March 14, 2010

Welcome Matthew Smith!
By S. Matthew Liao

It’s a great pleasure to announce that Matthew Smith, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Yale University, has joined us as a Contributor. Matt’s research focuses on moral and political philosophy. He is particularly interested in approaching moral and political questions from the perspective of practical agency embedded in a social world, and has forthcoming and published papers in Philosophers’ Imprint, Noûs, Philosophy and Public Affairs, and the Journal of Political Philosophy. Welcome, Matt!

Posted on March 14, 2010 at 7:50 am in General Announcement, Political Philosophy, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

March 9, 2010

Ethics Course Survey
By S. Matthew Liao

Nathan Nobis (Morehouse College, Atlanta) asked me to post the following:

I have created a survey to try to identify which topics are most commonly addressed in introductory ethics courses that have a contemporary moral issues or problems component. If (and only if) you teach a course that focuses on practical issues (with little to no discussion of moral theory) or has a mix of theory and problems (either a unit on theory and then problems or a mix of theory and problems throughout), please fill out this survey below:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ethics-course-survey
Results will be posted here:
https://sites.google.com/site/nobisphilosophy/ethics-course-survey

Read the full post here

Posted on March 9, 2010 at 5:41 am in Applied Ethics, General Announcement, Practical Ethics, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

March 6, 2010

Welcome Laura Franklin-Hall!
By S. Matthew Liao

We are very pleased that Professor Laura Franklin-Hall has joined us as a Contributor. Laura is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy at New York University, and specializes in the philosophy of biology. She has published numerous articles in Philosophy of Science and also has an active interest in the implications of evolutionary theories for metaethics. Welcome aboard, Laura!

Posted on March 6, 2010 at 6:58 am in General Announcement, Metaethics, Philosophy of biology, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

February 22, 2010

Open House for NYU’s Master’s Program in Bioethics
By S. Matthew Liao

Readers may know that I’ve recently taken up an associate professorship in the Center for Bioethics with an affiliation in the philosophy department at NYU. The Center runs a Master’s Program in Bioethics and is holding an open house on

Thursday, March 4, 2010
5:30-7:30 PM
285 Mercer Street, 9th Floor
(Between Waverly and Washington Pl.)
New York, NY 10003

If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies in Bioethics, this will be a good opportunity to meet with the faculty and students and discuss the range of Program options and career benefits. Food and refreshments will be served.

Read the full post here

Posted on February 22, 2010 at 8:55 pm in Applied Ethics, Bioethics, General Announcement, Practical Ethics, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

February 19, 2010

Over 4 Million Hits for Ethics Etc!
By S. Matthew Liao

Readers of this blog might be interested to learn that Ethics Etc has had over 4 million hits (4,141,340 to be exact) with over 2 million pages read (2,334,935 to be exact) since it started in May 2007. Currently, the blog is averaging about 5400 hits per day. Thanks to everyone who has been visiting this blog!

Posted on February 19, 2010 at 8:00 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

December 8, 2009

Ethics in Philosophical Perspectives
By S. Matthew Liao

The current issue of Philosophical Perspectives is devoted to ethics, and judging from the titles, looks to have quite a number of very interesting papers. Do check them out!

Read the full post here

Posted on December 8, 2009 at 6:46 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 29, 2009

Chalmers’ and Bourget’s Philosophical Surveys
By S. Matthew Liao

David Chalmers and David Bourget are conducting a Philosophical Survey on philosophers’ views on philosophical issues, and a Philosophical Metasurvey in which respondents predict the results of the Philosophical Survey. They’ve extended the deadline to Tuesday December 3. Do take the survey if you are interested.

Posted on November 29, 2009 at 3:39 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 29, 2009

Ethics Etc Goes Mobile
By S. Matthew Liao

This weekend I upgraded the engine running Ethics Etc. The site was working fine, but I wanted to take advantage of some features that are better supported by a new engine. A number of these features are security features, so they should be imperceptible. But one feature that might be of interest is that Ethics Etc now has a mobile version, consisting of primarily the posts! This should make accessing and reading Ethics Etc on your iPhone, Blackberry, etc., easier. Owing to the upgrade, there may be some glitches generally. If you do find some, please do let me know. Thanks!

