IDEA Research Seminars

Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Seminar

Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Seminar

Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied (IDEA) Seminar

The ethics of killing in wartime.

Ashkan Atry, IDEA Centre presented at this seminar. Given the rapid expansion of biomedical technologies, the coming decades will perhaps witness a variety of biomedical enhancements which will make human beings stronger, faster, smarter, more focused, etc. However, in recent years a new field of academic discussion has emerged – moral enhancement.

Dr Jamie Dow, Lecturer, IDEA Centre presented at this seminar. Professional Expertise in persuasion or “rhetoric”, understood more-or-less as Aristotle described it, is arguably of great value. Nevertheless, it can seemingly be exercised not only beneficially, but also in ways that are objectionable and produce great harm. I consider here ways in which persuasive expertise allows, and perhaps positively recommends, practices that we would class as “pandering” objectionably to audience’s defects.

Dr Giles Moss, School of Media and Communication presented at this seminar. There is no shortage of commentary following televised election debates about how well the political leaders performed and which of them may have benefitted the most from participating. But what do citizens hope to gain from watching televised election debates? This presentation reports on on-going research, being conducted by a team of researchers from the Open University and the University of Leeds, which seeks to understand how viewers evaluate debates in terms of their role as democratic citizens.

Joe Saunders presented at this seminar. A Kant views every human action as either entirely determined by natural necessity or entirely free. In viewing human action this way, it is unclear how he can account for degrees of responsibility. In this paper, I consider various attempts to accommodate degrees of responsibility within a Kantian framework, but argue that none of them work. In the end, I claim that transcendental idealism constrains Kant such that he cannot provide an adequate account of either agency or responsibility.

Samantha Crossley, PhD Student, Leeds Beckett University presented at this seminar

Bernardo Aguilera, University of Chile, Minimal Minds, Personhood and Moral Status

Tom Hancocks, PhD student, IDEA Centre, discussed “Transitional Justice and Retroactive Law

Dr Andrew Stanners, PhD student from PRHS discussed The Context of Choice

Dr Robert Stern, Professor, University of Sheffield, discussed Care for the Other: Løgstrup and Care Ethics.

Should healthcare policy-makers relax their normal criteria in the case of rare diseases, when deciding whether to licence and fund treatments for them?

CWO(r) John Baldari, PhD student from the IDEA Centre discussed Punishing Privilege. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/events/event/2588/research_seminar-cwor_john_baldari_title_tbc

An audio recording of Dr Chris Bennett presenting 'How Should We Think About the Authority of the Criminal Law?' to the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds on 11 February 2015

An audio recording of Dr Kevin Macnish presenting Privacy: A matter of control or access? to the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds on 18 February 2015

Andrée-Anne Mélançon, Department of Politics, University of Sheffield discusses the topic of Interpreting the Just War Criterion of Discrimination in Modern Warfare.

Tim Taylor, Visiting Research Fellow with the Centre for Ethics and Metaethics, Department of Philosophy, University of Leeds, discusses the topic of a theory-neutral approach to well-being.

Sean Sinclair, a PhD student form the IDEA Centre discusses Measuring the Output Quality of Ethics Classes.

An audio recording of Chris Megone discussing the topic of Empirical Medical Ethics, on the 14th May 2014. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125164/research/2140/research_seminars/2

An audio recording of Morten Jensen presenting his paper, Expressive and Instrumental Voting: Whom Can we Blame for Harmful Policy?, to the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds on the 7th May 2014

An audio recording of Jamie Dow presenting his paper, Persuasive Techniques and "Surrendering" to your Audience, on the 26th March 2014. http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125164/research/2140/research_seminars/2

An audio recording of Thomas Hancocks presenting his paper, War Crimes and Proportional Punishment on the 12th March 2014

An audio recording of Jim Baxter presenting his paper, Integrity and Moral Reasons to the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre, University of Leeds on 29 January 2014