Last week I had the opportunity to attend one of Peter Vardy's A level conferences in Oxford. Set in the town hall it was fantastic to be surrounded by so many students all keen to expand their knowledge of ethics. The day began with a fast paced lecture on Kantian ethics which my students found took them beyond what they already knew yet simplified their existing knowledge into easy to use bytes. Next came a fascinating look at Utilitarianism looking in detail at how Mill's upbringing affected his attitude to Bentham's utilitarianism and inspired him to look beyond pure quantity of pleasure. It looked at the influence of emotion on his work - especially the poetry of Coleridge and his love for a woman.
After a short break Peter Vardy continued with a look at diversity in modern ethics. He suggested a whole new way of viewing the spectrum of ethics with all the traditionally studied ethical theories on one side and post modernism on the other. His rational was that all the traditional theories have an aim or look for a common humanity i.e. love, reason or perhaps happiness. He felt that post modernism offered a real alternative to these theories as it was truly relative - moral decisions were made without a need for an aim or reference to a common nature. Everything was led by circumstance.
The final lecture of the morning was led by Bob Bowie who looked at the implication of human rights legislation for medical ethics. An interesting discussion in times of economic hardship and the need for cuts.
The day was finished off in the afternoon by a debate led by Peter Vardy "This house believes that assisted suicide should be legalised in the UK". He introduced interviews from Mary Warnock and David Alton which can be viewed at http://www.candleconferences.kk5.org/ethics/4537101747 The debate gave the students a chance to air their views on the issue and many students took part speaking eloquently on the topic. The vote at the end was a surprising even split between those in favour and those against.
Overall the day was excellent and really helped move student understanding of the ethical theories forward. this will be an important stepping stone as we move onto practical ethics over the next term.
