Rational ethics, effective altruism, animal rights, environmental justice, welfare economics
Opiniestuk in De Standaard (28-07-2026) Op het einde van haar optreden op de Gentse Feesten riep zangeres Sofie Straat dat “alle witte mannen naar achteren” moesten gaan. Daarop kreeg het gelijkekansencentrum Unia meer dan 300 klachten dat Straat’s uitspraak discriminerend … Lees verder →
Most consumers value animal welfare. According to most people, the cost of animal suffering in the production of animal-based food, is huge. In monetary terms, the suffering of most broiler chickens would correspond to 8000 euros per kilogram of chicken … Lees verder →
Below are seven high impact petitions that you can sign. Each petition deals with a problem that is at least 10 times as big, 10 times as easy to mitigate or solve and 10 times as neglected as the problems … Lees verder →
The arbitrariness detector is an online tool that helps you make choices that avoid problematic, irrational or unwanted types of arbitrariness. The tool is a quiz with 11 questions. Each question represents a case of a person who makes a … Lees verder →
The welfare impactor is an online tool that helps you make important decisions based on your reflections on the welfare of humans and animals. The tool is a survey with around ten questions, and takes only a few minutes to … Lees verder →
People believe that sex is binary: a human is either male or female. Others reply that sex is a spectrum, with a continuum of intersex conditions. Here I present a logical argument that if one wants to define sex in … Lees verder →
Let us derive the moral theory that includes every valid thing (principle, law, value) in normative ethics. Welfare as the only valid intrinsic value The validity of an intrinsic value depends on the anti-arbitrariness principle, which says that we have … Lees verder →
Plants, generative AI models and thermostats have preferences or goals, but they (probably) do not have conscious experiences. Their preferences are (probably) unconscious. But in my moral theory (called mild welfarism), only conscious preferences matter. A conscious preference is a … Lees verder →
Opiniestuk in De Standaard (04-05-2026) Eén geredde bultrug toont hoe onbetrouwbaar onze morele radar is Het was ontroerend mooi om te zien: bultrugwalvis Timmy die na een reddingsoperatie terug vrij rondzwom in de open zee, nadat hij eind maart in … Lees verder →
Het klassieke economieonderwijs vertrekt van een nauwe definitie van economie, zijnde de wetenschap die bestudeert hoe consumenten, bedrijven en overheden keuzes maken om met schaarse middelen hun eigen behoeften zo veel mogelijk te bevredigen. Centraal in deze klassieke (of neoklassieke) … Lees verder →