Work and self-development: a philosophical reappraisal. Many Australians are worried about work, perhaps in more complex ways than ever before. Young people entering work lack the orientation once provided by established career paths, mid-life workers are often subject to disorienting shifts in role and difficulties finding the right 'work-life' balance, and many people leaving work find their lives suddenly bereft of meaning. This project will shed light on these anxieties by framing work withi ....Work and self-development: a philosophical reappraisal. Many Australians are worried about work, perhaps in more complex ways than ever before. Young people entering work lack the orientation once provided by established career paths, mid-life workers are often subject to disorienting shifts in role and difficulties finding the right 'work-life' balance, and many people leaving work find their lives suddenly bereft of meaning. This project will shed light on these anxieties by framing work within an image of the human that does justice to the depth and complexity of contemporary work experience. It promises a deeper understanding of work that would help promote good health and strengthen Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
Applying the Ethics of Recognition: Work and the Social Bond. Work matters to most Australians. It is not just of instrumental value, worth it just for the money: a good, fulfilling job is integral to a fulfilled life. Our sense of well-being is inseparably bound up with how things are going at work. But how is this well-being sustained? What moral expectations do we bring to work and what happens when they are not met? This project will develop new answers to these questions by focusing on clai ....Applying the Ethics of Recognition: Work and the Social Bond. Work matters to most Australians. It is not just of instrumental value, worth it just for the money: a good, fulfilling job is integral to a fulfilled life. Our sense of well-being is inseparably bound up with how things are going at work. But how is this well-being sustained? What moral expectations do we bring to work and what happens when they are not met? This project will develop new answers to these questions by focusing on claims for recognition arising out of work. Experiences of misrecognition at work, we propose, seriously damage one's capacity to lead a fulfilling life. By identifying ways in which recognition can be given or denied at work, the project will be of great community benefit.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE120100320
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$375,000.00
Summary
Dignity and respect: a Kantian theoretical approach to practical rationality and human agency. A core component of living a fulfilling human life is having one's dignity practically acknowledged. This project will explore what dignity is, its philosophical basis and its practical implications for bioethics; the outcomes will be to improve our understanding of human dignity and to enhance Australia's international reputation in philosophy.
Collective Obligations and Partial Compliance. The research I would conduct is likely to have considerable impact at both the national and international level. Despite the lack of systematic work on the issues my projects tackles, the importance of those issues is now widely recognized, and so work on them is likely to be widely noted and discussed. In addition, the research will have important implications for a number of the most prominent issues in contemporary life in Australia, such as issu ....Collective Obligations and Partial Compliance. The research I would conduct is likely to have considerable impact at both the national and international level. Despite the lack of systematic work on the issues my projects tackles, the importance of those issues is now widely recognized, and so work on them is likely to be widely noted and discussed. In addition, the research will have important implications for a number of the most prominent issues in contemporary life in Australia, such as issues concerning refugees, relations with the aboriginal community, and international aid.Read moreRead less
Egalitarian Responses to Climate Change. The project will offer significant insights into the effects of climate change and adaptation policy on the disadvantaged at a time when there is significant policy change in this area. The project will develop a philosophical framework for assessing whether current and proposed carbon trading schemes are just. In addition, the project will also consider the important political issue of whether democratic participation in the formation of climate policy i ....Egalitarian Responses to Climate Change. The project will offer significant insights into the effects of climate change and adaptation policy on the disadvantaged at a time when there is significant policy change in this area. The project will develop a philosophical framework for assessing whether current and proposed carbon trading schemes are just. In addition, the project will also consider the important political issue of whether democratic participation in the formation of climate policy is required and in what ways. Read moreRead less
Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance wi ....Big-Picture Bioethics: policy-making and liberal democracy. We live an era of rapid growth in biotechnology generating new and difficult ethical questions that need to be tackled by bioethicists and politicians. This project goes beyond typical approaches in bioethics to explore the "big picture": how policies are generated in ethically-contentious domains. It is important to examine how the values of different stakeholders are reflected in such processes to ensure that they are in accordance with Australia's commitment to fostering a multicultural, pluralistic, democratic society. This project will produce practical recommendations for refining public consultation in healthcare policy-making through an examination of three relevant contentious case studies in Australia with comparison to Canada.Read moreRead less
On-Line Identity, Interpersonal Relationships And Society. This project will provide a thoroughgoing account of the implications of the communication context provided by the Internet for the development of our identity as persons and as a society. Its significance is grounded in the fact that the context of our communication with others significantly affects the kind of relationships we develop and so the sort of person and society we become. The Internet has now emerged as a central communicati ....On-Line Identity, Interpersonal Relationships And Society. This project will provide a thoroughgoing account of the implications of the communication context provided by the Internet for the development of our identity as persons and as a society. Its significance is grounded in the fact that the context of our communication with others significantly affects the kind of relationships we develop and so the sort of person and society we become. The Internet has now emerged as a central communication context through which our professional, business and personal lives are pursued.Read moreRead less
The social ontology of personhood: a recognition-theoretical approach. This project pursues the hypothesis that what distinguishes human persons from animals is a certain form of sociality consisting of 'attitudes of recognition'. Understanding the role of these attitudes in the coming about and flourishing of human persons and their communities is essential for fostering the social fabric of multicultural Australia.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE170100126
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$314,809.00
Summary
Groups as individuals: Group rationality and agency. This project aims to understand group rationality and to explore its implications for the design of public institutions. Some institutions act in a unified way despite members having diverse views. In such cases, the institution may seem to be an agent with its own beliefs, intentions and goals – but how does group rationality and agency affect the design and treatment of institutions? This project aims to develop a philosophical theory of gro ....Groups as individuals: Group rationality and agency. This project aims to understand group rationality and to explore its implications for the design of public institutions. Some institutions act in a unified way despite members having diverse views. In such cases, the institution may seem to be an agent with its own beliefs, intentions and goals – but how does group rationality and agency affect the design and treatment of institutions? This project aims to develop a philosophical theory of group rationality that allows institutions to qualify as rational agents without the group’s interests overriding those of individuals. Expected outputs include proposals for the design and legal treatment of groups to advance individual interests.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE190100411
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$408,000.00
Summary
Social constructionism about race. This project aims to show that there are no races, only racialised groups. Race was once thought to be biologically real, a position which is increasingly rejected by specialists. Now race is commonly believed to be a social construct, which is often taken to mean that races are real social groups. This project aims to demonstrate that when race is defined socially it loses its conceptual and historical specificity, and that racial classification should be aban ....Social constructionism about race. This project aims to show that there are no races, only racialised groups. Race was once thought to be biologically real, a position which is increasingly rejected by specialists. Now race is commonly believed to be a social construct, which is often taken to mean that races are real social groups. This project aims to demonstrate that when race is defined socially it loses its conceptual and historical specificity, and that racial classification should be abandoned altogether. An expected outcome of the project is a scholarly and public shift away from racial classification. This project develops and defends the category of the racialised group as an alternative to one of history’s most misleading and dangerous ideas.Read moreRead less