Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs
Abstract: Some moral choices form sequences: each step looks permissible, while the sequence may not be. This talk investigates how policymakers ought to prioritise between sequences competing over the same resources, when they choose on behalf of others. For example, a city facing a heatwave can open cooling centres powered by fossil fuels. Each saves ... Read more
CEPPA FILM CLUB: Mean Girls (w/ Giulia Schirripa and Jade Fletcher) Here is a list of suggested readings and videos. Bartky, Sandra (1979). On Psychological Oppression. Southwestern Journal of Philosophy 10 (1):190-190. Haslanger, Sally (1995). Ontology and Social Construction. Philosophical Topics 23 (2):95-125. Haslanger, S. (2007). “But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!” Social Knowledge, Social Structure and Ideology ... Read more
Alex Fisher (Leeds) will give a talk entitled 'QAnon, Crosswords, and Videogames: The Aesthetics and Ethics of Inquiry. Abstract: The value of many aesthetic practices comes from working stuff out. Detective novels, cryptic paintings, and crosswords require us to deduce hidden content. I outline how various recent “knowledge-based” videogames and other media also generate aesthetic ... Read more
This talk—the first outing of a new paper in progress—will begin by considering some under-explored political and ethical issues related to the choice of what question is under discussion. A particular concern will be whether to accept or alter the Question Under Discussion. It will apply the insights gained to the recent Boghossian Report into ... Read more
Title: Who has an expansive moral circle? Abstract: The moral circle describes who we do and do not think of as worthy of moral concern. In this talk, I will discuss psychological research that aims to understand variability in our moral circles. I will present work across several projects that aims to (a) map out ... Read more
CEPPA FILM CLUB: Dick Johnson is Dead You can see the trailer here. Recommendations to read: Sigmund Freud - Mourning and Melancholia Sigmund Freud - On Transience Quill Kukla - Holding the Body of another Symposium, 11:2, 2007 Lindemann - On the mend, Journal of Clinical Ethics, 16:4, 2005. Lindemann - 'What and When to Let Go: Identities ... Read more
Abstract: The Sudanese civil war has been described as a "forgotten crisis" that the world ought to pay more attention to. Some campaigners object that excess attention on migration is a “distraction" from other important issues. Such calls for cross-border attentional change are a frequent feature of our global political landscape. Yet while philosophers have ... Read more
We are proud to present the Fourteenth Session of Film and Philosophy at CEPPA (aka the CEPPA Film Club). On this occasion we are meeting to watch and discuss Little Buddha (1993) with our very own Mario Bison. As it is the summer there is much less preparation for this, and no pre-reads. Sadly, there ... Read more
Title: Democratic Instrumentalism and the Threat of Authoritarianism Abstract: The instrumentalism of the title says roughly that the form of governance that would be feasibly best in any circumstances is any one whose establishment and operation would bring about consequences morally no worse than those of any other that might instead be put in place. I ... Read more
We are proud to present the thirteenth Session of Film and Philosophy at CEPPA (aka the CEPPA Film Club). This time we will gather from 16:30 onwards to watch and discuss Tár (see trailer here) with our Ida Miczke. Here is a selection of readings (and one hearing) to do before the session: To read: ... Read more