Reconnecting philosophy and economics: An Aristotelian perspective on funding health care in The Netherlands

The 2006 health care reforms in the Netherlands were aimed at improving the affordability, accessibility, and quality of health care, as well as freedom in health care. However, the reality is that since the reforms (which include the privatisation of health-care insurance), costs have further increased and accessibility has decreased while...

Having a Sense of Humor as a Virtue

Realising the Concept of Just Price

This thesis is for Entrepreneurs, Managers, and Customers who are interested in paying Just Prices, and who would like to understand what the origin of the concept is, how it differs from the 'fair price', and how a Just Price could be reached in practice. This thesis is forward-looking rather than backward-looking. It will lead to...

Robots and us: towards an economics of the ‘Good Life’

(Expected) adverse effects of the ‘ICT Revolution’ on work and opportunities for individuals to use and develop their capacities give a new impetus to the debate on the societal implications of technology and raise questions regarding the ‘responsibility’ of research and innovation (RRI) and the possibility of achieving ‘inclusive and...

Using Aristotle’s theory of friendship to classify online friendships: A critical counterview

In a special issue of “Ethics and Information Technology” (September 2012), various philosophers have discussed the notion of online friendship. The preferred framework of analysis was Aristotle’s theory of friendship: it was argued that online friendships face many obstacles that hinder them from ever reaching the highest form of Aristotelian...

Steering and Harvesting Technology for Minimally Invasive Biopsy

Contemporary medical imaging technologies, such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, play a pivotal role in medical diagnosis, allowing for a relatively fast and non-invasive examination of the human body. In the field of cancer surgery they allow for preoperative detection of tumorous tissue and aid the surgical planning....