Is using abortion to select the sex of children ever permissible?

The revelation that some clinicians in Britain have agreed to undertake Sex- Selective Abortions (SSAs) has brought several ethical issues to the fore. Two philosophers analyse the complex arguments surrounding this banned practice, from differing points of view. Jeremy Williams makes the case that SSA could be right in some particular circumstances. But Heather Widdows emphasises the moral dangers involved in permitting SSA

Constructing effective ethical frameworks for biobanking

This paper is about the actual and potential development of an ethics that is appropriate to the practices and institutions of biobanking, the question being how best to develop a framework within which the relevant ethical questions are first identified and then addressed in the right ways. It begins with ways in which a standard approach in bioethics – namely upholding a principle of individual autonomy via the practice of gaining donors’ informed consent – is an inadequate ethical framework for biobanking. In donating material to a biobank, the individual donor relinquishes a degree of control and knowledge over the way their material is used in large-scale and typically open ended projects; and the identifying nature of genetic material means that third parties have rights and interests which must be taken into account as well as those of the individual donor. After discussing the problems for informed consent in the biobanking context, the paper then considers three emerging alternative approaches which, broadly speaking, conceptualize the subject of biobanking ethics in communal or co-operative terms: one version sees participants in biobanking research as ‘shareholders’ whilst the other expands on the notion of participation to include the wider public beneficiaries of biobanking as ‘stakeholders’. It concludes by outlining a third view, on which the biobanking institution itself is conceived as an ethical subject whose defining function can do useful normative work in guiding and evaluating its activities

Thinking ethically about the global in ‘Global Ethics’

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Global Ethics on 2014-04-29, available online: http://wwww.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17449626.2014.89657

Altered images : understanding the influence of unrealistic images and beauty aspirations

In this paper we consider the impact of digitally altered images on individuals’ body satisfaction and beauty aspirations. Drawing on current psychological literature we consider interventions designed to increase knowledge about the ubiquity and unreality of digital images and, in the form of labelling, provide information to the consumer. Such interventions are intended to address the negative consequences of unrealistic beauty ideals. However, contrary to expectations, such initiatives may not be effective, especially in the long-term, and may even be counter-productive. We seek to understand this phenomenon of our continued aspiration for beauty ideals we know to be unreal and even impossible. We draw on our respective disciplines to offer psychological and philosophical accounts for why this might be. We conclude that beauty ideals are deeply embedded in our aspirations, practices, and in our constructions of ourselves. Given this, it is not surprising that simply increasing knowledge, or providing information, will be insufficient to challenge them

The relationship of morality and religion : an investigation of the issue in modern anglophone philosophy

This thesis seeks to explore the relationship between religion and morality. Traditionally in the West the reality of moral values has been upheld by religion and moral codes legitimised by the belief that they are commanded by God. However, in the present secularised and multi-cultural context, such suppositions are no longer assumed to be true. As a result the nature and status of moral value have been brought into question.In the contemporary situation there are many different views about the nature of moral values, and about how, or even if, moral values relate to religion. This thesis is written in response to this uncertainty. The aim is to explore and elucidate the nature of moral value and to unravel its connection to religion. The hope is that this thesis will provide some answers concerning the nature of moral values and go some way to prescribing how the relationship between morality and religion should be conceived. This will be done over the course of six chapters.The first chapter examines the contemporary philosophical debate between realists and anti-realists. Realists assert that moral values are real and certain and can be discovered, while anti-realists contend that values are invented, either individually or collectively. In this chapter the key arguments and points of conflict are discussed and conclusions about the state of the present philosophical debate drawn. This chapter sets the framework and provides the terminology and constructs of the rest of the thesis.Chapter Two moves to the relationship between morality and religion. This chapter outlines and analyses received views of the connection between religion and moral value. In the course of this chapter divine command theories and other views which assert that moral value is dependent upon religion are assessed. As are opposing claims that moral values are independent of religion. In addition, this chapter introduces and evaluates other ways in which moral value and religion relate.The third chapter concentrates on the aesthetic realm and its connection to both moral value and to religion. Art is introduced because various theorists have asserted that art, not religion, provides the authority and transcendence of moral value. This claim is explored and conclusions are drawn. In addition, the nature of aesthetic values, and the implications for moral values are investigated, as is the relationship between art and religion.Chapter Four brings together the three key areas of art, religion and morality by introducing the philosophy of Iris Murdoch. Murdoch presents a moral realism and a picture of moral life which follows from the conclusions which are drawn in the first three chapters. This chapter scrutinises Murdoch's moral realism, a realism which is centred around the moral value of the good. Her work is assessed and the key features elucidated, and complexities analysed.Murdoch's realism is influenced and to a large extent is derived from the work of Plato. Thus, the fifth chapter focuses upon Plato's conception of moral value. The hope is that an examination of Plato's philosophy will provide further information to enable Murdoch's realism to be adequately assessed.The final chapter evaluates Murdoch's Platonic realism, and draws conclusions about the strengths and weaknesses of her position. In this chapter what has been learnt about the relationship between morality and religion is discussed. Prescriptions for how best to conceive of this relationship and suggestions about what a moral theory should include are made

Philosophical feminist bioethics: past, present and future

The end of the last century was a particularly vibrant period for feminist bioethics. Almost two decades on, we reflect on the legacy of the feminist critique of bioethics and investigate the extent to which it has been successful and what requires more attention yet. We do this by examining the past, present, and future: we draw out three feminist concerns that emerged in this period—abstraction, individualism, and power—and consider three feminist responses—relationality, particularity, and justice—and we finish with some thoughts about the future

II—No duty to resist : why individual resistance is an ineffective response to dominant beauty ideals

In this paper I argue that the way to reduce the power of overdemanding beauty ideals is not to advocate that individuals have a ‘duty to resist’, a duty to stop engaging in appearance enhancing practices and body work. I begin by arguing against the claim that women who ‘do’ beauty are suffering from false consciousness. I then give four further additional arguments against advocating a ‘duty to resist’ as an effective means to challenge dominant beauty norms. First, that as a tactic it is ineffective. Second, it is an individual approach which divides and silences. Third, it induces shame and blame, and undermines effective collective action. Fourth, it fails to recognize the privilege of the group norms which make resistance possible

Access to basic reproductive rights:Global Challenges

If women are to have true equality with men, they must be able to control the number of children they have and the time of childbirth. Access to family planning services, particularly safe contraception and abortion, is key to this control and thus must be understood as basic reproductive rights. To disallow such access effectively bars women from attaining equality with men by denying minimal standards of bodily integrity. These rights must be understood not just in terms of noninterference but also in terms of ensuring an enabling environment to access to these services. International human rights norms are an important empowerment tool and are evolving towards protecting basic reproductive rights, but there is still more to be accomplished. An important threat to basic reproductive rights, which must be resisted, is the Global Gag Rule that prohibits funding to reproductive agencies which offer abortion services

A Global Public Goods Approach to the Health of Migrants

This paper explores a global public goods approach to the health of migrants. It suggests that this approach establishes that there are a number of health goods which must be provided to migrants not because these are theirs by right (although this may independently be the case), but because these goods are primary goods which fit the threefold criteria of global public goods. There are two key advantages to this approach: first, it is non-confrontational and non-oppositional, and second, it provides self-interested arguments to provide at least some health goods to migrants and thus appeals to those little moved by rights-based arguments