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I work in ethics on topics intersecting medicine, technology, and markets. Spring 2021, I teach HON2200: Data-drevne prosjekter and Examen Philosophicum.

This spring, I will also start my 3-year post-doc where I will spend the first two years abroad. The post-doc is funded by The Norwegian Research Council's Three-year Researcher Project with International Mobility. The topic is The Ethics of Contagion: How We Should Respond to the Spread of Infectious Diseases.

My most recent papers are:

The Ethics of Emergencies (Philosophical Studies, w/ Ole Martin Moen).
Prize, Not Price: Reframing Rewards for Kidney Donors (Journal of Medical Ethics)
The Ethics of Sex Robots (The Oxford Handbook of Digital Ethics, w/ Brian Earp)

I'm also a proud contributor to "Racial Justice Requires Ending the War on Drugs," a forthcoming target article in the American Journal of Bioethics.

Fall 2020, I defended my PhD thesis in philosophy. You will find the thesis, titled Delicate Deals: Moral Choice on the Margins, on DUO.

My supervisor was Professor Ole Martin Moen and my opponents were:

Professor Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
Associate Professor Vida Panitch

I have been a Visiting Fellow at

Harvard's Government Department (2019-2020), under supervision by Professor Michael Sandel.
The University of Oxford's Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics (2017, 2019), on invitation from Professor Julian Savulescu.

I am a regular contributor to the Norwegian press. You can find my writings in

I have also written books on

Social Democracy (2014)
The Power Elite (2016, w/ K. O. Åmås, K Clemet, K Wiedswang)
Euthanasia (2019, w/ Moen).

One the podcast Moralistene, Moen and I discuss ethical issues of relevance for the wider public and interview prominent philosophers like Peter Singer and Helga Varden. I hope you like it.

Tags: Applied Ethics, Commodification, Philosophy, Ethics

Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2023). Ruspolitikkens etikk. Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift. ISSN 0800-336X.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen; Regmi, Sadie & Harris, John (2022). Ethical Solutions to the Problem of Organ Shortage. Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics. ISSN 0963-1801. 31(3), p. 297–309. doi: 10.1017/S0963180121000955.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Why States Should Buy Kidneys. Journal of Applied Philosophy. ISSN 0264-3758. doi: 10.1111/japp.12523.
Earp, Brian D; Lewis, Jonathan; Hart, Carl; Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Moen, Ole Martin (2021). Racial Justice Requires Ending the War on Drugs. American Journal of Bioethics. ISSN 1526-5161. 21(4), p. 1–16. doi: 10.1080/15265161.2020.1861364. Full text in Research Archive
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Prize, Not Price: Reframing Rewards for Kidney Donors. Journal of Medical Ethics. ISSN 0306-6800. p. 1–4. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2020-106172.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Moen, Ole Martin (2020). The ethics of emergencies. Philosophical Studies. ISSN 0031-8116. p. 1–14. doi: 10.1007/s11098-020-01566-0. Full text in Research Archive
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Heller velferdsstat enn borgerlønn. Norsk Filosofisk tidsskrift. ISSN 0029-1943. 2(3), p. 126–140. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-2901-2020-02-03-04. Full text in Research Archive
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Sex Selection in India: Why a ban is not justified. Developing World Bioethics. ISSN 1471-8731. 20(3), p. 150–156. doi: 10.1111/dewb.12250. Full text in Research Archive
Moen, Ole Martin & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2018). Pedophilia and Computer-Generated Child Pornography. In Boonin, David (Eds.), Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. ISSN 978-3-319-93906-3. p. 369–382. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-93907-0_29. Full text in Research Archive
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2018). Provokativ offentlig filosofi. Etikk i praksis. ISSN 1890-3991. 12(2), p. 105–128. doi: 10.5324/eip.v12i2.2539. Full text in Research Archive

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Moen, Ole Martin & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Aktiv dødshjelp: Etikk ved livets slutt. Cappelen Damm Akademisk. ISBN 9788202594848. 132 p.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2014). Tilbake til politikken: Hvordan Arbeiderpartiet igjen skal bli folkets parti. Kagge Forlag AS. ISBN 9788248914372. 250 p.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2014). Global citizen - challenges and responsibility in an interconnected world. Brill|Sense. ISBN 9789462099289. 128 p.

