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More on Secular Bases for Exceptionalism

Human exceptionalism seems so self evident to me that I am somewhat nonplussed that it is even considered debatable. Yet, a growing chorus adamantly deny that humans are entitled to a special status. But many would-be exceptionalism debunkers seem to be skeptical as a means of achieving a particular . . . . Continue Reading »

Stephen Jay Gould on Human Exceptionalism

A reader of my recent article in National Review Online about Peter Singer’s approval of research conducted on monkeys, misunderstood me as perhaps not caring about cruelty to animals. I care very much about such matters, of course, and mentioned in my reply that treating animals humanely is a . . . . Continue Reading »

Penn and Teller Take Down PETA

I would normally post a video as effective as this one is at deconstructing PETA directly from YouTube onto Secondhand Smoke. But the title contains an epithet, and I couldn’t sanitize it here on the site no matter how hard I tried. Penn also has several foul mouthed moments, of which I . . . . Continue Reading »

Adult Stem Cells May Treat Back Pain

And those advances keep coming in from all directions: The BBC is reporting that within three years or so, a patient’s own adult stem cells may be able to relieve back pain caused by damage to intervertebral discs (IVDs, a common cause of debilitating low back pain. Bone marrow, don’t . . . . Continue Reading »

Transhumanists and "Human Dignity"

Oxford professor Nick Bostrom, one of the leading lights of the transhumanist movement, has a new paper out (“In Defense of Post Human Dignity”) in which he argues that there is no need to fear the post human future if we all agree that all forms of post humanity have equal dignity. Here . . . . Continue Reading »

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