CEPPA Talk

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

Title: Killing vs Headaches: Wide Proportionality and Limited Aggregation Abstract: Philosophers who have discussed ‘limited aggregation’ have focussed discussion on cases in which we must choose which of two groups to save – for example, whether we should save one person’s life, or save some enormous number of people from a mild headache. According to ... Read more

Title: Global Health Equity through Decolonizing Health Research Ethics in Africa: Leveraging Kwame Nkrumah’s Analysis of Neocolonialism. Abstract:Background: The foundational contention of this paper is that, arguably, the ultimate ethical goal of conducting health research among humans is to provide them with better health opportunities. Because of growing perceptions that ongoing international collaborative health research ... Read more