Researching and enhancing athlete welfare: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium of the Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare (BIRNAW) 2013

Copyright @ 2014 Brunel University. All rights reserved by the authors who assert their rights under the Berne Convention. Copyright rests with Brunel University London. All research designs, concepts, models and theories herein are the intellectual property of the contributing authors. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of Dr Daniel Rhind via Brunel University London.The chapters within this book are based on presentations delivered at the 2nd BIRNAW Symposium which was held at Brunel University London in November 2013.Sport is a cultural phenomenon that touches the lives and captures the imagination of many people. Most people assume that sport is “a good thing” and that participation in sport will bring physical, psychological and social benefits to participants and societies. However, as this body of work shows, this is not necessarily or always the case. Abuse and exploitation can and does occur in sport – a fact that sports enthusiasts and sports organisations have been slow to acknowledge. The Brunel International Research Network for Athlete Welfare (BIRNAW) is a remarkable initiative that brings together researchers and policy makers from a variety of disciplines, organisations and countries. The activities and publications of this group have successfully provided an evidence base that has drawn attention to the issues in a powerful and convincing way. Its impact on the world of sport has been significant and is an excellent example of research informing sport policy and improving the practice of sport. Through the work of those involved in BIRNAW, inspired by the vision of Celia Brackenridge and her colleagues at Brunel University London, awareness has been raised, and safeguarding measures are being put in place to ensure the welfare of athletes. There is still much to be done, but the world of sport, and those athletes whose welfare is now safeguarded, already have much to thank them for

Core Self-Awareness and Personhood

All beings who possess the capacity for core self-awareness are moral persons and ought to be legal persons. More specifically, I argue that core self-aware beings ought not to be used merely as a means. This moral prohibition ought to be legally enforced and such enforcement can only be effectively accomplished with legal personhood status. Moreover, the moral prohibition that core self-aware beings ought not to be used merely as a means constitutes the essence of moral personhood. This prohibition is defended with four mutually supportive justifications: Kantian ethics, utilitarianism, ethical empathism and a principle of equal consideration of interests. The moral frameworks appealed to either support the thesis directly or do so after philosophically questionable elements have been removed form them. These frameworks are ultimately justified by an appeal to Aristotelian ethics. Although Aristotle concludes that only those who are capable of abstract rational contemplation can embody the good that is the proper subject of moral philosophy, it is briefly claimed within this thesis that Aristotle's undefended premises assume this conclusion. This claim regarding Aristotle's conclusion about rational beings is not defended herein and is left for a future work. The thesis that all beings who possess the capacity for core self-awareness are persons, or ought not to be used merely as a means, is relatively rare in philosophical discourse. The present work is original because its essential claim is defended with a synergy of seemingly disparate traditional moral theories, a new moral theory and a principle of equal consideration of interests. It is a significant contribution to III philosophical knowledge because the question of who counts in ethics, or who is the proper subject of moral discourse, is fundamental to moral philosophy. An important political implication of this thesis is that non-human animals are persons.Master of Arts (MA

The complexities of genetic technologies: unintended consequences and resposible ethics

The purpose of this article is to explore the complexities of genetic technologies by employing a multi-dimensional analysis of these technologies. This type of analysis has been based on the assumption that genetic technologies include specific techniques and procedures, and the whole process of building genetic knowledge and the mode of work which accompanies the development of specific genetic techniques. In the latter part of the article, the need for a gender-sensitive genetics is put forward, while some unintended consequences of genetic technologies with special reference to genetic screening of pregnant women are discussed. The central strand of thought, informing the development of the ideas presented in this paper is that any advancement within the new genetics should have clear and strong links with the field of ethics and that these ethics should be a responsible ethics - ethics framed by and through relationships with the other