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Ethical Record Articles

The journal began in 1895 and is produced on an monthly basis. Primarily it has provided abstracts and edited essays of the Society’s Sunday Lectures. It has developed into a showcase journal of the Society’s activities and events at Conway Hall.

Puzzling Body Phenomena

As the title suggests, this talk is concerned with the living body experience in connection with the philosophical problem of mind and body within the existential and phenomenological framework. The focus will be on three different perspectives: how I perceive my body, my relationship to the body of the other and the perception of the dead […]

Should People have a Right to know their own Genome?

What does it mean ‘to know your own genome’? Genetic knowledge has become much more easily available in recent years. We no longer receive information exclusively in the context of a conversation with our physician or genetic counsellor. Nowadays we can also obtain genomic information in the form of raw data, in the form of […]

Sartre and the Anguish of Freedom

Sartre proclaimed how free we are – able to choose what to do, be and feel. But this freedom is not a liberation but a life-sentence – with hard labour. If we are to follow Sartre’s exacting strictures on avoiding bad faith, then we will always be scrupulously monitoring ourselves for authenticity, and it will […]

Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership: A Deal that will end our Freedom

Ever heard of TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership? It is a “Free Trade” deal with the United States currently under consideration by the European Union. Trade deals used to be about removing import tariffs. This one is also about the rights to invest in the provision of all manner of public services, […]

Is Anarchism Relevant in Today’s World?

When Tony Blair committed the British government to join the war in Iraq, the huge demonstrations against were unsuccessful. Has society learnt anything from this and, in particular, does anarchism have a role to play? The ideal of anarchism is the abolition of all government and the organisation of society on a voluntary, cooperative basis without recourse to […]

So, there is no God. Is that so?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.. John 1.1 So begins my PhD thesis, written in 1983. It is a quote from the beginning of John’s Gospel, one of 4 accounts of Jesus and of 60 or more books that together comprise the Christian Bible. […]

London Thinks: A Scientist, an Atheist Biblical Scholar and a Vicar walk Into An Ethical Society…

Dr Adam Rutherford, Prof Francesca Stavrakopoulou and Rev Giles Fraser in conversation about Life, the Universe, and Everything. The event will be facilitated by Samira Ahmed. Update: A selection of authors (and related) books will be available by Newham Bookshop for purchase and signing on the night. Religion, science and ethics have always had difficult relationship. From the […]

Stand up for free speech. Publish Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons

Index on Censorship, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, freeDimensional, PEN America, FreeWord, Reporters Without Borders, English PEN and Conway Hall Ethical Society call on all those who believe in the fundamental right to freedom of expression to join in publishing the cartoons or covers of Charlie Hebdo on January 8 at 1400 GMT. We […]

Reconsidering Capital Punishment – The Rationale

ER Jun 15 Debate. Evan Parker Proposing the case for re-introducing Capital Punishment How far will we, – or won’t we, go for the sake of a principle?  Debate held at the Ethical Society, 11 January 2015 [The case against CP’s re-introduction was made by Barbara Smoker and  printed in the February 2015 Ethical Record] […]

The Ethics of Gambling

Given that most people who gamble lose most of the time, why on earth do they do it? Chris Bratcher, who has been a regular casino-goer and occasional punter elsewhere for many years, as well as a former Treasurer and Chairman of Conway Hall Ethical Society, examines the reasons for doing it, and losing at […]

Can Nanotechnology Save The World?

The media’s focus on nanotechnology suggests that grey goo may kill everyone at some stage in the future. The reality is very different. We all carry and use nanotechnology every day in our smart phones, for the internet, in computers and for entertainment. I will show how nanotechnology techniques have come from the technology making […]

The Ethical and Economic Case for Socialism

The concept of surplus labour – that is labour performed over and above that required to fulfil immediate consumption needs – will be used to explain: first, how economic development happens; second, why the current capitalist system, as a result of the appropriation of surplus labour, is both unethical and inefficient economically; and third, why […]

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