Playing the game: sport and virtue
As I write this, England will or will not be on the way to the finals of the World Cup, and that matter, like the…
Morality
Three views on privacy in the digital age, part 1: the value of the self
Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the…
Has the postmodern revolution gone full circle?
Happily, the inconsistency and incoherence of the postmodernist perspective is increasingly being challenged by a new generation of thinkers from across the political spectrum. For example Ken Wilber in his Trump and a Post-Truth World notes how postmodernism has played itself out and in attempting to create a new basis for determining truth has ultimately undermined it.
The Just Society: Equality or Freedom?
In A Theory of Justice John Rawls conducted a famous thought experiment. He asked, if we were to imagine, behind a ‘veil of ignorance’, being…
Lexicon for the Moral Maze
Do you find yourself confused or bewildered by what passes for moral debate in the social milieu these days? Asking yourself why so many people…
The coming struggle: individualism versus the bureaucratic state
Introduction Modernity has been characterised not only by the great benefits brought by the increase in scientific knowledge and the technologies that have flowed…
Who Will Mind the Minders?
We often, particularly around this time each year, pride ourselves here in the UK on our having given birth to modern democracy in the context…
Legality and Morality: Can Man Serve Two Masters?
It is often suggested that obedience to the law is a virtue and by implication that respect for the law is a requirement of morality….
Is It Inhumane to Oppose Freedom of Movement?
There are many moral issues relating to the plight of refugees and migrants in our world today we could usefully give attention to. But there is no compulsion to support or advocate freedom of movement as part of a moral response. Ultimately the degree to which freedom of movement is allowed between nations is a political decision with moral arguments capable of being made on both sides.
The Morality of Markets?
Following the forced resignation of Travis Kalanick as CEO of Uber last month amidst allegations of rampant sexism, harassment, and misogyny in the workplace, the morality…