The Harm of Bioethics: A Critique of Singer and Callahan on Obesity

Debate concerning the social impact of obesity has been ongoing since at least the 1980s. Bioethicists, however, have been relatively silent. If obesity is addressed it tends to be in the context of resource allocation or clinical procedures such as bariatric surgery. However, prominent bioethicists Peter Singer and Dan Callahan have recently entered the obesity debate to argue that obesity is not simply a clinical or personal issue but an ethical issue with social and political consequences. This article critically examines two problematic aspects of Singer and Callahan's respective approaches. First, there is an uncritical assumption that individuals are autonomous agents responsible for health‐related effects associated with food choices. In their view, individuals are obese because they choose certain foods or refrain from physical activity. However, this view alone does not justify intervention. Both Singer and Callahan recognize that individuals are free to make foolish choices so long as they do not harm others. It is at this point that the second problematic aspect arises. To interfere legitimately in the liberty of individuals, they invoke the harm principle. I contend, however, that in making this move both Singer and Callahan rely on superficial readings of public health research to amplify the harm caused by obese individuals and ignore pertinent epidemiological research on the social determinants of obesity. I argue that the mobilization of the harm principle and corresponding focus on individual behaviours without careful consideration of the empirical research is itself a form of harm that needs to be taken seriously.     

The development of the critical theory of evolution: The scientific career of Wolfgang F. Gutmann

Summary The critical theory of evolution was developed by a group of scientists working together with Wolfgang F. Gutmann at the Senckenberg-Research-Institute in Frankfurt am Main. Gutmann worked at Senckenberg for 37 years. In this time he presented 247 contributions which are distributed over 47 periodicals and books. The ideas that were developed by Gutmann and his colleagues were innovative and pathbreaking for morphology and evolutionary biology. The large number of his morphological publications is indicative of the wide field that was opened up by the concepts of constructional morphology. As some of his colleagues have suggested, constructional morphology as an engineering approach to the study of organisms (i. e., engineering morphology) may replace the traditional concepts of morphology and anatomy and provides the observational base for the historical reconstruction of evolutionary pathways. Constructional morphology as a quasi-engineering approach can be the morphological pendant to the contemporary molecular approaches to biology, as it can provide the necessary morphological basis for the interpretation of the results of molecular studies in the light of evolution.     

Using,risking, and consent: Why risking harm to bystanders is morally different from risking harm to research subjects

Subjects in studies on humans are used as a means of conducting the research and achieving whatever good would justify putting them at risk. Accordingly, consent must normally be obtained before subjects are exposed to any substantial risks to their welfare. Bystanders are also often put at risk, but they are not used as a means. Accordingly—or so I argue—consent is more often unnecessary before bystanders are exposed to similar substantial risks to their welfare.     

Looking to the future with optimism: An interview with Glenn Nierman on the occasion of the recent end of his appointment as NAfME president

The author interviewed Glenn Nierman on the occasion of the recent conclusion of his term as National Association for Music Education (NAfME) president. Topics included the current state of music education and advocacy of music education in the United States, the role of NAfME, and the recently revised national music education standards.     

Culturing Mammalian Tissues for Cytogenetic Investigations

Biologists often tend to assume that natural selection acts fundamentally on individuals or on species. It is now appreciated that this is an oversimplification. Present understanding of the unit of natural selection, with its pivotal importance in evolution, largely derives from a consideration of the problem of why altruism exists. This paper reviews evidence for and against the theories that evolution acts essentially on genes, on individuals, on kin, or on larger groups.     

广西桂平市鳄蜥种群及栖息地现状的分析研究

2004年7月,对广西桂平市鳄蜥种群及其栖息地进行了调查,并首次采用量化指标对鳄蜥栖息的回水塘进行了分析。结果表明：桂平市鳄蜥分布区已破碎成白沙坑、牛头坳和黄凉冲、大藤峡碧滩段三个片段,分布区面积从58．39km^2减小至16．14km^2。鳄蜥种群数量约为150只。通过主成分分析发现,鳄蜥栖息回水塘的长度、宽度、水深、塘底组成、水温、栖枝类型和栖枝高度是影响鳄蜥选择回水塘的主要因子,而海拔、栖枝直径、水流速度的影响不大。鳄蜥倾向栖息于常绿阔叶林生境中,对溪沟的坡向和沟型选择不明显。     

论边坡的生态恢复

对裸露边坡采用植被防护的方式日益引起全球重视,但边坡植被恢复是一项比较复杂的工程,本文阐述了边坡植被的功能,生态恢复的原理,植物品种的筛选,边坡生态恢复的方法及应用,边坡生态恢复的发展方向。     

Erfahrungen mit Spitzenmeristemkulturen von Pelargonien (Pelargonium zonale-Hybriden)

Six fungicides, namely Benlate (benomyl) methyl 1-(butylcarbamoyl)benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate, 50%WP; Dithane M45 (mancozeb) 1,2-ethanediybis carbamodithioato (2-)manganese +1,2-ethanediybis, 20%Mn + 2.5%Zn; Delsene M, (carbendazim + maneb) methyl benzimidazol-2-ylcarbamate, 10% carbendazim + 60% maneb; Rovral (iprodione), 3-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)-N-isopropyl-2-4-dioxoimidazolidine-1-carboxamide, 50%WP; Cupravit (copper oxychloride) 3Cu(OH)₂ · CuCl 2 , 50%WP; and Ridomil (metalaxyl) methyl N-(2-methoxyacetyl)-N-(2,6-xylyl-DL-alaminate), 50%WP were evaluated for their efficacy in the control of brown blotch disease of bambara groundnut caused by Colletotrichum capsici (Syd) Butler and Bisby in field trials. Two of the fungicides, Benlate and Delsene M gave significantlty (P = 0.05) better control of the disease and consequently higher grain yield than the other treatments. The performance of Rovral, Dithane M-45 and Ridomil did not differ significantly from each other and Cupravit did not perform significantly better than the check treatment.