The Neglected Harms of Beauty: Beyond Engaging Individuals

This paper explores the neglected ‘harms-to-others’ which result from increased attention to beauty, increased engagement in beauty practices and rising minimal beauty standards. In the first half of the paper I consider the dominant discourse of beauty harms – that of ethics and policy – and argue that this discourse has over-focused on the agency of, and possible harms to, recipients of beauty practices. I introduce the feminist discourse which recognises a general harm to all women and points towards an alternative understanding; although it too focuses on engaging individuals. I argue over-focusing on harms to engaging individuals is somewhat surprising especially in liberal contexts, as this harm can broadly be regarded as ‘self-harm’ (done by individuals to themselves, or by others employed by individuals to do so). The focus on engaging individuals has resulted in the neglect of significant and pressing harms-to-others in theory, policy and practice. In the second half of the paper I turn to actual and emerging harms-to-others. I focus on three particular harms-to-others as examples of the breadth and depth of beauty harms: first, direct harm to providers; second, indirect but specific harm to those who are ‘abnormal’; and third, indirect and general harm to all. I conclude that, contrary to current discourses, harms-to-others need to be taken into account to avoid biased and partial theorising and counter-productive policy-making. I advocate recasting beauty, in a parallel way to smoking, as a matter of public health rather than individual choice

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

The right not to know: the case of psychiatric disorders

This paper will consider the right not to know in the context of psychiatric disorders. It will outline the arguments for and against acquiring knowledge about the results of genetic testing for conditions such as breast cancer and Huntington's disease, and examine whether similar considerations apply to disclosing to clients the results of genetic testing for psychiatric disorders such as depression and Alzheimer's disease. The right not to know will also be examined in the context of the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders that are associated with stigma or for which there is no effective treatment. \ud \u

Quantum Information Dynamics and Open World Science

One of the fundamental insights of quantum mechanics is that complete knowledge of the state of a quantum system is not possible. Such incomplete knowledge of a physical system is the norm rather than the exception. This is becoming increasingly apparent as we apply scientific methods to increasingly complex situations. Empirically intensive disciplines in the biological, human, and geosciences all operate in situations where valid conclusions must be drawn, but deductive completeness is impossible. This paper argues that such situations are emerging examples of {it Open World} Science. In this paradigm, scientific models are known to be acting with incomplete information. Open World models acknowledge their incompleteness, and respond positively when new information becomes available. Many methods for creating Open World models have been explored analytically in quantitative disciplines such as statistics, and the increasingly mature area of machine learning. This paper examines the role of quantum theory and quantum logic in the underpinnings of Open World models, examining the importance of structural features of such as non-commutativity, degrees of similarity, induction, and the impact of observation. Quantum mechanics is not a problem around the edges of classical theory, but is rather a secure bridgehead in the world of science to come

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

Can Wisdom be Taught? Implicit and Explicit מוּסָר as the Aesthetic Pedagogy of Proverbs

The aim of this thesis is to show how Proverbs endeavours to teach for wisdom and, in so doing, to further substantiate the argument that Proverbs is an educational collection of pedagogical merit, and to provide a stimulus for reflection when considering the more philosophical question: Can wisdom be taught? A method of rhetorical analysis of the text of Proverbs is used, which draws out the מוּסָר (normally translated ‘instruction’ or ‘discipline’) of the collection. This מוּסָר is both advocated (i.e. Proverbs recommends certain courses of action) and inherent (i.e. the text itself educates the audience as they read Proverbs). The inherent מוּסָר employs several literary devices (e.g. structure, parallelism, and metaphor) to persuade, shape and direct the desires, reason, and habits of the hearer. Through exegesis of selected passages from Proverbs I have shown how the inherent מוּסָר is implemented within the text, discovering, not an articulated pedagogical system but clear pedagogical principles and methods. In Proverbs, I have argued, can be found a rich and fascinating approach to educating for wisdom and, more broadly, character, which displays a remarkable understanding of the integrated nature of the human self in its pedagogy, which I have termed the aesthetic pedagogy of מוּסָר . When Proverbs was then considered alongside some of the insights of Virtue Education, the commitment to the significance of the emotions, the power of literary form, the importance of habit, and the formation of virtuous character were all found to be shared with other voices from this field, particularly Aristotle, placing Proverbs firmly within this area of educational thought. Nonetheless, Proverbs remains a distinctive text with its own distinctive pedagogy and aims which derive from Proverbs’ underlying commitments as a text rooted in a Yahwistic worldview and operating within the covenantal framework of the wider Hebrew Bible.St Luke's Foundation Diocese of Truro Magdalene College Cambridge St Matthias Trust Philpott Boyd Trus