Janet Radcliffe Richards

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Janet Radcliffe Richards giving the 2012 Annual Uehiro Lecture at Merton College, Oxford.
Janet Radcliffe Richards (born 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] 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 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.[10][11][12]

She is married to the philosopher Derek Parfit.

Further reading

All by Janet Radcliffe Richards:

  • The Sceptical Feminist: A Philosophical Enquiry, Routledge, (1980)
  • Human Nature After Darwin: A Philosophical Introduction, Routledge, (2001)
  • "Why Feminist Epistemology Isn't" (1997) in The Flight from Science and Reason P. Gross, N. Levitt & M. Lewis; Johns Hopkins University Press.
  • "Organs For Sale", Janet Radcliffe Richards, Issues Med Ethics. 2001 April–June;9(2)]

References

  1. ↑ "London's Global University". UCL. 2013-10-18. Retrieved 2013-10-26. 
  2. ↑ http://www.rcgp.org.uk/get_involved/committees/medical_ethics_committee/about_the_committee/members/janet_radcliffe-richards.aspx
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑ (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, pp. 39–40
  9. ↑
  10. ↑ Charles A Erin, John Harris. "Charles A Erin, John Harris, "Janet Radcliffe Richards on our modest proposal", ''J Med Ethics'' 2003;29:141". Jme.bmj.com. Retrieved 2013-10-26. 
  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.
  12. ↑ Janet Radcliffe Richards, The Ethics of Transplants: Why Careless Thought Costs Lives, Oxford University Press, 2012
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