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Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2022). An insurance theory of pandemic obligations.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2022). AI and the Transition Paradox. Practical Ethics.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2022). Wolfgang Wee podcast - Aksel Braanen Sterri | Moralfilosofi, Aktiv Dødshjelp, Veganisme, Dyrevelferd, Dødsstraff, Altruisme. [Radio]. Youtube.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2022). An Insurance-Account of Pandemic Obligations.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2022). En ny retning på pandemien. [TV]. NRK.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). The ethics of emergencies.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). RRE0076 - Reproducibility and research integrity.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Vi koloniserer framtidige generasjonar, ifølgje filosof. Kva er alternativet? [Internet]. Framtida.
Gamlund, Espen; Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Antonsen, Pål Fjeldvig (2021). Hva vi snakker om når vi snakker om kjøttspising.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Ber Norge velge ny strategi for internasjonalisering: — Dette er vinn-vinn . [Business/trade/industry journal]. Khrono.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Solberg, Hans Robin (2021). Norge bør betale for doktorgrader i utlandet. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Bør forskerne slippes fri? Minerva. ISSN 0026-4695.
Hartvedt, Eilif Guldvog; Winther, Hannah; Sterri, Aksel Braanen; Betzonich-Wilken, Per; Bauhn, Per & Watzl, Sebastian [Show all 9 contributors for this article] (2021). Koronavaksine: Bør folkehelse trumfe selvbestemmelse? [Journal]. Salongen – nettidsskrift for filosofi og idéhistorie. Show summary
Er det etisk forsvarlig for en stat å innføre obligatorisk koronavaksinasjon? Salongen har spurt syv filosofer i Norge, Sverige og Danmark.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Hva vi snakker om når vi snakker om kjøttspising.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Bør folket bestemme? Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Hyklerske klimavelgere. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Her er akademikerne som hater ferie. [Internet]. Khrono.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Jantelovens økonomi. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Jeg orker ikke mer ferie. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). En kjøttspisers kvaler. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Sosialdemokrati: Teori og praksis.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Spedbarnsdrap, Veganisme, Artssjåvinisme. [Radio]. Skråblikk.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). We have a duty to pay for kidneys. Justice Everywhere.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Unge bør si nei takk til Legeforeningens vaksine-formynderi. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Vi kan ikke vente. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Vi er milevis unna en liberal rusreform. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Prestasjonsfremmende midler.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Covid-19-etikk for effektive altruister.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Vanvittig vaksinefordeling. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). How to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine ethicall‪y‬. [Radio]. In Pursuit of Development.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). The Global Philosopher: Vaccine Ethics. [Radio]. BBC Radio 4.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Wig, Ståle (2021). Det er ikke dine penger. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2021). Derfor bør vaksinene til Oslo. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Prize, Not a Price: How the right reward could solve the problem of kidney failure. BMJ blogs.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). The Global Philosopher: Pandemic Ethics. [Radio]. BBC Radio 4.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Bør vi drepe katter? Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Vi er alle influensere. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Norges lille intellektuelle enfant terrible er blitt voksen. [Journal]. Minerva.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Heller velferdsstat enn borgerlønn.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Ikke få panikk, Ropstad. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Sexrobotene kommer. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Livet får en større mening i situasjoner som denne. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Hvor komfortable skal vi være med å ofre de mest sårbare blant oss. Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Alt er til salgs. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Rasismen midt i blant oss. Morgenbladet. ISSN 0805-3847.
Sætre, Sjur & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Skulle vi kanskje like gjerne tillat kjøp og salg av organser? [Radio]. NRK Ekko.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Sex kan også være arbeid. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). En guide til sikker sex. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Facebook knekker din frie vilje. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Om å velge seg døden. [Internet]. Minerva.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Rusmidler kan være nøkkelen til et bedre liv. Dagbladet. ISSN 0805-3766.
