Royal ribbons - tying together? Royal decorations are great things. Public reward is a cement of society, to no less an extent than punishment. So step over your lowly envy and commit yourself to the hassle of organisation and administration in order to put forward suitable candidates. Hendrik Kaptein • June 28, 2018
Life and death in the classroom (shut up) Academic or just haughty classroom admonitions against euthanasia were overtaken by a harrowing real-life story. The lesson (again): assisted suicide is not a life/death issue at all, but rather an issue of a shorter and better or longer and worse life. Hendrik Kaptein • February 08, 2018
Liberal “principles” or how to make the best of it for yourself in worthless times Prominent liberal party members in The Netherlands are prone to criminal self-enrichment. This is fully in line with liberal party principles putting personal autonomy first, unhindered by any objective norms and values: make the best of it for yourself! Hendrik Kaptein • September 04, 2017
Audi et alteram partem Private justice can turn on you. Two American lawyers ended up in jail for trying to ruin a school volunteer who allegedly “mistreated” their son. If they had consulted the volunteer and school management first nothing bad would have ensued at all. Hendrik Kaptein • October 21, 2016
Euthanasia as a Pro-Life Issue: What life do you want to lead? Euthanasia and suicide are generally and mistakenly regarded as suspicious preferences for death over life. In fact voluntary ending of life may well be based on rational preferences for shorter and better lives over really unbearably longer lives. Hendrik Kaptein • June 09, 2016 • 1 comment
Against discrimination – of all Ethnic labeling of supposedly criminal immigrants is at odds with any civilized rule of law. So Swedish police forces remaining silent about the ethnicity of sexual harassers were right after all, whatever use the populist right may try to make of it. Hendrik Kaptein • January 14, 2016 • 3 comments
Reflections on passing away Death remains the great unknown, so how can one opt for it through suicide or euthanasia? Or is voluntary death the shortening of an unbearable life? Yet life itself is top priority for refugees and so many others who simply don’t want to die. Hendrik Kaptein • September 11, 2015
Freedom of Expression: What to do with it PEN America was wrong in praising Charlie Hebdo as a champion of freedom of expression. Exploiting outer limits of legal rights is not the same as responsible conduct within such limits. Why offend for (almost) nothing? Fight terrorism, do not provoke it. Hendrik Kaptein • May 07, 2015
Desert Small money for a great piece of art may not feel great: why pay so little to an artist so visibly living on the cheap? Piketty’s recent book on the rich versus the poor leaps to mind here. What do we really earn ourselves, what do we really deserve? Hendrik Kaptein • May 29, 2014