Posted on November 29, 2009 at 12:23 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 26, 2009

Welcome David Owens!
By S. Matthew Liao

We are very pleased that Dr. David Owens has joined us as a Contributor. David is a Reader at the University of Sheffield. He has published extensively in metaphysics and epistemology, and more recently, he has turned his attention towards ethics. David has published a number of papers on promissory obligation, published in Mind, Philosophical Review, etc., and he has also written on lying, and on the nature of obligation. Welcome aboard, David!

Posted on November 26, 2009 at 5:17 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 17, 2009

Haslanger’s Survey on Publishing in Philosophy
By S. Matthew Liao

Professor Sally Haslanger (MIT) is conducting a survey on publishing in philosophy. All professional philosophers are invited to participate. It should take about 10 minutes. It will be useful to have your CV handy as you complete the survey. You can find the survey here.

If all goes well, Professor Haslanger will to report on the results at the December APA in the symposium on philosophy publishing (Wednesday December 30th, 11:15-1:15).

Posted on November 17, 2009 at 7:08 pm in General Announcement, Issues in the Profession, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 14, 2009

Continuum Ethics book series
By Thom Brooks

Continuum Ethics
A series of books exploring key topics in contemporary ethics and moral philosophy.

Continuum Ethics presents a series of books that will bridge the gap between new research work and undergraduate textbooks. They will provide close examination of key concepts in contemporary moral philosophy. Aimed largely at upper-level undergraduates and research students, they will also appeal to researchers in the field. Authors will be expected to combine philosophical sophistication with an accessible style that can engage the educated reader.

Read the full post here

Posted on November 14, 2009 at 2:06 pm in Applied Ethics, Bioethics, Experimental Ethics, Free Will, General Announcement, Legal Philosophy, Metaethics, Moral Epistemology, Moral Psychology, Normative Ethics, Philosophy of Action, Political Philosophy, Practical Ethics, Simon Kirchin's Posts, Thom Brooks's Posts | Leave a Comment

November 14, 2009

Global Justice and Human Rights book series
By Thom Brooks

Announcing two new book series with Edinburgh University Press:

STUDIES IN GLOBAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS
Series Editor: Thom Brooks

“Global justice and human rights” is perhaps the hottest topic today. Studies in Global Justice and Human Rights is a new book series published by Edinburgh University Press. The series aims to publish groundbreaking work in this increasingly popular field. This series will publish leading monographs and edited collections on key topics in the area of global justice and human rights that will be of broad interest to theorists working in politics, international relations, philosophy, and related disciplines.

Read the full post here

Posted on November 14, 2009 at 2:03 pm in General Announcement, Legal Philosophy, Political Philosophy, Thom Brooks's Posts | Leave a Comment

August 27, 2009

The Experimental Philosophy Page
By S. Matthew Liao

Readers might be interested in the Experimental Philosophy Page, which has over 100 papers covering causation, consciousness, folk psychology, intentional action, metaphilosophy and other areas of research, and which looks to be a very helpful resource. All entries have citations and links, and many also have excerpts or abstracts and links to the authors’ academic web page.

The site is set up such that anyone can edit and update the page, e.g., by adding a paper that isn’t yet included. In fact, the site will only continue to be useful if a decent number of people chip in and add to/update it. So if you have done research in this area, do chime in.

Posted on August 27, 2009 at 3:06 pm in Experimental Philosophy, General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

August 4, 2009

Welcome Melinda Roberts!
By S. Matthew Liao

A very warm welcome to Professor Melinda Roberts, who joins us as a Contributor. Melinda is a professor of philosophy at the College of New Jersey. Her main research areas include obligations in respect of future persons, the nonidentity problem, procreative ethics, law and ethics and consequentialism. She is also interested in expected value and such issues as the two-envelope problem. Melinda is currently completing a manuscript called Abortion and the Moral Significance of Merely Possible Persons: Finding Middle Ground in “Hard Cases.” Welcome aboard, Melinda!

