Uehiro Oxford Institute

The Uehiro Oxford Institute’s mission is to facilitate ethical progress through research, teaching, and real-world application. Artificial Intelligence, climate and ecological breakdown, future pandemics, global conflict, political systems under pressure. These are just some of the significant challenges that humanity faces today. By bringing a philosophical focus to collaborative initiatives UOI aims to ensure these issues are addressed in a well-informed and ethically grounded manner.

All episodes

Title	Description	People	Date
2013 Wellcome Lecture in Neuroethics: The Irresponsible Self: Self bias changes the way we see the world	Humans show a bias to favour information related to themselves over information related to other people. How does this effect arise? Are self biases a stable trait of the individual? Do these biases change fundamental perceptual processes?	Glyn Humphries	4 December, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Do antidepressants work and if so how?	Antidepressants are commonplace yet there is much debate about their clinical efficacy. Are they merely placebos or do they have a clinical effect on the way our brains work? In this presentation, Professor Cowen investigates the evidence.	Phil Cowen	4 December, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Cyborg justice: human enhancement and punishment	We explore some possible interactions between enhancement technology and punishment, reflect on ethical issues that arise as a result, and consider what our justice system must do in order to ensure that it keeps pace with developments in technology.	Rebecca Roache, Anders Sandberg, Hannah Maslen	19 November, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: The struggle between liberties and authorities in the information age	The talk discusses the balance between cyber security measures and individual rights - any fair and reasonable society should implement the former successfully while respecting and furthering the latter.	Mariarosaria Taddeo	13 November, 2013
St Cross Seminar: Neither God nor Nature. Could the doping sinner be an exemplar of human(ist) dignity?	If doping were done in a healthy and fair way, would it be OK? If so, all wrongs would lie in doping abuses involving health risks, deceit and unfairness. I argue that perhaps the doping sinner best exemplifies human dignity and existential authenticity.	Pieter Bonte	23 October, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Ethics and Expectations: Part II	The trolley problem is a thought experiment in ethics. Outside traditional philosophical discussion, the trolley problem has been a significant feature in the fields of cognitive science and neuroethics.	Seth Lazar	21 October, 2013
Virtuous Climate Making? Towards a Virtue-Theoretic Approach to Geoengineering	Geoengineering, as a response to climate change, raises serious ethical and socio-political issues. Drawing on the latest developments in philosophy and ethics of technology and science, I consider a post-humanist way of analysing such issues.	Pak-Hang Wong	3 July, 2013
The Ethics of Infant Male Circumcision	In this talk, I argue that non-therapeutic circumcision of infants is unethical, whether performed for reasons of obtaining possible future health benefits, for reasons of cultural transmission, or for reasons of perceived religious obligation.	Brian Earp	27 June, 2013
TT13 Uehiro Seminar: Attention, Action, and Responsibility	The speaker proposes a four-step account of action, within which only two of the four steps benefit from the subject's attention, revealing a potential disconnect between the subject of experience and the morally responsible agent.	Carolyn Dicey Jennings	18 June, 2013
Using Religion to Justify Violence	Exploring different ways in which the metaphysics of religious world views can be used in justifications of violence, this talk concentrates on appeals to the importance of the afterlife to justify violence.	Steve Clarke	18 June, 2013
2nd St Cross Seminar TT13: Ethics In Finance: A New Financial Theory For A Post-Financialized World	The lecture describes why financial theory and teaching has ignored ethics, viewing moral values as irrelevant. We trace the reason for the neglect of ethics back to assumptions made by Modern Finance Theory, the en courant theory in finance.	Dr Kara Tan Bhala	6 June, 2013
Folk Psychology, the Reactive Attitudes and Responsibility	In this talk we first argue that the reactive attitudes originate in very fast non-voluntary processes involving constant facial feedback. In the second part we examine the supposed constitutive relation between the reactive attitudes and responsibility.	Jeanette Kennett	30 May, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: The current laws on drugs and alcohol - ineffective, dishonest and unethical?	Nutt argues that there are serious ethical implications for a simplistic prohibitionist approach to drugs and suggests alternative strategies that might be used.	David Nutt	27 May, 2013
