The new Uehiro of Oxford Institute, launched on 1st October, has tasked itself with answering a long-standing philosophical question: “How should we live?” Through its interdisciplinary research, the institute aims to apply its findings and get closer to answering the Socratic question, providing forms of ‘ethics consultancy’ to organisations.
The Uehiro Oxford Institute will replace the previous Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics based in the Faculty of Philosophy. However, the Institute will retain its strong links with the department and will be directed by Oxford’s renowned philosophy professor Roger Crisp.
Crisp told Cherwell: “The fundamental question we are asking is ‘How should we live?’, and more particularly ‘How should we act?’. To answer that question in particular areas will require input from specialists in politics, science, medicine, and many other areas, and so we aim to be genuinely interdisciplinary in our approach. We are not expecting to provide all the answers, but we aim to use what we’ve found to help others make their own decisions: this is what we call ‘Thought into Action’.”
The Institute aims to help solve pressing contemporary ethical issues such as how we should respond to the climate crisis, pandemics, and rapid developments in information technology. It will be based in the Humanities Division and will focus on producing interdisciplinary research across a range of areas such as art, literature, law, medicine and social sciences. The move to the Humanities Division from the Faculty of Philosophy recognises the collaboration between relevant disciplines needed to tackle ethical issues.
A gift from Uehiro Foundation on Ethics and Education, which has worked with the University for over two decades, enabled the institute’s creation. The gift will also allow for the creation of postdoctoral research fellowships and graduate scholarships for the Institute.
Founded in 1987, the Uehiro Foundation was formed by Eiji Uehiro, a Japanese social educator and writer. Inspired by his father’s survival of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, he dedicated himself to the furthering of moral and ethical education.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey said: “The ethical challenges facing humanity today are greater and more numerous than at any point in our history. To understand them and to find the best ways to confront them, the Uehiro Oxford Institute will draw on the expertise of our world-leading researchers across the university.”
