Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs
Title: Pleasure Fundamentalism Abstract: Pleasure fundamentalism is the view that moral value is the same thing as pleasure and this explains all other moral facts. This talk presents two arguments for pleasure fundamentalism and discusses the form of naturalism they arise from. According to the Reliability Argument, all processes generating moral belief are unreliable, except ... Read more
Title: Beyond Institutional Denial: A Global Constitutional Convention for Future Generations Abstract: Humanity is in deep institutional denial. Current institutions are failing future generations, in part because there is a governance gap when it comes to promoting intergenerational concern. This gap facilitates a tyranny of the contemporary that puts the young and other future generations ... Read more
Title: About Climate Justice: What Does it Mean and What Lies Ahead? Abstract: In July 2023, Europe reached scorching milestones with relentless heatwaves and Scotland had its hottest June ever. Several regions grappled with unprecedented rainfall, triggering ecological and socioeconomic upheaval. However, impacts aren't equally distributed, those who contribute minimally to carbon emissions, find themselves ... Read more
Title: Strip-searching as Abjectification: Racism and Sexual Violence in British Policing Abstract: Co-authored with Tom Kemp (Criminology, University of Nottingham), this paper examines police strip-searching practices in the UK. Drawing on newly acquired Freedom of Information data, publicly available testimonies, thematic analysis of official literature and media reports, and first-hand experience, we advance three arguments. ... Read more
Title: Philosophical Foundations of Green-House Gas Accounting Abstract: International agreements such as the Kyoto protocol and the Paris agreement require countries to measure and track their greenhouse gas emissions. Companies (as well as universities and other organisations) are required by governmental regulations or their own net-zero goals to do the same. Greenhouse gas accounting is ... Read more
Title: Two Moralities of Recognition Abstract: According to moralities of recognition, fundamental moral norms are norms for living together. Moral norms explain how living in unity is possible despite being separate individuals, they explain how we can relate to each other as persons that are more than mere sources of benefits and burdens, obstacles and opportunities. ... Read more
Title: Internal Validity, External Validity and the Evaluation of Thought Experiments in Applied Ethics and Political Philosophy Abstract: Thought experiments clearly play a central role in much contemporary ethical theorising. In the recent literature on thought experiments, some commentators (e.g. Wilson 2016; Dowding 2019) have criticised the lack of attention paid by moral philosophers to ... Read more
Title: Happy Immoralists and Satisfied Loners: A Pragmatic Perspective on Disagreement about Well-being Abstract: Can a morally bad person live well? Can a person without friends achieve well-being? There is long-standing disagreement about the correct answers to these questions. I offer a diagnosis of the debate between those who answer “no” (objectivists about well-being) and ... Read more
Title: Goodness as Natural Perfection. Abstract: In this paper I outline Aristotle’s conception of human functioning, which I take to be a viable and illuminating ground for determining human goods. I then look at alternative schemata for the notion of ‘function’ – ones derived from evolutionary theory – and argue that they are not preferable ... Read more
Please join us on 31 October (4-5.30pm) for the launch of the Philosophy of Climate Science (PhiCliSci) working group, which will bring together philosophers and climate scientists to discuss central themes relating to the climate crisis. In the first session, climate scientist Graeme MacGilchrist and philosopher Katharina Bernhard will give presentations on the topic of ‘Uncertainty’ in climate science, after ... Read more