Huitfeldt, Ingrid Marie Schaumburg; Andresen, Martin Eckhoff & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Ammeråd og foreldrepermisjon. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Huitfeldt, Ingrid Marie Schaumburg; Andresen, Martin Eckhoff & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Gi gjerne pupp, men ikke for helsegevinstene. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Huitfeldt, Ingrid Marie Schaumburg; Andresen, Martin Eckhoff & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Det meste du blir fortalt om amming, kan være feil. Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Huitfeldt, Ingrid Marie Schaumburg; Andresen, Martin Eckhoff & Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2019). Hva kan vi forvente av en tredelt foreldrepermisjon? Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.). ISSN 0804-3116.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2018). Raino Malnes & Knut Midgaard: Politisk filosofi. Tidsskrift for samfunnsforskning. ISSN 0040-716X. 59(1), p. 116–119. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-291X-2018-01-13.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2017). Revolusjon over evolusjon. Samtiden. Tidsskrift for politikk, litteratur og samfunnsspørsmål. 4.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2016). Ideenes makt over sinnene. In Åmås, Knut Olav (Eds.), Makteliten: 252 kvinner og menn som styrer Norge. Kagge Forlag AS. ISSN 9788248918516. p. 86–109.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2016). Makten som knebler seg selv. In Åmås, Knut Olav (Eds.), Makteliten: 252 kvinner og menn som styrer Norge. Kagge Forlag AS. ISSN 9788248918516. p. 61–83.
Berg, Ole Trond; Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Thorsen, Dag Einar (2014). totalitarisme. Store Norske Leksikon (Nettutgaven).
Sterri, Aksel Braanen & Rasmussen, Magnus (2011). Sommerferieeffekten. Nytt Norsk Tidsskrift. ISSN 0800-336X. 28(2), p. 213–218.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen; Pugh, Jonathan; Wilkinson, Dominic; Kinder, Emily & Savulescu, Julian (2022). Vaccine Boosters, Vaccine Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism. UK Pandemic Ethics Accelerator.
Sterri, Aksel Braanen (2020). Delicate Deals: Moral Choice on the Margins. Oslo 07-Media. Full text in Research Archive Show summary
People who experience severe economic hardships sometimes consent to deals that many would not even consider. Examples include deals involving payment for sexual services, pregnancies, and kidney donations. Moreover, they may feel forced to accept deals on terms that few would accept. The term I will use for such morally challenging transactions is delicate deals. A feature of delicate deals is that even when they are entered into without fraud and coercion, many of us nevertheless find them objectionable. Much of the literature on delicate deals has been concerned with characterizing their bad-making features. The vulnerable party is forced by economic necessities to engage in harmful deals, exploited, and involved in a practice of wrongful commodification. Although this line of research is important, it is unfortunately insufficient: it fails to inform us about what we should do, all things considered. Hence, they leave open questions, such as whether we should prohibit delicate deals or regulate them, and if so, in what ways. The dissertation consists of two parts, an introduction and five papers. In paper 1, “The Bulldozing Fallacy,” coauthored with Ole Martin Moen, we argue that we need, when justifying prohibition of delicate deals, to avoid the bulldozing fallacy. This is the fallacy of believing that when people have a very narrow range of available options, we help them by taking away their preferred option in that range. To defend prohibition on grounds of the interest of the people engaging in the deal, one must be explicit about how removing the option will make them better. We propose six strategies for how to justify a ban that avoids the bulldozing fallacy. In paper 2, “The Ethics of Emergencies,” also coauthored with Moen, we address our obligations to people in difficult circumstances. We explore whether we have special duties of assistance in emergencies and whether they generalize to other cases of need outside of emergencies. We defend a novel account of our duties in emergencies and show that it can be reconciled with many plausible moral theories. In paper 3, “Sex Selection in India,” I address the issue of sex selection in India, a harmful and controversial practice that is caused by, and reinforces, gender discrimination. The Indian government has therefore banned the practice. Through a comparison between legal sex selection and its alternatives, I argue that the ban is unjustified because it makes the situation even worse for mothers and their daughters. In papers 4 and 5, I defend a model of kidney provision where governments are the sole buyer of kidneys and kidneys are distributed according to need. In paper 4, “Why States Should Buy Kidneys,” I explore Cécile Fabre’s principled objection to organ markets: that they allow duty bearers to profit from doing their duty. This criticism, I suggest, fails to distinguish between different duty bearers. I argue that, when the collective is the duty bearer, it is not wrong to be paid to perform a service that it would be your duty to perform were it not for the collectivization of duties. In paper 5, “Reframing Kidney Rewards,” I propose a new model for how to reward kidney donors. Many objections to kidney markets are rooted in the view that body parts are not ordinary market goods, and that the giving of a body part is an extraordinary act that is not properly valued through a market transaction. I show how framing a monetary reward differently makes a difference to its moral status, and that a prize is better able to reflect the extraordinary act of giving a body part compared to alternatives such as incentives, compensation or a competitive market price. In the introduction to this dissertation, I illustrate how this model can be used in other delicate deals.

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Published Apr. 6, 2017 8:57 AM - Last modified Jan. 15, 2021 3:41 PM

Projects

What should not be bought and sold?

Research groups

Practical Philosophy Group