Ronald L. Sandler – författare

Advances in our scientific understanding and technological power in recent decades have dramatically amplified our capacity to intentionally manipulate complex ecological and biological systems. An implication of this is that biological and ecological problems are increasingly understood and approached from an engineering perspective. In environmental contexts, this is exemplified in the pursuits of geoengineering, designer ecosystems, and conservation cloning. In human health contexts, it is exemplified in the development of synthetic biology, bionanotechnology, and human enhancement technologies. Designer Biology: The Ethics of Intensively Engineering Biological and Ecological Systems consists of thirteen chapters (twelve of them original to the collection) that address the ethical issues raised by technological intervention and design across a broad range of biological and ecological systems. Among the technologies addressed are geoengineering, human enhancement, sex selection, genetic modification, and synthetic biology. This collection advances and enriches our understanding of the ethical issues raised by these technologies and identifies general lessons about the ethics of engineering complex biological and ecological systems that can be applied as new technologies and practices emerge. The insights that emerge will be especially valuable to students and scholars of environmental ethics, bioethics, or technology ethics.

Food Ethics: The Basics is a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the ethical dimensions of the production and consumption of food. It offers an impartial exploration of the most prominent ethical questions relating to food and agriculture, including:Should we eat animals?Are locally produced foods ethically superior to globally sourced foods?Do people in affluent nations have a responsibility to help reduce global hunger?Should we embrace bioengineered foods?What should be the role of government in promoting food safety and public health?This second edition has been revised and updated throughout, not only to take in the latest empirical and policy information, but also to address the impact of major issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AI and machine learning, and the rapid growth of the "gig economy."Using extensive data and real-world examples, as well as providing suggestions for further reading, Food Ethics: The Basics is an ideal introduction for anyone interested in the ethics of food.

Food Ethics: The Basics is a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the ethical dimensions of the production and consumption of food. It offers an impartial exploration of the most prominent ethical questions relating to food and agriculture, including:Should we eat animals?Are locally produced foods ethically superior to globally sourced foods?Do people in affluent nations have a responsibility to help reduce global hunger?Should we embrace bioengineered foods?What should be the role of government in promoting food safety and public health?This second edition has been revised and updated throughout, not only to take in the latest empirical and policy information, but also to address the impact of major issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, AI and machine learning, and the rapid growth of the "gig economy."Using extensive data and real-world examples, as well as providing suggestions for further reading, Food Ethics: The Basics is an ideal introduction for anyone interested in the ethics of food.

We are causing species to go extinct at extraordinary rates, altering existing species in unprecedented ways and creating entirely new species. More than ever before, we require an ethic of species to guide our interactions with them. In this book, Ronald L. Sandler examines the value of species and the ethical significance of species boundaries and discusses what these mean for species preservation in the light of global climate change, species engineering and human enhancement. He argues that species possess several varieties of value, but they are not sacred. It is sometimes permissible to alter species, let them go extinct (even when we are a cause of the extinction) and invent new ones. Philosophically rigorous, accessible and illustrated with examples drawn from contemporary science, this book will be of interest to students of philosophy, bioethics, environmental ethics and conservation biology.