A Great Contemporary Moral Philosopher with Papers for Download

It isn't often that I come across colleagues whose writings I not only learn from, is challenged by and/or, occasionally, agree with, but that to my eye embodies the very core of what philosophy is about. If you know anything about philosophy, you may also know that the question of what it is about is deeply contested among philosophers, so perhaps a better way of saying this is to put it in terms of what initially attracted me and keeps me attracted to the subject. Anyhow, moral philosopher Jeff McMahan (Oxbridge man, now at Rutgers University) is one of these few people. He caught my attention when I was a Ph.D. student writing on the morality of abortion with what I think is his first major academic publication, the lengthy review "Problems of Population Theory", that has since then become a classic primer for anyone seriously wanting to pursue the intricate problems involved in formulating an ethical theory capable of handling the tricky aspects of how our choices may impact on posterity. After that, McMahan has been writing extensively on what may be defined as the ethics of life and death – not least that of killing. In particular, he has pursued and (I would say) thoroughly revived the classic theme of the ethics of war and warfare. What I like about McMahan is basically the combination of three things: his honest engagement with moral philosophy as a practical subject, his commitment to critical thinking – never quitting to question the content and plausibility of his own premises, arguments and ideas, and his view and practice of making applied ethics as an integral part of making ethical theory – and vice versa.

However, luckily, you don't have to take my word for it. McMahan has had the very good taste of making a lot of his writings available for free download via his university webpage. Enjoy!

Keele University Retracts Proposal to Close PEAK and Philosophy

Today, the Keele University Senate wisely decided to retract the proposal to close the Centre for Professional Ethics, as well as the Department of Philosophy. Earlier reports and comments on this drama for us in the world of applied ethics can be traced back from here. I'm quoting verbatim from Angus Dawson's message to the Save PEAK Facebook Group just a few minutes ago (with an added link to a page demonstrating the support referred to in the statement):

We are delighted to announce that due to substantial discussions over the last two days the proposals to close PEAK (the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele University) have been withdrawn.
This decision was accepted and endorsed at today's meeting of Keele University's Senate.
This means that existing and prospective students need not be concerned about their studies.
PEAK remains committed to teaching and research excellence - and is actively recruiting for next year's intake to our courses.
However, we are required to produce a business plan outlining ways to ensure the required cost savings over the next few weeks.
This means that we may need to reactivate this campaign, but for now, we are focusing on positive developments for the future.

We would like to thank all of our friends and colleagues from across the world for their support.
We would particularly like to thank all those that took the time to write letters of support that went to our VC, DVC and Dean.
It was very important to our case that they considered our international reputation and you all made this obvious in the strongest terms.
This has been a difficult week (to say the least) for all of us and our families.
However, your solidarity and support has really helped us to put the evidence and arguments forward.
This is a remarkable victory in a relatively short period of time - and it is due to you all.

So, most probably, cuts will still have to be made, but reportedly, the senior management now has an assignment from Senate to take a broader view in this work, not only targeting single units for close-down. My most heartfelt congratulations to the Keele University Senate for listening to reason, to PEAK and to the international community of applied ethics researchers and scholars.

PEAK's Response to Keele University Close-down Plan Provides Ample Reason for Retraction

The Keele University Centre for Professional Ethics (PEAK) has now made public its response to the suggestion by University senior management to close it down (reported on earlier here, here and here). It can be downloaded here.

For me, the basic facts set out in the response is no news: PEAK is a remarkably successful academic unit – nationally as well as internationally – teaching wise as well as in research. In all respects. At the same time, the response makes clear that the proposal to close PEAK down indeed rests on faulty facts and incomplete analysis of the consequences of such an action. The most blatant examples are:

- The architects behind the proposal have made their calculation based on an inflated figure regarding the number of PEAK staff.
- The proposal ignores the losses of income implied by closing PEAK down
- The idea in the proposal that some PEAK activities could remain within a new ethics stream in the law school lacks all practical feasibility (partly because the number of PEAK staff is significantly less than believed by the authors of the proposal)
- The same authors have completely ignored the rather significant loss of income for the University in the form of research grants if PEAK is closed
- The statement in the proposal that PEAK impact and research productivity is low lacks all foundation.

The Keele University VC and Senate now have excellent reasons to politely thank the authors of the proposal for their service, retract same proposal and instead make their own analysis – this time based on correct figures, complete facts and an analysis built on what is in the long-term interest of the University.