children Have the Right to Die? 112
No Diseases for Old Men 116
When Doctors Kill 120
Choosing Death 124
Public Health and Pandemic Ethics
Public Health versus Private Freedom 133
The Human Genome and the Genetic Supermarket 137
An Ethical Pathway for Gene Editing (with Julian Savulescu) 141
Kidneys for Sale? 146
Deciding Who Lives and Who Dies 149
Were the Lockdowns Justified? (with Michael Plant) 153
Victims of the Unvaccinated 157
Ending the Taboo on Talking about Population (with Frances Kissling and Jotham Musinguzi) 164
Sex and Gender
Should Adult Sibling Incest Be a Crime? 171
Homosexuality Is Not Immoral 175
A Private Affair? 178
How Much Should Sex Matter? (with Agata Sagan) 182
Ban the Burkini? 187
The Case for Legalizing Sex Work 191
Doing Good
Holding Charities Accountable 197
Good Charity, Bad Charity 201
Heartwarming Causes Are Nice, But ¡¦ 205
The Ethical Cost of High-Priced Art 210
Extreme Altruism 214
The Lives You Saved 217
Happiness
Happiness, Money, and Giving It Away 223
Can We Increase Gross National Happiness? 227
The Moral Urgency of Mental Health (with Michael Plant) 231
Prisoners of Pain 235
No Smile Limit 239
Happy, Nevertheless 242
Politics
The Founding Fathers' Fiscal Crisis 249
Why Vote? 253
Is Citizenship a Right? 257
The Spying Game 261
Is Marx Still Relevant? 264
Should We Honor Racists? 268
Is Violence the Way to Fight Racism? 272
Are Riots Justifiable? (with Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek) 276
Global Problems
The Refugee Dilemma 283
Is Open Diplomacy Possible? 288
Paris and the Fate of the Earth 292
Greta Thunberg's Moment 297
Stopping Putin 301
Science and Technology
A Clear Case for Golden Rice 309
Life Made to Order 313
A Dream for the Digital Age 317
The Tragic Cost of Being Unscientific 321
Freedom and Responsibility
Free Speech, Muhammad, and the Holocaust 327
Free Speech and Fake News 330
Why Google Was Wrong 334
Keeping Discussion Free 338
Living, Working, Playing
Why Pay More? 345
Beyond the Traditional Family (with Agata Sagan) 349
Tiger Mothers or Elephant Mothers? 353
How Honest Are We? 357
Is Doping Wrong? 361
Is It OK to Cheat at Football? 365
Why Climb Mount Everest? 369
A Surfing Reflection 372
The Future
Should We Live to 1,000? 377
Rights for Robots? (with Agata Sagan) 381
Can Artificial Intelligence Be Ethical? 384
Do You Want to Be a Cyborg? (with Agata Sagan) 388
Preventing Human Extinction (with Nick Beckstead and Matt Wage) 392
Should We Colonize Outer Space? (with Agata Sagan) 399
Do Aliens Have Rights? 404
Sources 409
Index 417