Douglas MacKay, R Jean Cadigan, Eric Juengst, Alexandra Robinson, Rebecca L Walker
{"title":"Egalitarian Justice and the Prevalence Principle in Human Genome Editing.","authors":"Douglas MacKay, R Jean Cadigan, Eric Juengst, Alexandra Robinson, Rebecca L Walker","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag008","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag008","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>National and international agencies and organizations are currently considering which ethical principles should inform the governance and use of heritable and non-heritable human genome editing. In this paper, we consider the prevalence principle, according to which heritable and non-heritable genome editing in humans is permissible if and only if it involves the conversion of variants to ones expected to produce traits that are prevalent in the relevant population. This principle thus permits genome editing targeting variants responsible for disease and disability but prohibits genetic enhancement. We consider whether the prevalence principle is supported by considerations of egalitarian justice, as its proponents claim. We argue that it is not and that prominent theories of egalitarian justice instead offer different approaches to genome editing governance. We identify four egalitarian principles policymakers should consider when crafting anticipatory guidance for heritable and non-heritable genome editing.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"376-391"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13130085/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147647019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Collective Paternalism and Vaccination Programs.","authors":"Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen, Viki Lyngby Hvid, Søren Flinch Midtgaard, Didde Boisen Andersen","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag009","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag009","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>One important objection to vaccination policies involving nudging or coercive measures such as restrictions on unvaccinated people's access to public spaces is that they are paternalistic. This objection is weaker than is often assumed. We defend this claim by (1) introducing a novel distinction between individual and collective paternalism; (2) showing that, across a range of circumstances, vaccination programs involve collective, not individual, paternalism; and (3) arguing that collective paternalism is not wrong for the reasons that, arguably, individual paternalism is.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"348-361"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147460499","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"\"It's Shaking Your Entire Construction as a Human Being\": A Qualitative Analysis on Epistemic Injustice and Medical Gaslighting Consequences in Patients Living with Chronic Pain.","authors":"Catherine Isadora Côte","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag003","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag003","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Patients living with chronic pain often report experiencing invalidation from healthcare practitioners. Epistemic injustices, that is, the disqualification of a person as a knower, have been used to study medical encounters and chronic pain invalidation. However, these studies are largely theoretical and tend to reproduce epistemic injustices by not giving a voice to the people directly impacted by these injustices. This research is focused on enhancing our understanding of the consequences of epistemic injustice in health care. We conducted seventeen qualitative narrative interviews with people living with chronic pain in the province of Québec, Canada. The results support many consequences that were already identified in the theoretical literature, including the impact on patients' interaction with the healthcare system, but also less-discussed consequences, including the impact of epistemic injustices on patients' agency. We discuss emancipation and resistance strategies to epistemic injustices, as well as the implications of the results for health equity.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"307-326"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453282/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147494089","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Parfitian Priority, Gene Therapy, and Disability.","authors":"Dominic Wilkinson","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag005","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Gene therapies for severe genetic disease are often highly expensive. In deciding whether or when to provide them, one ethical consideration is the benefit of treatment relative to cost. Another and separate consideration is concern for medical need and the desire to benefit those who are worse off. The latter is a prioritarian concern. But how should we apply prioritarianism to decisions about gene therapy, particularly since such treatments might affect which individuals come into existence? That question is the main aim of this paper. I focus on a particular version of prioritarianism articulated and defended by Derek Parfit. My primary aim is to explore how, if we were to adopt such an account, we should interpret and practically apply this in medical ethics. In doing so, I assess how it fits with other elements of Parfit's philosophy. I defend a new \"time-relative\" version of priority.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"284-296"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453280/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147460517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Evidentialism and Patient Testimony.","authors":"Elisa Reverman","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag004","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag004","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this article, I argue that patients' testimonial knowledge is assessed with a default evidentialist approach. I primarily support this claim by drawing from work on physicians' accounts of assessing the trustworthiness of patients' testimony. Furthermore, I explicate a three-tiered evidence-ranking approach within these physician accounts and detail how it resembles existing hierarchical evidence-ranking frameworks in medicine. I then discuss the role that aperspectival objectivity plays in this evidentialist approach and highlight some tensions that emerge. Next, I identify some practical, epistemic, and ethical consequences of said evidentialist approach and end on potential strategies for mitigating the potential negative consequences. The account I detail ultimately reveals much of the epistemic complexity surrounding patients' testimonial knowledge as a kind of evidence.