Category: Uncategorized

Well, not really, but just some videos.

 

Since in stage 3 we are talking about resistance and political action, and I have listed four forms of resistance (critique, civil disobedience, terrorism and revolution), Continue reading "Free music…"

Dear all,

 

Welcome back and hope you all had a nice Xmas/New Year.  I know you are all handing in essays at the moment, but it might be worthwhile when you have finished to start reading for the new semester.  Here’s what I’ll be starting with: Continue reading "Welcome back and some indications of readings"

Welcome to the new stage 1 students and welcome back to stages 2 and 3. This is the first real post of 2013 on this blog for your use. Comments can be made and I should respond quickly.

Anyway, something is happening in Newcastle outside of the University that might be of interest to you. The BBC/Radio 3 run a series of discussions called Free Thinking and this year’s takes place on the 19th of September (if any of you are around). Information is available here: bbc.co.uk/freethinking.

See you all soon.

I’ll re-post this early next year, but I am still trying a few things out to make access to classics easier. I’ve done a long search of Amazon’s Kindle store to see what is available for free and have compiled a wish list. The list is available at this link:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/registry/wishlist/39QXP5XJJJY4W

This is not an endorsement of the Kindle or Amazon, it is just an easy way to do things. I have chosen only those books which are free, or were free when I listed them. Etexts are available elsewhere (best idea is to search fro Project Gutenberg).

Just doing a test. Ignore me.

We were going to do the tutorial on war and we will probably do it next week.  There is a distinction between the moral requirements that govern whether one can wage war or not (jus ad bellum) and those that govern conduct in war (jus in bello).  So, a war can be seen as legitimate yet the actions of soldiers illegitimate. This is standard fare for applied ethical thinking on such a subject and if you look at the readings it will become clear what is at stake and how these are regulated. 

 

Personally, I think war is interesting for a different reason.  When we looked at euthanasia and abortion, the question was whether killing could be PERMISSIBLE, that is allowed.  This means that there are situations where the moral laws can be put to one side. With war, what a lot of thinkers don’t seem prepared to say, is that one’s duty to one’s role in the army actually means that killing is REQUIRED (a duty!). The doctrine of proportionality may be used to dispute this, but I think that would be disingenuous.

 

Ps., if you have trouble replying to these posts (which you all seem to do), try clicking on the log in button on the right, use your usual campus login and see if that helps.

 

 

It might seem strange to group these two together, but I do so for a variety of reasons. 1, the tutorials have already been done; 2, both positions have as their central foundation the validity of the principle of the intrinsic value of human life; and 3. both problems are best approached through a deontological/rights based approach as opposed to a utilitarian one.

 

We did not have time to truly discuss Hegel’s approach, but that is because we are early on in his thought.  There are two axes to be applied: what would the public judgement be concerning such problems; and what are the foundations of these judgements.  The rationality of one’s moral assertions are then twofold: in accordance with the public will and then whether the public will itself is rational.

 

Moral problems such as euthanasia and abortion question traditional principles such as the sanctity of life because new technology lays bare the foundations of our public reasoning about these subjects.