_Artificially cultivated meat may have environmental benefits and harm-reductive capabilities, making it crucial to establishing ethical food production practices. However, we argue that salient factors make producing and consuming artificially cultivated meat morally problematic. We detail some of these factors and highlight their roots in different ethical traditions. These factors present serious challenges to the moral permissibility of its production and consumption. We conclude that artificially cultivated meat is unlikely to be the best solution to today’s unethical food production practices.__ (...) _ _Keywords_: cultivated meat, lab-grown meat, vegetarianism, animal rights, ethics. (shrink)

_This article reflects on the central themes of Vilhjálmur Árnason's work, particularly his focus on contextualized morality and dialogical ethics. Vilhjálmur emphasizes the importance of balancing individual freedom and responsibility with an understanding of social and political contexts. By examining relational ethics across healthcare, research, and public health, the article highlights his contributions to bioethics, including concepts like informed consent, scientific citizenship, and authorization in biobank research. Vilhjálmur 1 advocates for communicative reasoning and authentic dialogue as essential tools for ethical (...) analysis, situational decision-making, and fostering trust in research and healthcare practices. The work underscores the importance of trustworthiness, veracity, and participatory engagement in addressing modern ethical challenges, particularly in rapidly advancing biotechnologies. _ _Keywords: _Contextual ethics, dialogical ethics, relational autonomy, informed consent, authorization, bioethics, trustworthiness, communicative reasoning, healthcare ethics, public health ethics, scientific citizenship, biobank research. (shrink)

_Jet aircraft produce large quantities of greenhouse gases when in operation, so one way for an agent to reduce her individual greenhouse gas emissions is by reducing the extent to which she flies. Some groups have encouraged agents to give up on flying for life by committing to a “travel pledge”. I argue here that, for many agents, it is morally impermissible to commit to a lifelong travel pledge, because in doing so, they would prevent themselves from receiving what they (...) deserve. Most agents who commit to such a pledge exercise a great deal of virtue, and therefore deserve to have their lives go better, while also making a significant sacrifice, thus ensuring that their lives go worse. Because a single person’s travel pledge cannot make a significant difference to the progress of climate change, the morally desirable effects of such a pledge are outweighed by the morally undesirable effects on desert.__ _ _Keywords_: climate change; flight; travel; desert; altruism. (shrink)

_The turn from traditional paternalism and towards patient autonomy has made informed consent a key concept for medical ethics and health legislation. However, informed consent has been attacked for a wide range of shortcomings, both conceptually and theoretically, as well as practically. Vilhjálmur Árnason has suggested an alternative to informed consent, i.e., to give authorizations. Vilhjálmur 1 has been supported by other researchers, but the authorization approach has not been elaborated in any greater detail or come to widespread use in (...) bioethics. This article describes and discusses Vilhjálmur’s and other scholars’ approach to authorizations and reflects on why this approach deserves more attention than previously given, especially for addressing the extended challenges emerging from biological sciences generating a wide range of person-related biological entities._ _Keywords:_ informed consent, authorization, bioethics, medical ethics, patient autonomy, biobank research, dynamic consent, broad consent, genetic research ethics, ethical challenges in biobanking,, PeRBEs, AI/ML. (shrink)

_This paper will explore two strands of Vilhjálmur Árnason’s extensive body of work: his analysis of dialogue ethics within medical ethics and his analysis of ethics in the Icelandic sagas. The central thesis is that combining these two strands, bioethics and literary analysis, can provide valuable insights to further the discussion of ethics among citizens in multicultural communities. _ _Vilhjálmur’s 1 analysis of the Icelandic sagas shows that the sagas have a specific value foundation, specific virtues as well as narrative (...) in how to present the ethical aspects. In the field of bioethics, he has developed the study of dialogue ethics in several aspects, such as between patient and professional, in interdisciplinary research, and in public deliberation. By integrating insights from historic literary studies with contemporary bioethical research we gain an interesting platform for a discussion on Western assumptions of what constitutes a good dialogue. One of the core aspects in dialogue ethics is how to develop the procedure for a fair, open-minded, and oppression-free discussion in ethical issues. Vilhjálmur’s contributions are summarized here, but could they also be extended beyond the Icelandic and Western horizon?_ _I will compare his ethical framework to a recent parallel discussion on the claims of indigenous peoples for a fair dialogue. That is, a dialogue that must be inclusive with a carefulness about deciding the foundation of inherent values and the procedure of how to perform the dialogue. Finally, I draw conclusions on what dialogue ethics will gain from this explorative work._ _Keywords: _dialogue ethics, one health approaches, Indigenous peoples, bioethics, interdisciplinarity, ethics in the Icelandic sagas, medical ethics, literary analysis, multicultural communities. (shrink)

Over the last four decades, Vilhjálmur Árnason professor emeritus in philosophy, has been at the forefront in the academic fields of moral and political philosophy, and medical – and bioethics in Iceland. His research and in-depth understanding of the ethical aspects of medicine and life sciences in Icelandic society are demonstrated by his extensive written work on these issues. In 1993, the first edition of his book _Ethics of life and death_ was published in Iceland, a comprehensive book on ethical (...) issues related to healthcare, research, and public health. A second and improved edition of the book was published in 2003, and a German version in 2004. The third and latest edition was published in August 2023, which takes into account developments in the aforementioned fields in recent years, and as before with a particular focus on Iceland. The contents of this influential book will be discussed in this article, with special emphasis on comparing current subjects with previous editions. Moreover, it will be addressed if and how Árnason‘s thinking and perspective have changed over the years. (shrink)

The editorial introduces the rationale for putting together the special issue on the works of Vilhjalmur Arnason, discusses some of the main themes of his corpus and gives and overview of the published commentaries.

