Journal of Practical Ethics

The Journal of Practical Ethics is an open access journal in moral and political philosophy (and related areas), published by the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, located at the University of Oxford.

Our vision is to build an open access journal that will bring the best work in philosophy to bear on pressing issues of public, political or interdisciplinary interest. We believe that the ideas and arguments of many moral and political philosophers are of significant relevance to problems in contemporary life. Not only are these arguments of interest to a wide general public, but they are of relevance to many other academics, political and social leaders. However, there is less than optimal penetration of this philosophical work. It will aim to disseminate excellent research in practical and applied ethics to a broad, global audience comprised of both academic and non-academic readers, with high impact.

Every issue of the Journal of Practical Ethics is available online, free of charge. It is an invitation only, blind-peer-reviewed journal. It is entirely open access online, and print copies may be ordered at cost price via a print-on-demand service. Authors and reviewers are offered an honorarium. The Journal aims to bring the best in academic moral and political philosophy, applied to practical matters, to a broader student or interested public audience. It seeks to promote informed, rational debate, and is not tied to any one particular viewpoint. The Journal will present a range of views and conclusions within the analytic philosophy tradition. It is funded through the generous support of the Uehiro Foundation in Ethics and Education.

We would love to hear from you about the usefulness of our resources - if you have any comments please let us know by submitting your feedback (form at bottom of page).

Past Issues

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Journal of Practical Ethics 10(2)

Commentary
Rejecting Retributivism: Free Will, Punishment, and Criminal Justice, A Précis
Gregg D. Caruso
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Comments on Gregg Caruso’s Rejecting Retributivism: Free Will, Punishment, and Criminal Justice
Kelly McCormick
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Caruso’s Negative Project in Rejecting Retributivism
Raff Donelson
​​​​​​​Read online

Preemptive Incapacitation, Victim’s Rights, Desert, and Respect for Persons: Replies to McCormick and Donelson
Gregg D. Caruso
​​​​​​​Read online

Journal of Practical Ethics 10(1)

Illusions of Control
Adam Hosein
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Defective Normative Powers: The Case of Consent
Massimo Renzo
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Can We Talk?: Communicating Moral Concern in an Era of Polarized Politics
Elizabeth S. Anderson
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Recordings of  Professor Anderson's 2019 Uehiro Lectures "Can We Talk? Communicating Moral Concern in an Era of Polarized Politics" can be found here.

Journal of Practical Ethics 9(2) : Symposium on Cocking and van den Hoven’s "Evil Online"

Précis of "Evil Online"
Dean Cocking and Jeroen van den Hoven
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Commentaries

Moral Intensifiers and the Efficiency of Communication
Dale Dorsey
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Losing Your Way in the Fog: Reflections on "Evil Online"
Philip Kitcher
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Self-Presentation and Privacy Online
Carissa Véliz
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Moral Fog and the Appreciation of Value
Dean Cocking and Jeroen van den Hoven
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Journal of Practical Ethics 9(1)

Reciprocity and Resources
Elizabeth Fenton
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Prioritizing Parents
Moti Gorin
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How AI Can Aid Bioethics
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and Joshua (Gus) August Skorburg
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Journal of Practical Ethics 8(2)

What Should the Voting Age Be?
Dana Kay Nelkin
Journal of Practical Ethics 8(2): 1-29

Parents’ Rights, Children’s Religion: A Familial Relationship Goods Approach
Adam Swift
Journal of Practical Ethics 8(2): 30-65

Journal of Practical Ethics 8(1)

The Feminist Argument Against Supporting Care
Anca Gheaus
Journal of Practical Ethics 8(1): 1-27

Duty and Doubt
Seth Lazar
Journal of Practical Ethics 8(1): 28-55

Journal of Practical Ethics 7(3)

The Duty to Remove Statues of Wrongdoers
Helen Frowe
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(3): 1-31

Kidney Sales and the Burden of Proof
Julian J. Koplin & Michael J. Selgelid
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(3): 32-53

Not a Defence of Organ Markets
Janet Radcliffe Richards
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(3): 54-66

Journal of Practical Ethics 7(2)

On Relational Injustice: Could Colonialism Have Been Wrong Even if it Had Introduced More Benefits than Harms?
Brian Wong
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(2) Supplementary Student Issue, October 2019: 1-12

The Paradox of the Benefiting Samaritan
Miles Unterreiner
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(2) Supplementary Student Issue, October 2019: 13-33

Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1)

Being Good in a World of Need: Some Empirical Worries and an Uncomfortable Philosophical Possibility
Larry S. Temkin
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 1-23

Each-We Dilemmas and Effective Altruism
Matthew Clark and Theron Pummer
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 24-32

Being Good in a World of Uncertainty: A Reply to Temkin
Theodore M. Lechterman
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 33-39

Medical Crowdfunding, Political Marginalization, and Government Responsiveness: A Reply to Larry Temkin
Alida Liberman
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 40-48

Aid Scepticism and Effective Altruism
William MacAskill
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 49-60

First Steps Towards an Ethics of Robots and Artificial Intelligence
John Tasioulas
Journal of Practical Ethics 7(1): 61-95

Journal of Practical Ethics 6(2)

Seeing, Feeling, Doing: Mandatory Ultrasound Laws, Empathy and Abortion
Catherine Mills
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(2): 1-31