Uehiro Special Double Seminar: Enhancement	Associate Professor Rob Sparrow (Monash) and PhD student Chris Gyngell (ANU) present talks on the topic of human enhancement.	Rob Sparrow, Chris Gyngell	22 May, 2013
1st St Cross Seminar TT13: Precarious (bio)ethics: research on poisoning patients in Sri Lanka	Self-harm using poison is a serious public health problem in Sri Lanka. As part of an effort to tackle the problem, clinical trials are used to identify effective antidotes. This talk describes the conduct of trials in this unusual and difficult context.	Salla Sariola	15 May, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Rescuing Responsibility from the Retributivists - Neuroscience, Free Will and Criminal Punishment	Legal punishment as the routine infliction of suffering poses a serious challenge of justification. The challenge becomes more urgent as a number of thinkers argue that the dominant, retributivist answer fails in the light of the findings of neuroscience.	Frej Klem Thomsen	2 May, 2013
Astor Keynote Lecture: What Rights May be Defended by Means of War?	Many aims that motivate unjust wars could be achieved without violence if not met with military resistance. So is self-defense against aggression always permissible? Are the values of state sovereignty important enough to justify war in their defense?	Jeff McMahan	11 April, 2013
Effective Philanthropy: How much good can we achieve?	How do we know when our donations are helping, and how much they are helping? Are charities roughly equally good, or are some much more effective than others? Toby Ord and Harry Shannon discuss effective philanthropy from different angles.	Toby Ord, Harry Shannon	6 March, 2013
Opening the Black Box: Examining the Deliberation of Assisted Reproductive Technologies in the UK and US; Second St Cross Special Ethics Seminar HT13	How best to govern the field of assisted reproductive technologies? As UK and US authorities utilise different approaches, will the disparate structures and missions of these two bodies result in significantly different answers?	Kyle Edwards	5 March, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: The Value of Uncertainty	Uncertainty and quality should be integrated into the quantitative sciences of complex systems; this talk offers some practical techniques that illustrate how this could be accomplished.	Peter Taylor, Jerome Ravetz	5 March, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Psychopaths and responsibility	Neil Levy explores some of the previous debates about whether psychopaths are fully responsible for their wrongdoing, especially work on the moral/conventional distinction.	Neil Levy	26 February, 2013
Debate: The Value of Life	John Broome, the White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, debates the value of life with Jeff McMahan, focussing on McMahan's time-relative account of the value of life, which Broome has criticised.	John Broome, Jeff McMahan	15 February, 2013
1st St Cross Seminar HT13: Two Conceptions of Children's Welfare	Anthony Skelton examines possible reasons why philosophers have neglected to discuss children's welfare. After outlining and evaluating differing views, a rival account is presented.	Anthony Skelton	5 February, 2013
Uehiro Seminar: Sleep and Opportunity for Well-being	Discussing a paper co-authored with David Birks, Alexandre Erler suggests sleeping less can provide a greater opportunity for well-being.	Alexandre Erler	5 February, 2013
If I could just stop loving you: Anti-love drugs and the ethics of a chemical break-up	Emotional pain and difficulty in relationships is potentially dangerous and destructive. In this talk, I explore some of the potential uses and misuses of anti-love biotechnology from a scientific and ethical perspective.	Brian Earp	4 December, 2012
2012 Leverhulme Lecture 3: Religious Virtues, Democratic Virtues and their interaction in Practice	This series of lectures attempts to explore whether possible relations between some typical religious virtues, attitudes and practices and typical democratic virtues, attitudes and practices must be a source of conflict or can be mutually supportive.	Tony Coady	22 November, 2012
2012 Leverhulme Lecture 2: Reason, Religion and Public Discourse in a Liberal Democracy	This series of lectures attempts to explore whether possible relations between some typical religious virtues, attitudes and practices and typical democratic virtues, attitudes and practices must be a source of conflict or can be mutually supportive.	Tony Coady	22 November, 2012
2012 Leverhulme Lecture 1: Some Problems about Religion in the Political Sphere: the dangers of instability and violence	This series of lectures attempts to explore whether possible relations between some typical religious virtues, attitudes and practices and typical democratic virtues, attitudes and practices must be a source of conflict or can be mutually supportive.	Tony Coady	22 November, 2012
The bad seed: facts and values in the study of childhood antisocial behaviour	The speaker presents some recent work that has been done on children who are seen to be at risk of violence; and raises questions about the social and ethical significance of studying children in this way and for this purpose.	Gwen Adshead	19 November, 2012
