Piers Benn
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Piers Benn (born 1962) is a British philosopher. His research interests include
ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, including medical ethics,
philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...
. and the philosophy of psychiatry.


Work

Benn grew up in Blackheath, South East London with parents June, a romantic novelist, and David Wedgwood Benn, a BBC producer and Russian specialist. David was a brother of Labour politician
Tony Benn Anthony Neil Wedgwood Benn (3 April 1925 – 14 March 2014), known between 1960 and 1963 as Viscount Stansgate, was a British politician, writer and diarist who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and 1970s. A member of the Labour Party, ...
. Piers was educated at
Eltham College Eltham College is an independent day school situated in Mottingham, southeast London. Eltham and Mottingham once formed part of the same parish, hence its name. It is a member of The Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Early hi ...
in Mottingham until 1980, and gained his
B.A Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
Hons. degree (First Class) in Philosophy & Modern Languages from Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1984). He received his PhD degree in philosophy ("Human Death: its Nature and Significance") from Birkbeck College,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
(1992). He has taught at the
University of St. Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...
,
University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...
,
Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
(
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
), and King's College London.Members of the Humanist Philosophers' Group, BHA
/ref> He is currently (2015) a visiting lecturer at
Heythrop College Heythrop College, University of London, was a constituent college of the University of London between 1971 and 2018, last located in Kensington Square, London. It comprised the university's specialist faculties of philosophy and theology with soc ...
in London, and an adjunct professor at the London Centre of Fordham University New York. He has also written articles in various journals and appeared on British media, including
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. His 1997 book ''Ethics'', re-issued by Routledge in 2000, is a textbook for undergraduate courses. The book is both an introduction into the subject and a substantive argument in favor of the neo-Aristotelian view of the objectivity of moral claims. It covers the following topics, in the corresponding chapters. # Authority and
relativism Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assessed. Ther ...
# The objectivity of
morality Morality () is the differentiation of intentions, decisions and actions between those that are distinguished as proper (right) and those that are improper (wrong). Morality can be a body of standards or principles derived from a code of co ...
#
Consequentialism In ethical philosophy, consequentialism is a class of normative, teleological ethical theories that holds that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct. Thus, fro ...
# Kant's ethics #
Contractualism Contractualism is a term in philosophy which refers either to a family of political theories in the social contract tradition (when used in this sense, the term is an umbrella term for all social contract theories that include contractarianism), o ...
#
Free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to ac ...
and the moral
emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...
s #
Virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standards ...
# Reasoning about ethics His 2011 book 'Commitment' (Acumen Press) is one of the books in Acumen Press' 'Art of Living' series. It discusses the value of, and obstacles to, personal commitment - especially in the areas of love, work, and faith.


Views

He was among the 43 signatories of a 2002 letter sent to
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
concerning teaching Creationism in British state-funded schools.Letter to Tony Blair about teaching Creationism in schools
/ref> Commenting on
Islamophobia Islamophobia is the fear of, hatred of, or prejudice against the religion of Islam or Muslims in general, especially when seen as a geopolitical force or a source of terrorism. The scope and precise definition of the term ''Islamophobia'' ...
in ''
New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History The ''New Humanist'' has been in print for more than 13 ...
'', Benn suggests that people who fear the rise of Islamophobia foster an environment "not intellectually or morally healthy", to the point that what he calls "Islamophobia-phobia" can undermine "critical scrutiny of Islam as somehow impolite, or ignorant of the religion's true nature", encouraging "sentimental pretence that all claims to religious truth are somehow 'equal', or that critical scrutiny of Islam (or any belief system) is ignorant, prejudiced, or 'phobic'"."On Islamophobia-phobia"
''
New Humanist ''New Humanist'' is a quarterly magazine, published by the Rationalist Association in the UK, that focuses on culture, news, philosophy, and science from a sceptical perspective. History The ''New Humanist'' has been in print for more than 13 ...
, Vol.117, Issue 2 (Summer 2002)''


Bibliography

Commitment (Art of Living series), Acumen Press 2011. * ''Ethics'', "Fundamentals of Philosophy" series, McGill-Queen's University Press /
UCL Press , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget =  ...
, 1997 (hardcover), (paperback, 1998),
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...
, 1997 (paperback), (hardcover), (
e-book An ebook (short for electronic book), also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Alt ...
) * "How Should We Treat the Dead?", in
Thinking about Death
', British Humanist Association (2002) *
Is Nothing Sacred?
', essays, by Richard Norman, Piers Benn, Simon Blackburn, and Michael Clark, 2004,
Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

see description


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benn, Piers Living people 21st-century British philosophers Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London Academics of the University of Leeds Academics of the University of St Andrews Academics of Imperial College London Academics of King's College London People educated at Eltham College 1962 births