Happy, Nevertheless

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. CONTENTS v
3. INTRODUCTION xi
4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xix
5. BIG QUESTIONS
6. A Pale Blue Dot at the Hinge of History 1
7. Does Anything Matter? 8
8. Is There Moral Progress? 12
9. The God of Suffering 18
10. Do You Have a Moral Plan? 22
11. Are We Ready for a “Morality Pill”? 26
12. The Empathy Trap 30
13. Can Ethics Be Taught? 34
14. Thinking about the Dead 39
15. Should This Be the Last Generation? 44
16. ANIMALS
17. The Case for Going Vegan 49
18. Why Loving Our Animals Is Not Enough 58
19. Learning from Europe’s More Ethical Eggs 62
20. If Fish Could Scream 66
21. The Nation of Kangaroos 70
22. Who Is a Person? 74
23. The Cow Who . . . 78
24. The Measure of Moral Progress 82
25. Are Insects Conscious? 86
26. Plant Liberation? 90
27. LIFE AND DEATH
28. The Real Abortion Tragedy 95
29. Abortion, Democracy, and the Reversal of Roe 101
30. Treating (or Not) the Tiniest Babies 105
31. Pulling Back the Curtain on the Mercy Killing of Newborns 108
32. Should Children Have the Right to Die? 112
33. No Diseases for Old Men 116
34. When Doctors Kill 120
35. Choosing Death 124
36. PUBLIC HEALTH AND PANDEMIC ETHICS
37. Public Health versus Private Freedom 131
38. The Human Genome and the Genetic Supermarket 137
39. An Ethical Pathway for Gene Editing 141
40. Kidneys for Sale? 146
41. Deciding Who Lives and Who Dies 149
42. Were the Lockdowns Justified? 153
43. Victims of the Unvaccinated 157
44. Ending the Taboo on Talking about Population 164
45. SEX AND GENDER
46. Should Adult Sibling Incest Be a Crime? 169
47. Homosexuality Is Not Immoral 175
48. A Private Affair? 178
49. How Much Should Sex Matter? 182
50. Ban the Burkini? 187
51. The Case for Legalizing Sex Work 191
52. DOING GOOD
53. Holding Charities Accountable 195
54. Good Charity, Bad Charity 201
55. Heartwarming Causes Are Nice, But . . . 205
56. The Ethical Cost of High-Priced Art 210
57. Extreme Altruism 214
58. The Lives You Saved 217
59. HAPPINESS
60. Happiness, Money, and Giving It Away 221
61. Can We Increase Gross National Happiness? 227
62. The Moral Urgency of Mental Health 231
63. Prisoners of Pain 235
64. No Smile Limit 239
65. Happy, Nevertheless 242
66. POLITICS
67. The Founding Fathers’ Fiscal Crises 247
68. Why Vote? 253
69. Is Citizenship a Right? 257
70. The Spying Game 261
71. Is Marx Still Relevant? 264
72. Should We Honor Racists? 268
73. Is Violence the Way to Fight Racism? 272
74. Are Riots Justifiable? 276
75. GLOBAL PROBLEMS
76. The Refugee Dilemma 281
77. Is Open Diplomacy Possible? 288
78. Paris and the Fate of the Earth 292
79. Greta Thunberg’s Moment 297
80. Stopping Putin 301
81. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
82. A Clear Case for Golden Rice 307
83. Life Made to Order 313
84. A Dream for the Digital Age 317
85. The Tragic Cost of Being Unscientific 321
86. FREEDOM AND RESPONSIBILITY
87. Free Speech, Muhammad, and the Holocaust 325
88. Free Speech and Fake News 330
89. Why Google Was Wrong 334
90. Keeping Discussion Free 338
91. LIVING, WORKING, PLAYING
92. Why Pay More? 343
93. Beyond the Traditional Family 349
94. Tiger Mothers or Elephant Mothers? 353
95. How Honest Are We? 357
96. Is Doping Wrong? 361
97. Is It OK to Cheat at Football? 365
98. Why Climb Mount Everest? 369
99. A Surfing Reflection 372
100. THE FUTURE
101. Should We Live to 1,000? 375
102. Rights for Robots? 381
103. Can Artificial Intelligence Be Ethical? 384
104. Do You Want to Be a Cyborg? 388
105. Preventing Human Extinction 392
106. Should We Colonize Outer Space? 399
107. Do Aliens Have Rights? 404
108. SOURCES 409
109. INDEX 417