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Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics: Can a Contractarian Rationally Donate to Charity? by Benedict Hardwick.
This essay, by Oxford undergraduate student Benedict Hardwick, is one of the four shortlisted essays in the undergraduate category of the inaugural Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics. Can a Contractarian Rationally Donate to Charity? Charities Act 2011: 1.1 For the purposes of the law of England and Wales, “charity” means an institution which is established for charitable purposes…
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Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics: Shortlisted Graduate and Undergraduate Essays
The Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics was announced on this blog on the 26th November 2014. By the 25th January a large number of high quality essays had been submitted and the judges had a difficult time narrowing the field down to a shortlist, which we now publish here:
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Is there a middle ground in being pro-choice?
For a long time, Ann Furedi (chief executive of bpas) has been advocating women’s right to choose regarding their pregnancies. She is quite radical with regard to this pro-choice principle. For example, she questioned the 24-week limit of abortion, saying that every limit is arbitrary, and women have good reasons when they request an abortion…
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How to Be Free: Objectification and the Noumenal World An Impression of Neil Levy’s First Leverhulme Lecture
Y Lim When I was a medical student and doctor, there were a few legendary teachers at the Alfred Hospital. The greatest of these was a general physician called Y Lim. He was the Sherlock Holmes of bedside clinicians. He would take groups of medical students to see a patient and diagnose the patient “from…
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On holding ethicists to higher moral standards and the value of moral inconsistency
A few weeks ago, Adela Cortina, one of the most important moral philosophers in Spain, was interviewed on the journal El País. “This should be the easiest interview in the world,” said the journalist by way of introduction. Adela Cortina asked why. “Because of your profession. Professors of Ethics never lie, right?” “People assume we…
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Does religion deserve a place in secular medicine?
By Brian D. Earp The latest issue of the Journal of Medical Ethics is out, and in it, Professor Nigel Biggar—an Oxford theologian—argues that “religion” should have a place in secular medicine (click here for a link to the article). Some people will feel a shiver go down their spines—and not only the non-religious. After…
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Where there’s a will there’s a way: Enhancing motivation
by Hannah Maslen, Julian Savulescu and Carin Hunt A study examining pharmaceutical cognitive enhancement found that participants’ subjective enjoyment of various memory and problem-solving tasks was significantly greater when they had taken modafinil (a drug originally developed for narcolepsy) compared with placebo, but that mood ratings overall were not affected (Muller at al 2013). The…
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On Swearing (lecture by Rebecca Roache)
Last Thursday’s Special Ethics Seminar at St Cross College was booked out very quickly, and the audience’s high expectations were fully justified. Rebecca Roache returned from Royal Holloway to Oxford to give a fascinating lecture on the nature and ethics of swearing. Roache has two initial questions: ‘Is there anything wrong with this fucking question?’, and ‘Is…
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Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics Presentation
HT15 Week 8, Thursday 12 March, 4.30 – 5.50 pm. Seminar Room 1, Oxford Martin School (corner of Catte St and Broad St), followed by a drinks reception in Seminar Room 2 until 6.45 pm. We are pleased to announce the four finalists for the Oxford Uehiro Prize in Practical Ethics and to invite you to…