Posted on August 4, 2009 at 1:49 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

August 2, 2009

Roberts and Wasserman on Harming Future Persons
By S. Matthew Liao

Harming Future Persons: Ethics, Genetics and the Nonidentity Problem, edited by Melinda Roberts and David Wasserman, just came out!

From the back cover:
This collection of essays investigates the obligations we have in respect of future persons, ranging from our own future offspring to distant future generations. What are our obligations to persons who have not yet, but eventually will, come into existence? Can we harm them? Can we wrong them? Can the fact that our choice means that a worse off person will exist in place of a better off but “nonidentical” person make that choice is wrong?

Read the full post here

Posted on August 2, 2009 at 12:08 am in Applied Ethics, General Announcement, Normative Ethics, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

July 10, 2009

Call for Co-Editor: Journal of Applied Philosophy
By S. Matthew Liao

The Journal of Applied Philosophy is seeking to appoint a co-editor to work alongside the current editor, Suzanne Uniacke. The position will receive an appropriate honorarium and the appointment will initially be for three years. Expressions of interest in the position should be made, by 1st September 2009, to the Chair of the Management Committee of the Journal, Professor David Archard (d.archard ( at ) lancaster.ac.uk), from whom further information about the position can also
be obtained.

Posted on July 10, 2009 at 3:01 am in Applied Ethics, General Announcement, Practical Ethics, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

June 24, 2009

Journal of Moral Philosophy 6(3) (2009)
By Thom Brooks

JOURNAL OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY:
An International Journal of Moral, Political, and Legal Philosophy
(ISSN 1740-4681)

Volume 6, Number 3 (2009)

ARTICLES

Alex Friedman, ‘Intransitive Ethics’, pp. 277-97

David Lefkowitz, ‘Partiality and Weighing Harm to Non-Combatants’, pp. 298-316

Gerald Lang, ‘Luck Egalitarianism, Permissible Inequalities, and Moral Hazard’, pp. 317-38

Heath White, ‘Fitting Attitudes, Wrong Kinds of Reasons, and Mind-Independent Goodness’, pp. 339-64

Leo Zaibert, ‘The Paradox of Forgiveness’, pp. 365-93

REVIEW ARTICLE

Robert Stern, ‘The Autonomy of Morality and the Morality of Autonomy’, pp. 395-415

Read the full post here

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 6:03 pm in Applied Ethics, General Announcement, Thom Brooks's Posts | Leave a Comment

May 23, 2009

H.L.A. Hart Memorial Lecture in Oxford
By S. Matthew Liao

The Annual H.L.A. Hart Lecture will be given this year by Professor Joseph Raz (Oxford/Columbia).

Title: Responsibility and the Negligence Standard
Date and Time: Tuesday, 26 May 2009, at 5 p.m.
Venue: Blue Boar Lecture Theatre, Christ Church, Oxford

There will also be a post-lecture discussion at 3:45pm in the Goodhart Seminar Room, University College, Oxford, on Wednesday 27 May 2009, and it will end in time for people to attend the final Locke Lecture.

The lecture is open to the public and all are very welcome.

Posted on May 23, 2009 at 10:32 pm in General Announcement, Legal Philosophy, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

May 14, 2009

Welcome David Enoch!
By S. Matthew Liao

We are very pleased that David Enoch has joined us as a Contributor. David is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. He writes mostly in moral, political, and legal philosophy. He’s now working on a book manuscript tentatively entitled “Taking Morality Seriously: A Defense of Robust Realism”. Welcome aboard, David!

Posted on May 14, 2009 at 8:15 pm in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment

May 7, 2009

Welcome Sergio Tenenbaum!
By S. Matthew Liao

We haven’t been very consistent with welcoming new Contributors, but from now on, we hope to be. To kick off this new start, please give a big warm welcome to Sergio Tenenbaum! Sergio is is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Appearances of the Good: An Essay on the Nature of Practical Reason, Cambridge University Press, 2007, and many other articles. Recently he gave a talk at the Moral Philosophy Seminar at Oxford, and we’ll be posting a copy of that paper in due course. We are delighted to have you on board, Sergio!

Posted on May 7, 2009 at 10:42 am in General Announcement, S. Matthew Liao's Posts | Leave a Comment