Termination of Pregnancy After Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT): Ethical Considerations
Tom Shakespeare & Richard Hull
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(2): 32-54

The Endless Umbilical Cord: Parental Obligation to Grown Children
Rivka Weinberg
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(2): 55-72

Journal of Practical Ethics (6)1

For Hierarchy in Animal Ethics
Shelly Kagan
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(1): 1-18

The Claims of Animals and the Needs of Strangers: Two Cases of Imperfect Right
Christine M. Korsgaard
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(1): 19-51

The Fundamental Problem of Philosophy: Its Point
Ingmar Persson
Journal of Practical Ethics 6(1): 52-68

Journal of Practical Ethics (5)2

The Neglected Harms of Beauty: Beyond Engaging Individuals
Heather Widdows
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 1-29

Why be Moral in a Virtual World?
John McMillan & Mike King
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 30-48

Population and Having Children Now
Jan Narveson
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 49-6

Is Sex With Robots Rape?
Romy Eskens
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 62-7

Prostitution: You Can’t Have Your Cake and Sell It
Simon-Pierre Chevarie-Cossette
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 77-8

The Ethics of Political Bots: Should We Allow Them For Personal Use?
Jonas Haeg
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 85-10

What Makes Discrimination Wrong?
Paul de Font-Reaulx
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 105-11

The Ethical Dilemma of Youth Politics
Andreas Masvie
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(2): 114-121

Journal of Practical Ethics 5(1)

Structural Injustice and the Place of Attachment 
Lea Ypi
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(1): 1-21

Accepting Collective Responsibility for the Future
Stephen M. Gardiner
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(1): 22-52

The Death Penalty Debate: Four Problems and New Philosophical Perspectives
Masaki Ichinose
Journal of Practical Ethics 5(1): 53-80

Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2)

The Greatest Vice?
Hugh LaFollette
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 1-24

Ignorance, Humility and Vice
Cecile Fabre
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 25-30

Humanity’s Collective Ownership of the Earth and Immigration
Mathias Risse
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 31-66

Twenty Questions
Peter Singer
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 67-78

Necessity and Liability: On an Honour-Based Justification for Defensive Harming
Joseph Bowen
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 79-93

Consistent Vegetarianism and the Suffering of Wild Animals
Thomas M. Sittler-Adamczewski
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(2), pp 94-102

Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1)

Dilemmas of Political Correctness
Dan Moller
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1), pp 1-22

Offsetting Class Privilege
Holly Lawford-Smith
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1), pp 23-51

Unjust Wars Worth Fighting For
Victor Tadros
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1), pp 52-78

The Economics of Morality
Dillon Bowen
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1), pp 80-103

Going Viral: Vaccines, Free Speech, and the Harm Principle
Miles Unterreiner
Journal of Practical Ethics 4(1), pp 104-120

Journal of Practical Ethics 3(2)

Less Blame, Less Crime? The Practical Implications of Moral Responsibility Skepticism
Neil Levy
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(2), pp 1-17

Common Morality, Human Rights, and Multiculturalism in Japanese and American Bioethics
Tom L. Beauchamp
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(2), pp 18-35

Should we Prohibit Breast Implants? Collective Moral Obligations in the Context of Harmful and Discriminatory Social Norms
Jessica Laimann
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(2), pp 37-60

How Should Vegans Live?
Xavier Cohen
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(2), pp 61-65

Journal of Practical Ethics 3(1)

Cost Effectiveness Analysis and Fairness
F. M. Kamm
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(1), pp 1-14

The Elements of Well-Being
Brad Hooker
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(1), pp 15-35

Motives to Assist and Reasons to Assist: the Case of Global Poverty
Simon Keller
Journal of Practical Ethics 3(1), pp 37-63

Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2)

How Theories of Well-Being Can Help Us Help
Valerie Tiberius
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2), pp 1-19

What Can we Learn From Happiness Surveys?
Edward Skidelsky
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2), pp 20-32

Indirect Discrimination Is Not Necessarily Unjust
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2), pp 33-57

Letter: Comment on “Associative Duties and the Ethics of Killing in War”
Jeff McMahan
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2), pp 58-68

Letter: A Reply to McMahan
Seth Lazar
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(2), pp 69-71

Journal of Practical Ethics 2(1)

Church-State Separation, Healthcare Policy, and Religious Liberty
Robert Audi
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(1), pp 1-23

Taking Humour (Ethics) Seriously, But Not Too Seriously
David Benatar
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(1), pp 24-43

Only X%: The Problem of Sex Equality
Janet Radcliffe-Richards
Journal of Practical Ethics 2(1), pp 44-67

Journal of Practical Ethics 1(2)

The Morality of Reputation and the Judgment of Others
David S. Oderberg
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(2), pp 3-33

Moral Education in the Liberal State
Kyla Ebels-Duggan
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(2), pp 34-63

Motives and Markets in Health Care
Daniel Hausman
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(2), pp 64-84

Journal of Practical Ethics 1(1)

Introducing the Journal of Practical Ethics
Roger Crisp & Julian Savulescu
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(1), pp 1-2

Associative Duties and the Ethics of Killing in War
Seth Lazar
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(1), pp 3-48

Biotechnology, Justice and Health
Ruth Faden & Madison Powers
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(1), pp 49-61

Situationism and Agency
Alfred R. Mele & Joshua Shepherd
Journal of Practical Ethics 1(1), pp 62-83