Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
PHILOSOPHERS TAKE ON THE WORLD
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
Edited by
D A V I D E D M O N D S
PHILOSOPHERS
TAKE ON THE
WORLD
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,,
UnitedKingdom
OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship,
andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof
OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries
©Theseveralcontributors
Themoralrightsoftheauthorshavebeenasserted
FirstEditionpublishedin
Impression:
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin
aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe
priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted
bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics
rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe
aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe
addressabove
Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform
andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer
PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress
MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY,UnitedStatesofAmerica
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Dataavailable
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:
ISBN ––––
PrintedinGreatBritainby
ClaysLtd,StIvesplc
LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand
forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials
containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork.
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
’
EDITOR S PREFACE
Thepointofphilosophy,thought Karl Marx,isnotjusttointerpret
theworld, buttochangeit.It’san obligationthat seemsespecially
relevant to a subcategory within philosophy, Applied Ethics. There
doesn’t seem much point philosophizing about contested moral
issues—whetherit be free speech, gun control, euthanasia, ordrugs in
sport—ifithasnoinfluenceondebate.Yet,althoughthere’sfascinating
academic work in all areas of applied moral philosophy, little of it
reaches a wider public. The media is full of commentators holding
forth on subjects in which philosophers specialize, but philosophers
themselvesarerarelycalledupontocomment.
Toalargeextentthat’sthefaultofphilosophers—whooftenexpress
themselvesinabstruseandtechnicallanguage,inaccessibletoanybody
beyondtheacademy.Thisisnot,Ihope,achargethatcanbelevelledat
contributorstothisbook.
AllthesecontributorshaveanOxfordconnection.InAppliedEthics,
Oxford University has an outstanding reputation. Much of the credit
for this rests with the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. In the
UehiroCentresetupadailybloginwhichphilosophersgivetheirtake
onastoryinthenews.ThePracticalEthicsBloghasnowhadnearlytwo
thousandposts,whichhavehadmillionsofpageviews.FortheUehiro
Centre the blog has become a central part of its outreach activities,
showcasing its work to a broader public. It’s also proved a fertile and
experimentaloutletforideas.Ablogistheantithesisofapeer-reviewed
journal.ThePracticalEthicsBloghasgivenphilosopherstheopportunity
to float new, often counter-intuitive arguments, and in a more free-
flowing style than would be appropriate in an academic publication.
Many posts appearing in this book have gone on to have an afterlife
afterbeingpickedupelsewhereinthemedia.
This book is a selection from the best and most thought-provoking
posts.Someofthesepostsappearherelittlealteredfromtheiroriginal;
manyothershavebeensubstantiallyreworked.
v
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
’
Thisvolumecoversmanytopicsinmoralphilosophybut,ofcourse,
it’snecessarilyselective.ResearchattheUehiroCentrefocusesnotjust
onperennialtopicsinmorality,butemergingonestoo.Andsoit’snot
surprisingthatonesignificantstrandinthisbookishowweshoulddeal
withnoveldilemmasthrownupbyourmodernworld:internetshaming,
threebiological-parentfamilies,enhancementdrugs.Oftentheseprob-
lems are particularly taxing, since advances in science and technology
seemtooutpacetheintuitionswehavetodealwiththem.Butthatalso
givesthemparticularurgency.
Almost alloftheposts were inspired by someevent in thenews. In
writingaboutmoralphilosophy,philosopherstypicallyusenotrealcases
butthought-experiments,oftenhighlystylizedthought-experiments:the
runawaytrainthatisgoingtokillfivepeopleunlessyouflickaswitchto
turn it down a spur, where one person is tied to the track and will die.
Acommonchargelevelledatthesethought-experimentsisthattheyare
absurdly unrealistic. Our intuitions about thought-experiments, critics
say,cannotbetransplantedinanyusefulwaybackontotherealworld.
Thecasesdiscussedinthisbookdon’tjustbeararesemblancetoreal
life, they are real life. That presents a moral conundrum of its own.
Behind these philosophical musings are true stories about real people,
people who deserve better than to have their stories coldly and intel-
lectuallydissectedasifbyapathologistperforminganautopsy.Allthe
writersherehave,Ibelieve,treatedthesubjectsoftheirdiscussionwith
appropriate respect. But ultimately, practical ethics, if it’s to serve any
usefulfunction,hastobeaboutrealpeoplewithrealfeelingswhoface
realtroublesandrealdilemmas.
The Practical Ethics Blog, meanwhile, is ongoing. You can access it at
<http://blog.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk>
,
@davidedmonds
vi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
When the idea of this book came up—a book requiring cooper-
ation from numerous philosophers—the term ‘herding cats’
sprangimmediatelytomind.
Myfearswereunwarranted.Contributorsinthisvolumerangefrom
philosopherswithinternationalreputationstothosejuststartingouton
theiracademiccareers.Theyhave,withoutexception,beenadelightto
workwith.Mythankstothemall.
Althoughitwasmyjobtomaketheinitialselectionofposts,several
philosophersactedasrefereestoprovideavaluablesecondopinion.So
I owe a debt of gratitude to Steve Clarke, Roger Crisp, Tom Douglas,
Brian Earp, Neil Levy, Hannah Maslen, Ingmar Persson, Janet Radcliffe
Richards,RebeccaRoache,JulianSavulescu,andDominicWilkinson.
For years now I have been privileged to hold a senior research
fellowship at Oxford’s Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. I would like
to thank all the administrative staff at the centre, particularly Rachel
Gaminiratne, Deborah Sheehan, Rocci Wilkinson, and Miriam Wood.
The sine qua non of the centre is Director Julian Savulescu, who first
proposedthisbookandwhohasenthusiasticallychampioneditthrough-
out. Mostofall,I wouldliketothank theUehiro FoundationonEthics
andEducationformakingallthispossiblebythegeneroussupporttothe
centreandallitsstaff.
IwouldliketothankVeroniqueBaxteratDavidHigham;mymother,
Hannah Edmonds, for copyediting, as usual; and the OUP team,
Matthias Butler, Eleanor Collins, Lisa Eaton, Jen Moore, and rock-star
editorPeterMomtchiloff.
‘Why,why,why?’Goodquestions.Thisbookisdedicatedtobudding
philosophersSaulandIsaacEdmonds.
vii
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,30/6/2016,SPi
CONTENTS
Crime and punishment
. Time to reconsider the penal code?
Anders Herlitz
. Enhanced punishment: can technology make life
sentences longer?
Rebecca Roache
. Degrees of sexual harm
Brian D. Earp
Terrorism, guns, and war
. A challenge to gun rights
Jeff McMahan
. McMahan’s hazardous (and irrelevant) thought
experiment
Allen Buchanan and Lance K. Stell
. Travel, friends, and killing
Seth Lazar
. The courageous suicide bomber?
Roger Crisp
. Chemical weapons: in defence of double standards
Owen Schaefer
. Looted artworks: a portrait of justice
Cécile Fabre
ix