The Possibility of Religious-Secular Ethical Engagement Debate 1: Abortion	The Possibility of Religious-Secular Ethical Engagement: Abortion.	Charles Camosy, Julian Savulescu	24 October, 2012
The Possibility of Religious-Secular Ethical Engagement Debate 2: Euthanasia	The Possibility of Religious-Secular Ethical Engagement: Euthanasia.	Charles Camosy, Julian Savulescu	23 October, 2012
Uehiro Seminar: The Ethics of Creating Designer Babies	Julian Savulescu believes that if we can genetically alter the next generation, not only should we be free to do so, it may even turn out that in some circumstances we have an obligation to go ahead and do it.	Julian Savulescu	18 October, 2012
Experimental Evidence for Morality As Accountability	Presentations from an international conference on the normative significance of cognitive science. Hosted by Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford July 2012).	Stephen Darwall	25 July, 2012
When the mind matters for morality	Presentations from an international conference on the normative significance of cognitive science. Hosted by Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford July 2012).	Liane Young	25 July, 2012
Accepting our natures. When should we accept the ways people tend to behave; when should we aim to change them?	Presentations from an international conference on the normative significance of cognitive science. Hosted by Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford July 2012).	Kwame Anthony Appiah	25 July, 2012
When Can('t) We Trust Our Moral Intuitions in Distributive Cases?	Presentations from an international conference on the normative significance of cognitive science. Hosted by Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford July 2012).	Alex Voorhoeve	25 July, 2012
Science, Responsibility and The Traffic Participation View on Human Agency	Presentations from an international conference on the normative significance of cognitive science. Hosted by Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford July 2012).	Maureen Sie	25 July, 2012
SRC Conference 'Reducing Religious Conflict': Round Table Discussion	Discussion of key themes emerging from a two-day interdisciplinary conference on reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Roger Trigg, Scott Atran, Julian Savulescu	12 July, 2012
How Might Understanding Human Groups Help Address Religious Conflict?	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Paul Troop	12 July, 2012
Local versus Global Dimensions of Religious Violence: The Case of the Caucasus	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Monica Toft	12 July, 2012
Intergroup Contact as a Means of Reducing Religious Conflict: Evidence from Belfast and Oldham	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Miles Hewstone	12 July, 2012
Religion and Religious Conflict: A Secular View	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Julian Savuelscu	12 July, 2012
Civility and Deep Disagreement: Philosophical Reflections on Religious Difference and Public Life	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Tony Coady	12 July, 2012
Religion in Conflict and Peacemaking, with Particular Reference to South Africa	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Liz Carmichael	12 July, 2012
Religious and Sacred Imperatives in Human Conflict	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Scott Atran	12 July, 2012
Can Emotion Regulation Change Political Attitudes in Intractable and Religious Conflict? From the Laboratory to the Field	Presentations from a two-day international and interdisciplinary conference on the theme of reducing religious conflict. Organised by the SRC Project, Faculty of Philosophy, University of Oxford (June 2012).	Eran Halperin	12 July, 2012
Wellcome Lecture in Neuroethics	The brain disease model of addiction: Assessing its validity, utility and implications for public policy towards the treatment and prevention of addiction.	Wayne Hall	20 June, 2012
Counter-terrorism and its Ethical Hazards	Since the terrorist attacks by Islamic militants upon the US and UK in the early 2000s, a host of anti-terrorist measures have been introduced which raise conceptual and ethical issues that have serious implications for practical politics.	Tony Coady	14 June, 2012
Philosophical Theory and the Justification of Terrorism	There is widespread belief that terrorism can never be morally justified, ut this belief is not widespread amongst philosophers; they offer a variety of justifications for some terrorist acts.	Tony Coady	6 June, 2012
St Cross Seminar: Informing Egg Donors of the Potential for Embryonic Research	Schaefer is currently reading for the B.Phil in Philosophy at Oxford. His interests lie in moral philosophy, especially applied ethics, as well as political philosophy and personal identity and he has a background in research ethics.	G Owen Schaefer	30 May, 2012