_This article explores Vilhjálmur Árnason’s critique of contemporary bioethics, particularly its limited focus on individualistic principles, and its neglect of the broader social implications of emerging technologies. Vilhjálmur 1 argues that the commonly used “four principles approach”—respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice—is inadequate for addressing the complex ethical and societal impacts of new technologies. He suggests that ethical evaluations must extend beyond immediate individual risks to consider broader societal consequences._ _In critiquing overly individual-centered bioethical frameworks, Vilhjálmur raises a critical (...) theoretical question: what kind of ethical theory does bioethics truly require? This examination considers whether Vilhjálmur’s critique of the four-principles approach is justified and whether a more expansive ethical framework or theory of value is needed to specify and rank bioethical principles. By scrutinizing collective values like solidarity and the notion that “the personal is political” this paper suggests that new layers of disagreement arise, moving beyond traditional debates over moral theories. In a diverse society with conflicting values, such conflicts may be unavoidable. However, by highlighting the interconnection between individual moral agency and socio-political context, Vilhjálmur underscores the importance of self-reflection on personal values and the need to seek understanding across differing viewpoints in bioethical discussions_. _Keywords_: bioethics, personalized medicine, genetic database, four-principles approach, principlism, pluralism, value, ethical theory, personal is political, socio-political context. (shrink)

_The article discusses the meaning of “ethical” in the context of ethical goods. Terms like “ethical” or “responsible” have assumed new meanings when used to indicate the quality of a product or material. In the article, we analyse the transformed notion of “ethical”, its limits and extensions, using the case of cobalt mining and electronics as an illustrative example. As a non-substitutable material needed by the booming electronics industry and mined in horrendous conditions, the use of cobalt brings forth difficult (...) questions about responsibility. We approach this question from the perspective of the meaning of “ethical” cobalt, and thereby ethical laptops. We use data collected in the context of a CSO project focused on “ethical laptops” and a literature review, and place this in the context of applied ethics. In conclusion, we show how the notion of “ethical products” is complicated by the various possible meanings of responsibility and difficult choices between disengagement from unethical practices and deeper engagement for changing these practices__._ _Keywords:_ Ethical trade, Global value chains; Ethical theory; Developing countries; Electronics; Stakeholders. (shrink)

_An increasing number of cities around the globe aim to become Smart Cities through the implementation of a range of Information and Communication technologies (ICT), AI applications and cloud-based IoT solutions. While the underlying motivations vary, all such transitions require large amounts of data. In this paper, we articulate and defend two claims about privacy in a Smart City. Our first claim is that some level of systematic data collection and processing is ethically permissible. However, there is an upper limit (...) for what is permissible: We suggest that it is never permissible to collect and process data that significantly undermine people’s autonomy. Our second claim specifies when such minor privacy infringements that do not significantly undermine people’s autonomy are permissible: We suggest that the only policies legitimized by the first claim are those that promote the collective good._ _Keywords_: smart city, privacy, autonomy, natural right, collective good. (shrink)

_Many philosophers have pointed out that a compromise that is fair in one sense can be unfair in another. In this paper, I will briefly introduce different ways in which compromises can be “fair” and then analyze them. In particular, I compare the importance of what I call (a) split-the-difference fairness and (b) end-state fairness. I will defend split-the-difference fairness against an important objection—that a person’s false belief about her fair share does not change what her fair share actually is. (...) To allow such a notion would be rather like allowing her false belief to alter what is actually true. Nevertheless, I aim to provide support for the idea that sometimes it may make sense to consider people’s actual beliefs, even if they are false. However, I do not take a strong position on the question of what the most important sense of fairness is with regard to compromises.__ _ _Keywords_: Compromise, fairness, distribution, agreement, false beliefs. (shrink)

_The following paper highlights the contradictions that exist in the understanding of water: it is considered a marketable resource over which one can exert power and, at the same time, a common good used by the planet’s species and ecosystems. Based on this, and after an analysis of several widespread ideas, the paper proceeds to describe the paradox in the perception of water as a product of an alienated aesthetics that makes it impossible to experience the after-effects of the Westernised (...) world. This lack of perception will be called _aesthetic omission_, corresponding to Eaton’s “nonperceivables” (2000). The text urges us to be aware that these kinds of aesthetics exclusions around water have global effects and ultimately determine the fate of life on Earth itself. Therefore, a complex revision of the established ontology of water is proposed in response._ _Keywords_: water; nonperceivables; aesthetics; epistemology; Earth. (shrink)

_This paper discusses the concept of compassion fatigue in light of the importance that political decisions, especially the application of the concept of public spirit, have had on care and nursing in a Danish hospital context during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper is based on recent research literature in the field as well as the author’s own participatory observation study. The paper suggests that nurses already show a sense of public spirit due to their authorization and professional ethics, but at (...) the same time they must balance the ambiguity of nursing care. A linguistic-philosophical study of public spirit shows that the concept can have a discursive, double-binding and interpellative effect on nurses, who may therefore have an experience of inadequacy and compassion fatigue. In this context, compassion fatigue must be understood as the fact that nurses cannot provide the care they want or that is expected of them. Public spirit can be said to have had a renaissance and linguistic and moral supremacy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper views the concept of __waywardness 1 as a possible response for how to prevent or completely avoid compassion fatigue, so that nurses instead have an experience of compassion / self-compassion. This could in the end be important for encouraging more nursing students and nurses who have the desire and opportunity to stay in the profession._ _Keywords_: Nursing care, compassion fatigue, public spirit, compassion, COVID-19 pandemic. (shrink)