The argument over how society should respond to addiction is usually framed in medical or political terms, but beneath it lies a moral dispute: what kind of thing is addiction, and what does our answer imply about responsibility, dignity, and hope? Two models dominate public imagination. The abstinence model insists that recovery must mean total…

Climate change is often framed as a technical problem: too much carbon, too little regulation, insufficient political will. But beneath these explanations lies a deeper disturbance—one that the German philosopher Günther Anders diagnosed decades ago, long before climate change became a household term. Anders argued that modern humanity has become obsolete relative to the technologies…

Recent efforts to withdraw federal funding from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to transgender adolescents represent more than a controversial policy choice. They constitute an assault on the very conditions under which transgender people can exist as recognized members of the moral and political community. While such a move is indefensible from familiar ethical standpoints—utilitarian…

Trump’s relentless attack on LGBTQ people is beyond the pale of any criticism. It is a gross violation of human rights that has engendered widespread anti-LBGTQ sentiment throughout the country, subjecting nearly 10 percent of the American population to harassment and discriminatory laws that no government or institution has any legal or moral right to…