Geoengineering: Science, politics and ethics	An introduction to geoengineering, covering the broad range of issues raised by the emergence of climate engineering as a response to climate change.	Clive Hamilton	23 May, 2012
The Ethics of Entertainment: a case study of Popular Cinema in China and India	Karanjeet de Feo-Giet's thesis focuses on contemporary Chinese and Indian entertainment films in Mandarin and Hindi and their roles in communicating ideas about identity and Asian-ness today.	Karanjeet de Feo-Giet	10 May, 2012
Lecture: Rumour, conspiracy theory and propaganda	David Coady is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Tasmania. He is the author of What to Believe Now: Applying Epistemology to Contemporary Issues and the editor of Conspiracy Theories: The Philosophical Debate.	David Coady	16 April, 2012
St Cross Seminar HT12: Cooperation, altruism and cheating in micro-organisms	Santorelli is a research fellow in the Zoology department, University of Oxford. He is interested in investigating the evolution of cooperative behaviors of macro and microorganisms.	Lorenzo Santorelli	27 February, 2012
Foundations of Rights of Access to the Benefits of Science in International Law	Professor Aurora Plomer is Chair in Law and Bioethics at the University of Sheffield.	Aurora Plomer	8 February, 2012
The Secular Problem of Evil	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	John Kekes	1 February, 2012
A Religious Conception of Evil	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Steve Clarke	1 February, 2012
Narratives of Entitlement	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Arne Johan Vetlesen	1 February, 2012
The Challenges of Global and Local Misogyny	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Claudia Card	1 February, 2012
Moral Enhancement and the Duty to Eliminate Evildoing	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Shlomit Harrosh	1 February, 2012
Can We Treat Evil?	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Gwen Adshead	1 February, 2012
What Use Is the Concept of Evil to Us?	Paper delivered at the Moral Evil in Practical Ethics Conference, Oxford 2012.	Eve Garrard	1 February, 2012
EU ban on hESC Patents: A Threat to Science and the Rule of Law	In this talk, Professor Plomer (Chair in Law and Bioethics, University of Sheffield) argues that, from a legal perspective, the EU ban on hESC patents is seriously flawed.	Aurora Plomer	23 January, 2012
2nd St Cross Seminar MT11: Dr Margaret Yee	Whose Ethics? Six Principles and Six Guidelines determinative of a superior ethics. Note: due to a technical issue the first ten minutes of the presentation are missing.	Margaret Yee	8 December, 2011
Bio-ethics Bites: Onora O'Neill on Trust	Onora O'Neill, formerly principal of Newnham College, Cambridge, has been thinking about the issue of 'trust': trust is vital in most areas of human interaction - but nowhere more so than in health and medicine.	Onora O'Neill	1 September, 2011
2nd St Cross Special Ethics Seminar TT11: Museum Ethics	Museum Ethics.	Nick Mayhew	29 June, 2011
Human Rights vs Religion?	Professor Roger Trigg gives the St Cross Special Ethics Seminar, Trinity Term 2011.	Roger Trigg	20 June, 2011
Savulescu interview: Moral Enhancement	Nigel Warburton interviews Julian Savulescu on the topic of moral enhancement.	Nigel Warburton, Julian Savulescu	1 June, 2011
Prioritarianism, Levelling Down and Welfare Diffusion	Lecture and discussion from Professor Ingmar Persson (Gothenburg University), the discussant is Derek Parfit (Oxford).	Ingmar Persson, Derek Parfit	28 March, 2011
New Imaging Evidence for the Neural Bases of Moral Sentiments: Prosocial and Antisocial Behaviour	2nd Annual Wellcome Lecture in Neuroethics, given by Professor Jorge Moll on 18th January 2011 on the subject of new evidence for Neural bases for moral sentiments.	Jorge Moll	28 March, 2011
Hug me daddy I hate you: the ethical challenges of a C21 business	Dr Mick Blowfield, Fellow of St Cross College, gives the second St Cross Special Ethics Seminar on The Ethical Challenges of 21st Century Businesses.	Mick Blowfield	22 March, 2011
Good Intentions and Political Life: Against Virtue Parsimony: St Cross Special Ethics Seminar	Dr Adrian Walsh delivers a St Cross College Lecture entitled Good Intentions and Political Life: Against Virtue Parsimony.	Adrian Walsh	24 January, 2011
Unfit for Life: Genetically Enhance Humanity of Face Extinction	A St Cross Special Ethics Seminar - If we are to avoid annihilation, we must either alter our political institutions, severely restrain our technology or change our nature (22 February 2010).	Julian Savulescu	3 March, 2010
The Flipside of Scientific Freedom	Scientists have always had to contend with the idea that their research may be misused. The problem, weighing scientific freedom of inquiry against the possibility that research could be used for harm, is known as the 'dual-use dilemma'.	Tom Douglas	12 August, 2009
Julian Savulescu's Monash Distinguished Alumni	Julian Savulescu and the other Monash Distinguished Alumni discuss how Monash University has influenced their careers.	Julian Savulescu	30 June, 2009

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