April 28, 2008

Sayre-McCord on Metaethics for Blogginheads.tv
By S. Matthew Liao

Professor Geoff Sayre-McCord from UNC has recently recorded a chat with Will Wilkinson on metaethics for Bloggingheads.tv. Here’s the link to the diavlog: http://brainwaveweb.com/diavlogs/10593

Some of the topics covered are as follows:

* How to be a moral realist (03:36)
* What is metaethics? (04:38)
* What to do when your moral arguments fail to persuade (09:29)
* Can the fact that Hitler was evil help explain the Holocaust? (13:50)
* General moral principles in a world of diverse circumstances (17:04)

Enjoy :)

Posted on April 28, 2008 at 3:09 am in Metaethics, General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

February 19, 2008

Utilitas Special Symposium on Kamm
By S. Matthew Liao

The latest issue of Utilitas features three fantastic articles from a symposium on Frances Kamm’s Intricate Ethics and a reply from Frances. Kamm Aficionados especially should check them out :)

Off Her Trolley? Frances Kamm and the Metaphysics of Morality
ALASTAIR NORCROSS
Utilitas, Volume 20, Issue 01, March 2008, pp 65 - 80

Discerning Subordination and Inviolability: A Comment on Kamm’s Intricate Ethics
HENRY S. RICHARDSON
Utilitas, Volume 20, Issue 01, March 2008, pp 81 - 91

Double Effect, Triple Effect and the Trolley Problem: Squaring the Circle in Looping Cases
MICHAEL OTSUKA
Utilitas, Volume 20, Issue 01, March 2008, pp 92 - 110

Read the full post here

Posted on February 19, 2008 at 3:06 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Kamm Reading Group | Leave a Comment

February 18, 2008

New Blog: Practical Ethics
By S. Matthew Liao

Readers of Ethics Etc might be interested in a new blog called Practical Ethics, which “provides a daily ethical analysis of the latest developments in science, technology and other current affairs.”

The authors are drawn from researchers at three research centres at the University of Oxford, the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, the Program on the Ethics of the New Biosciences, and the Future of Humanity Institute.

What is unique about this blog is that the ideas expressed in the posts are intended to be one possible angle regarding ethical issues arising out of the new sciences, and DOES NOT necessarily reflect the opinion of the authors. Do check it out :)

Posted on February 18, 2008 at 6:32 pm in Bioethics, General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Practical Ethics | 2 Comments

February 14, 2008

Schedule for the Appiah Reading Group
By S. Matthew Liao

The Appiah Reading Group will start in early March. In each session, a commentator will provide a summary of a chapter and some points for consideration. The post will then be open for discussion, and we welcome your thoughts on any aspect of the chapter.

Some ‘off-line’ sessions will also be held in Oxford during this time. Please contact me if you are interested in attending the off-line sessions, as the numbers will be limited to ensure a smooth running of the reading group. ** Note: It is NOT necessary to have attended the off-line sessions in order to contribute to the online sessions. **

Read the full post here

Posted on February 14, 2008 at 4:35 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Appiah Reading Group, Experimental Ethics | 1 Comment

January 26, 2008

Topics and Trends in Ethics?
By S. Matthew Liao

So what are the hot topics/issues in ethics at present? Off the top of my head, in metaethics: John Broome’s account of reason and rationality? moral fictionalism?; in normative ethics: Kamm’s ethics? the role of intuitions in moral theory?; in applied ethics: enhancement/disability? ethics of war and terror? neuroethics? What else?

Please feel free to be as specific as possible and feel free to link to online papers, books, and blogs. This could be a good resource for graduate students in search of thesis topics, and/or for people who like to stay on top of things. Do chime in. :)

Posted on January 26, 2008 at 8:44 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | 5 Comments

January 18, 2008

NEW Publishing Advice for Graduate Students
By Thom Brooks

While the topic of this post is not specific to ethics, I do hope I may be forgiven for making a brief announcement about a new essay of advice now available online that may be of use to graduate students in ethics and other subjects.

Over the years, I have offered what is now an annual ’speech’ on publishing advice aimed at graduate students and junior academics. I recorded much of my early talks in a paper, first posted on the Political Studies Association’s postgraduate website, and later on the Social Science Research Network expecting little to follow beyond, hopefully, helping a few understand publishing better. The response was extraordinary. The essay fast became the most downloaded document on the PSA postgraduate site and the paper has now been downloaded 2,119 times since December 2005. This original essay (’The Postgraduate’s Guide to Getting Published’) can be downloaded here.

Read the full post here

Posted on January 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm in General Announcement, Thom Brooks's Posts | Leave a Comment

January 3, 2008

Public Affairs Quarterly
By S. Matthew Liao

Happy 2008 everyone!

