CEPPA Talk

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

You are warmly invited to the book launch for Bradley Hillier-Smith’s brand-new book The Ethics of State Responses to Refugees (abstract below). The author will be interviewed by Kieran Oberman (LSE), after which we will all be in the opportunity to ask questions and celebrate the new book with some well-deserved drinks. All welcome! Bradley Hillier-Smith: The Ethics of ... Read more

Title: Emotion-Based Environmental Ethics: The Radical Implications of Taking Wonder Seriously Abstract: In environmental ethics, we find many competing theories of environmental value, but little discussion of the epistemological grounds for believing one theory rather than another. Building on the framework of moral empiricism (which I’ve developed elsewhere), I propose an “Emotion-Based” methodology for environmental ethics. The ... Read more

Title: The Idea of Ancestry in African Philosophy Abstract: This paper concerns itself with the rationality of belief in ancestral existence. Although belief in ancestral existence remains widespread globally, I shall focus on a-thinned out version of African forms of this belief. ‘Thinned-out’ in that I am not interested in this or that substantive version of ... Read more

Title: Philosophical Challenges in Risk Communication of Rare and Severe Events Abstract: In this talk, I will discusses different philosophical challenges in communicating and dealing with the risk of rare and severe events. As a case study, I use avalanche risk: a form of voluntary risk taking in which the individual is often partly responsible ... Read more