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One set of ethical questions has been looming large since the start of the pandemic:
How do we evaluate the costs and benefits that result from lockdown measures?
Is it possible to weight the lives saved by lockdown measures against the unemployment, damage to mental health and education that they resulted in? Or are such comparisons impossible to make?
Is there a price to human life, and if so, how do we arrive at it?
What are the ethical principles that we should follow when making decisions under conditions of radical uncertainty? And how has the pandemic challenged our usual framework for making life and death decisions?Jonathan Wolff is the Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the University of Oxford, and was formerly Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy.
He has been a public policy advisor on several issues, including gambling regulation, railway safety, bioethics, and at the moment he is co-char of the Working Group for ethics and governance for the Word Health Organisation - Accelerator Covid Response.
Jo has written about his experiences as a public policy advisor, and the lessons there are to be learned for both policy and philosophy, in his book Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical Enquiry.
This podcast is created in partnership with The Philosopher, the UK’s longest running public philosophy journal. The winter issue of The Philosopher is out, tackling one of philosophy’s perennial puzzles: the concept of Nothing. If you’d like to order a copy of the latest issue, and subscribe to the journal, go to www.thephilosopher1923.org/subscribe.
Music by Pataphysical: https://soundcloud.com/pataphysicaltransmission
Artwork by Nick Halliday: https://www.hallidaybooks.com/design -
On January the 6th, what started as a Trump rally in Washington DC, ended up in the violent storming of the Capitol, with, members of Congress being rushed to safety. Fuelled by the president’s words, calling the 2020 election results fraudulent, Trump’s followers took over the Capitol, shouting among other things “This is our house!” and “They work for us!” referring to the members of Congress, their representatives. Commenting on the events President-elect Joe Biden, said “The scenes of chaos at the Capitol do not reflect a true America, they do not represent who we are.”
The concept of political representation is not examined as often as that of democracy, but according to David Runciman, a professor and historian of political thought at the University of Cambridge, it is perhaps even more foundational to the political system we live in. So, what does it mean for elected officials to represent us? And does it matter whether they resemble the electorate? Is representative government always elitist? And what did the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes mean when he suggested the concept of "the people" is a fiction, one that doesn’t exist without representation?
This podcast is created in partnership with The Philosopher, the UK’s longest running public philosophy journal. If you’d like to read a sample of some of the best public philosophy out there, and subscribe to the journal, go to: www.thephilosopher1923.org/subscribe.
David Runciman is also host of the excellent podcast, Talking Politics: www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com
Weekly political commentary on major political events, and beyond, by Cambridge academics, like Helen Thompson, and star guests.
Music by Pataphysical: https://soundcloud.com/pataphysicaltransmission
Artwork by Nick Halliday: https://www.hallidaybooks.com/design -
A new podcast where leading philosophers bring to the surface the philosophy hidden behind the biggest news stories. Together we'll be exploring the ideas that can help us understand the times we're living through. Welcome to The Philosopher & The News.
This podcast is made in partnership with The Philosopher journal: https://www.thephilosopher1923.org/
Music by Pataphysical: https://soundcloud.com/pataphysicaltransmission
Artwork by Nick Halliday: https://www.hallidaybooks.com/design