Professor Bob Talisse has recently taken up the editorship of Public Affairs Quarterly, and he would be pleased if contributors to, and readers of, Ethics Etc keep PAQ in mind as a home for their work.

Posted on January 3, 2008 at 6:14 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | 1 Comment

December 5, 2007

Hegel’s Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Right
By Thom Brooks

If I may be allowed a chance to make a brief announcement, I am delighted to say that my new monograph, Hegel’s Political Philosophy: A Systematic Reading of the Philosophy of Right, is hot off the press. It is published by Edinburgh University Press and distributed in the United States by Columbia University Press.

For a taster:

Read the full post here

Posted on December 5, 2007 at 11:44 am in Normative Ethics, Political Philosophy, Metaphysics, General Announcement, Thom Brooks's Posts | 2 Comments

October 29, 2007

New issue on metaethics
By Thom Brooks

The latest issue of the Journal of Moral Philosophy has just been published and all articles are on the topic of ‘metaethics’. Papers were originally presented at a conference organized by Fabian Freyenhagen at King’s College, Cambridge. The issue can be found here. The contents are as follows:

Read the full post here

Posted on October 29, 2007 at 5:15 pm in Normative Ethics, Metaethics, General Announcement, Value Theory, Thom Brooks's Posts | 2 Comments

October 27, 2007

Neuroethics Accepting Submissions
By S. Matthew Liao

The journal Neuroethics, edited by one of our Contributors, Dr. Neil Levy, and published by Springer, is now accepting submissions. Good work getting this journal started, Neil! Here is a description of the journal:

Read the full post here

Posted on October 27, 2007 at 9:36 pm in General Announcement | Leave a Comment

September 10, 2007

Welcome Julia Driver and Belated Welcome to everyone else!
By S. Matthew Liao

We are delighted to announce the addition of Julia Driver to our list of contributors. Julia is a Professor of Philosophy at Dartmouth College, USA, and is currently interested in objective consequentialism and moral sentimentalism.

Here is a belated welcome to the other contributors as well, so that everyone knows who everyone else is. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the active commentators for your contributions.

Alison Hills - Tutorial Fellow and University Lecturer in Philosophy, Oxford University, UK

Andrew Reisner - Assistant Professor of Philosophy, McGill University, CA

Read the full post here

Posted on September 10, 2007 at 5:44 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

June 27, 2007

Schedule for Kamm Reading Group
By S. Matthew Liao

The Kamm Reading Group will kick off in about a week’s time. Each Friday, a commentator will provide a summary of a chapter and some points for consideration. The post will then be open for discussion. We have a very nice line up of commentators. So do join us for the discussions and let your colleagues know about this event.

The schedule is as follows:

Read the full post here

Posted on June 27, 2007 at 1:16 am in Normative Ethics, General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Kamm Reading Group | Leave a Comment

May 22, 2007

Kamm Reading Group
By S. Matthew Liao

To help launch Ethics Etc, we will shortly be running an online reading group on Frances Kamm’s new book Intricate Ethics: Rights, Responsibilities, and Permissible Harm. The Table of Contents for her book is as follows:

I. Nonconsequentialism and the trolley problem
1. Nonconsequentialism       
2. Aggregation and two moral methods        
3. Intention, harm, and the possibility of a unified theory    
4. The doctrines of double and triple effect and why a rational agent need not intend the means to his end
5. Toward the essence of nonconsequentialist constraints on harming : modality, productive purity, and the greater good working itself out
6. Harming people in Peter Unger’s Living high and letting die
II. Rights
7. Moral status         
8. Rights beyond interests     
9. Conflicts of rights : a typology
III. Responsibilities
10. Responsibility and collaboration
11. Does distance matter morally to the duty to rescue?
12. The new problem of distance in morality          
IV. Others’ ethics
13. Peter Singer’s ethical theory
14. Moral intuitions, cognitive psychology, and the harming/not-aiding distinction
15. Harms, losses, and evils in Gert’s moral theory
16. Owing, justifying, and rejecting
 
Each week one of us will give a brief summary of a chapter of her book and provide some points for discussion. The post will then be open for discussion, and we welcome comments on any aspects of the chapter.

Posted on May 22, 2007 at 12:56 am in Normative Ethics, General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts, Kamm Reading Group | 3 Comments

May 22, 2007

Welcome!
By S. Matthew Liao

Welcome to Ethics Etc. We are delighted that you have found your way to this blog. We will begin posting very shortly and we look forward to your comments.

Posted on May 22, 2007 at 12:50 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | 4 Comments