Janet Radcliffe Richards

Janet Radcliffe Richards (1944- ) is a British philosopher who has written about feminism and bioethics.

She was Lecturer in Philosophy at the Open University 1979-1999, and Director of the Centre for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine at University College London [1] until 2007. She is the author of several books, papers and articles, and has sat on a variety of advisory and working committees in areas of philosophy and bioethics.[2] Since 2008, she is Professor of Practical Philosophy at Oxford University. She is also a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics [3] and posts regularly at the University of Oxford’s Practical Ethics: Ethical Perspectives on the News website [4].

Her identification with feminism and her focus on bioethics both occurred “by accident”[5] during the writing of her first book, The Sceptical Feminist: A philosophical enquiry (Routledge, 1980; Penguin, 1982) - bioethics being central to the abortion debate.[6] She opens by stating that:

This book is a battle on two fronts. On the one hand, it takes strong issue with the many people who think that there is no justification for the existence of a feminist movement: the ones who think that women's demand for equality with men was misguided in the first place, or that they have now got it. On the other hand, it is equally against a good deal of common feminist dogma and practice. For all the strength of the fundamental feminist case, feminists often weaken it by missing the strongest arguments in its support, or allowing themselves to get entangled in non-essential issues, or insisting on making integral to the feminist cause ideas which are either irrelevant, probably false, or actually against the interest of feminists and often everybody else as well.

— The Sceptical Feminist: A philosophical enquiry, p. 1

The book proved to be controversial within and outside feminism, e.g. in regard to standards of rationality [7], fashion and style, and her liberal stance [8].

Her second book, Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction (Routledge, 2001) explores the so-call Darwin Wars, including what implications Darwinism raises for philosophy and the application of critical thinking to various arguments put forward in the debate. It was originally written as an introduction to philosophical techniques for open university students using using the controversies relating to Darwinian thinking and human nature.[9]

At present, her name often arises in articles and discussions on organ transplantation, in particular the idea of a legitimate organ trade (e.g. [10], [11]).

She is married to the philosopher Derek Parfit.

Further reading

All by Janet Radcliffe Richards:

References

  1. ^ http://www.ucl.ac.uk
  2. ^ http://www.rcgp.org.uk/get_involved/committees/medical_ethics_committee/about_the_committee/members/janet_radcliffe-richards.aspx
  3. ^ http://www.practicalethics.ox.ac.uk/nstaff.htm
  4. ^ http://www.practicalethicsnews.com/practicalethics/janet_radcliffe_richards_posts/index.html
  5. ^ http://www.philosophers.co.uk/wpt.htm (p. 27)
  6. ^ http://www.philosophers.co.uk/wpt.htm
  7. ^ Christine Battersby, Recent work in feminist philosophy, Philosophical Books 1991, 32:4, p. 200
  8. ^ Imelda Whelehan, Modern feminist thought: from the second wave to "post-feminism", 1995, Edinburgh University Press, p. 39-40
  9. ^ http://www.practical-philosophy.org.uk/Volume4Reviews/AfterDarwin.htm
  10. ^ http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/29/3/141 Charles A Erin, John Harris, "Janet Radcliffe Richards on our modest proposal", J Med Ethics 2003;29:141
  11. ^ "Nephrarious goings on: kidney sales and moral arguments", Janet Radcliffe Richards, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, Vol 21 no 4, August 1996, pp 375 - 416; ISSN 0360-5310.