When words lose their meaning, people will lose their lives

word game spelling: "Agenda"

One of the areas of work of F. A. Hayek was the evolution and use of language. He noted that Confucius was reported to have said: “when words lose their meaning, people will lose their liberty.” And Hayek described the profound impact on culture and politics of the ability of intellectuals to use old words and give them new meanings. Sometimes, and misleadingly, those meanings were the opposite of their classical definitions. Unfortunately, we can see this phenomenon today when it comes to life issues.

Read more >>

Corruption, business and the care of creation

Corruption, business and the care of creation

There is a wide variation in practice in relation to whether business enterprises respect the natural environment and human dignity as well as the rights of local communities. Best practice in environmental sustainability and the protection of the rights and dignity of local people can only be achieved if both governments and companies fulfil their proper functions and behave ethically. A typical situation here might be a mining or other industrial company choosing to operate in a poorer country.

Read more >>

Is the proposed change to assisted dying legislation really about denying choice? Looking afresh at the harm principle

‘harm principle’ the philosopher John Stuart

Esther Rantzen is one of a number of well-known and well-regarded celebrities who have publicly declared their support for a change in the law on assisted dying. When a celebrity makes a pronouncement, many people stop and take notice even if the celebrity is not making any new arguments. Celebrity is persuasive. Esther Rantzen says that she appreciates all the arguments against assisted dying. Nevertheless, she thinks that people should be given a choice about how and when they want to die. In particular, she wants to spare her family from the painful memories of a bad death. She observes that, after all, we give dogs a painless death. Given the current prohibition on assisted dying under English law she has decided that if her treatment for stage four lung cancer does not improve her condition she may just ‘buzz off to Zurich.’

Read more >>

Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans and Indi Gregory: finding the hope

Hope

Indi Gregory was not simply another tragic case of a very poorly infant nor the latest case of another contentious end-of-life court case, though her case was the latest in a line of cases where courts sided with doctors against the wishes of parents. Indi was a beloved child, and everyone involved in her care wanted the best for her. The problem was they disagreed on what was best. Unfortunately, it is likely that there will be similar cases in the future which is why it is fruitful to reflect on attitudes and principles underlying decision making in these heart-breaking cases.

Read more >>

The family – the basic building block of society (part two)

demographic decline

In the first part I wrote about the situation of families that do have children. However, have you thought recently about how old the population looks when you go out onto the street? This is not just because people are living longer. Where are the prams, pushchairs and babies? Pope Francis has talked about how we are moving towards a “demographic winter”.

Read more >>

Transparency, capacity and the nature of palliative care – the case of Sudiksha Thirumalesh

palliative care

In the majority of cases patients and their families trust their doctors. However, there is a growing number of high-profile cases hitting the media where patients, and especially the parents of very young and very poorly infants, simply do not agree with their doctors. Significantly, these cases are where the life of the patient is at stake and doctors believe that it is better to withdraw or withhold treatment and allow the patient to die ‘with dignity’.  

Read more >>

Human Rights – on the 75th Anniversary of the UN Declaration

+Stephen Wright

“Following the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10th December 2023, Bishop Stephen Wright from the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales issued a brief explanation of the Christian origins of human rights and a reflection on the state of human rights at the current time. Bishop Stephen writes:

Read more >>
© Catholic Social Thought 2020