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"362-375"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147494086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Biohacking Love and the Norms of Relationships.","authors":"Emmanuel Smith, Paul Rezkalla","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag006","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biohacking love-that is, using drugs either to enhance or diminish lust, attraction, and/or attachment-is currently feasible (although imperfectly so). It is likely that in the future, scientists will develop drugs that target lust, attraction, and attachment more accurately than anything currently available, thereby opening up possibilities for people to use such drugs to leave or remain in a relationship. Several scholars have recently argued for the desirability and moral permissibility of using such love drugs. However, we argue that it is most often morally impermissible to use love drugs as interventions in relationships. In particular, we argue that using love drugs is most often incompatible with adhering to the norms of relationships, such as the moral requirement that people in relationships relate to each other virtuously.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"297-306"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147436680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What Is Precision Psychotherapy?","authors":"Adrian Kind, Sascha Benjamin Fink, Henrik Walter","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag007","DOIUrl":"10.1093/jmp/jhag007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Precision medicine impacts virtually all medical specializations, including psychiatry. Although precision psychiatry, in general, is a flourishing area of research and debate, psychotherapy as one pillar of psychiatry receives little attention. Theoretical discussions about precision psychotherapy are rare; research on precision in psychotherapy is just evolving. In this paper, we provide a conceptualization of precision psychotherapy providing a common idea of what should be understood as precision in the context of psychotherapy and what kind of psychotherapy research is considered to contribute to the aims of precision psychotherapy.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":"327-347"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13453283/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147481978","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Medicine and Moral Innocence.","authors":"Kurt Blankschaen","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag019","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhag019","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 1990, Congress established the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHP). The program has since expanded to cover numerous treatments and support services. It is hard to overstate how transformative RWHP has been, but hundreds of thousands of other people had died from the same condition White had, so why did politicians wait to enact serious AIDS health care? Bluntly, White's AIDS education activism was sympathetic because he embodied a \"moral innocence,\" a quality the public did not usually extend to gay men, intravenous drug users, or others who suffered from HIV/AIDS. I ask two questions about this delayed political support. First, are there any moral problems with appealing to moral innocence, even if it secures public support and medical care, by hierarchically ranking lives as more or less sympathetic? Second, can we reduce or eliminate these problems, or are they a necessary cost to getting the public to care about marginalized communities?</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148632226","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Artificial Wombs, Change-of-Location Birth, and Infanticide.","authors":"Joshua Shaw","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhag023","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There has been much discussion about the impact artificial wombs will have on debates in reproductive ethics. One area of discussion has been whether transferring fetuses to artificial wombs should be considered a form of birth, and, if so, whether killing or allowing them to die is infanticide. This article proposes two interventions into this debate. Much of it challenges a view espoused by Nick Colgrove, Daniel Rodger, and Bruce Blackshaw, who argue that birth occurs whenever fetuses are relocated from in utero to ex utero environments. This view is shown to have problematic implications. This article's later sections propose some more general recommendations for discussions about artificial wombs and infanticide. A common refrain among them is that artificial wombs are unlikely to alter drastically the morality of when it is permissible to kill a fetus-cum-infant by expanding the range of beings who can be victims of infanticide.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148632260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Push into Despair: How Legalized Assisted Suicide Creates the Desire to Die.","authors":"Benjamin Parviz","doi":"10.1093/jmp/jhag022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhag022","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This essay argues that legalized assisted suicide is a temptation to despair that pushes those most vulnerable into despair, creating desire for the kind of death that such laws sanction. Laws that permit assisted suicide are messages that communicate to those whose conditions satisfy eligibility criteria that their society does not need them. This essay examines the impact of such a message on those who are vulnerable to despair. According to Gabriel Marcel, relationships of love are the means by which one endures through challenges and transcends to fullness of life without falling into despair. Relying on Marcel's account of hope and despair, I argue that those whose social situation involves few or no such relationships of love are vulnerable to despair, and that the message of legalized assisted suicide is a force pushing such vulnerable people into despair.</p>","PeriodicalId":47377,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Medicine and Philosophy","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148608516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}