Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford University is launching an open-source journal dealing with the application of philosophy to public policy

Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics at Oxford University is launching an open-source journal dealing with the application of philosophy to public policy. It will be available both in print and on-line. Although the Centre has a clear utilitarian bent, the editors of the Journal of Practical Ethics, Roger Crisp and Julian Savulescu, say that it “will not adopt any specific ideological, moral, or political position”. The articles will be peer-reviewed but will not be directed at just an academic readership.

“We aim to convey the ideas and ways of thinking of the best philosophers to a worldwide audience and to show how they can be helpfully applied to a practical issue. Articles will aim for a level of accessibility to a non-specialist  audience commensurate with, for example, the level of philosophy articles in The Boston Review, The Stone column in the New York Times Online or Prospect. The journal will seek to avoid technical jargon and obscure terminology.”

The first issue contains three articles: on the ethics of killing in warfare; biotechnology, justice and health; and “situationism and agency”. The new journal promises to be a significant voice in bioethical debates. 

Michael Cook
Creative commons
bioethics
journals