Category Archives: Bio-ethics

Three too many

Posted on September 5, 2019 by Quentin

Universal Credit, which provides cash benefits if you are on a low income or out of work, has been often mentioned in the Press. The major issue has been that the allowances are paid at the end of the month … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Moral judgment, Quentin queries | Tagged | 9 Comments

The First Judgment

Posted on July 25, 2019 by Quentin

I would describe myself as a short man. While I like to think that I have a pleasant face, I would never describe myself as handsome. I wear spectacles – often two pairs — around my neck, and I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, evolution, Quentin queries | 11 Comments

Popular Abortion

Posted on June 27, 2019 by Quentin

One of the great changes in western society during our lifetimes has been the attitude towards abortion. In Rex v Bourne (1938) the conditions required for abortion to be legal because of the condition of the mother were laid out. … Continue reading →

Posted in Advocatus Diaboli, Bio-ethics, Moral judgment, Quentin queries | Tagged | 29 Comments

PLACEBO

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Quentin

I like to think of myself as a reasonably intelligent person. After all I have had a long life, following a Jesuit education, married for 60 years, five children and a career in high level finance. I am confident that … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Catholic Herald columns, Neuroscience, Quentin queries | Tagged | 28 Comments

Well, really! Women deacons?

Posted on May 16, 2019 by Quentin

There has been much discussion at Vatican Headquarters about the issue of women deacons. It is always pointed out that such deacons are to be found in the early Church. But that doesn’t settle the matter because the issue is … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Pope Francis, Quentin queries | Tagged | 60 Comments

Hippopotomous words

Posted on May 2, 2019 by Quentin

Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia – that should give our typsetters a problem! It means a fear of long words. I think I could have coped with sesquippedalion because I can see that it means a foot and a half, but how the hippo … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Catholic Herald columns, Uncategorized | 50 Comments

Was Finnis right?

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Quentin

In January Radio 4’s Best of Today reported that students had asked that John Finnis should no longer be permitted to teach as a professor at Oxford University. The grounds were that Professor Finnis, whose speciality is Natural Law, had … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Moral judgment, Quentin queries | 36 Comments

Morals in fact

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Quentin

Socrates had a trying habit of asking people exactly what they meant by a particular word, or particular claim. The analysis would swiftly expose whether his opponent knew what he was talking about. It may not have got him many … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Moral judgment, Uncategorized | Tagged | 30 Comments

The drama of aging

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Quentin

This November the BBC reported a dramatic study, published by The Lancet, which told us that falls in the fertility rate of nearly half of all countries have resulted in insufficient births per fertile woman to maintain their population. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Catholic Herald columns | 44 Comments

Global WarNing

Posted on October 19, 2018 by Quentin

“And God saw all the things he had made, and they were very good…And the Lord God took man and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it and to keep it.” These extracts from Genesis (Douai) remind … Continue reading →

Posted in Bio-ethics, Climate Change, Quentin queries | Tagged | 51 Comments