Category: Philosophy

Essays, Philosophy, Politics, Religion

Taking conscience seriously

In an essay published as part of the Academy of Ideas’ Letters for Liberty series, I write that we must not simply defend conscience from overt censorship, but champion it as a bulwark against groupthink and moral conformism.

Letters on Liberty: Taking conscience seriously

From debates about abortion to Black Lives Matter, Brexit to gay cakes, there is little belief that some deeper questions are best given space away from the hurly-burly of politics – even if that’s never easy in practice. Conscience is not an alternative to public debate, but an invaluable supplement to it, and one we should cherish – not even when it challenges a moral and political consensus, but especially when it does.

Read Taking Conscience Seriously.

fiction, Philosophy

The last hot dogs

Zoe looked anxiously into her cupboard. There was one more tin of hot dogs. That was it. And then? Then she would just have to do without. The authorities regretted it if current restrictions made it difficult to obtain food, but food was hardly a priority in a time of crisis. According to some who were more strident in their beliefs, this was an opportunity for Zoe and others like her to ‘evolve’, to grow out of their primitive belief that they could not live without food. They would have to recognise the supremacy of the spiritual life, even if it led to a deterioration in their ‘physical health’. Continue reading “The last hot dogs” →

Essays, Philosophy

What is existential freedom?

Earlier this year, historian Mary Beard got involved in a Twitter spat after she suggested that it was not all that shocking that Oxfam workers had used prostitutes, while on a disaster relief mission in Haiti. She noted that people often behave badly in extreme situations and suggested that it might be a mistake to judge them too harshly. There was a predictable outraged backlash. Writing about the controversy afterwards, Beard reflected that people often have unrealistically high moral standards, even of themselves. She gave the example of a discussion she’d had with a group of students, about Nazi-occupied France. She’d asked what they thought they would have done in those circumstances. “They all said they would have joined the Resistance,” she recalled, before noting, “The truth is to judge by any statistics you can get that most of them would have been collaborators or keeping their heads down.”

It’s a salutary point, and I don’t dispute it, but, at the same time, there would have to be something seriously wrong with anyone who answered the question by saying, “Well, statistically speaking, I’d probably have helped the Nazis.” Continue reading “What is existential freedom?” →

Essays, Philosophy

Consent, desire and the horror of persuasion

Unexpected advances are not on a continuum with sexual abuse. People are sometimes open to persuasion. And genuine consent is not necessarily explicit. Continue reading “Consent, desire and the horror of persuasion” →

Essays, Intellectuals, Philosophy, Religion

Love your enemies… but don’t let them eat you

Sam Harris on the science of good and evil, Intelligence Squared, London, 11 April 2011

American philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, author of The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine Human Values, is on a mission to break down the longstanding philosophical distinction between facts and values. Continue reading “Love your enemies… but don’t let them eat you” →