Tom Sorell | University of Warwick (original) (raw)
Papers by Tom Sorell
The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes
Constitutions and the Classics
Choice Reviews Online, 2000
Moral Theory and Anomaly Tom Sore// Is the practice of moral theorising inherently misguided? Mor... more Moral Theory and Anomaly Tom Sore// Is the practice of moral theorising inherently misguided? Moral Theory and Anomaly considers and rejects the claim that moral theory is too Utopian to apply properly to worldly pursuits like political office-holding and business, and ...
A Companion to the Philosophy of Science
Ethics and Information Technology
Automation does not always replace human labour altogether: there is an intermediate stage of hum... more Automation does not always replace human labour altogether: there is an intermediate stage of human co-existence with machines, including robots, in a production process. Cobots are robots designed to participate at close quarters with humans in such a process. I shall discuss the possible role of cobots in facilitating the eventual total elimination of human operators from production in which co-bots are initially involved. This issue is complicated by another: cobots are often introduced to workplaces with the message (from managers) that they will not replace human operators but will rather assist human operators and make their jobs more interesting and responsible. If, in the process of learning to assist human operators, robots acquire the skills of human operators, then the promise of avoiding replacement can turn out to be false, and if a human operator loses his job, he has been harmed twice over: once by unemployment and once by deception. I shall suggest that this moral ri...
University of Chicago Press, 2018
The [...] discussion is divided into five sections. In the first, technologies for targeted surve... more The [...] discussion is divided into five sections. In the first, technologies for targeted surveillance will be reviewed, along with the risks of unjustified intrusion they carry. I shall address the question why intrusion is normally morally wrong. This will involve me in discussing the value of privacy and the different zones protected by established informal conventions about privacy. Privacy in the relevant sense is associated with access to information rather than control of information. On the basis of the distinction between access and control, I give reasons in the second section for thinking that bulk collection is not as intrusive as better established technologies used for targeted surveillance. Section 3 distinguishes the NSA and bulk collection from the Stasi and its methods of intelligence collection, and rejects the claim that the two are relevantly similar. In section 4, I introduce a concept from republican theory – that of domination — to articulate a sound line o...
American Philosophical Quarterly, 2015
This article considers the relation between public and private morality as a stumbling block to a... more This article considers the relation between public and private morality as a stumbling block to a unified moral theory, and therefore as a source of skepticism about moral theory. It aims to show that some of the difficulties for theory in this area are a product of assuming that private morality has a certain priority over the public, and that moral life is unitary. These assumptions are questionable and perhaps question-begging. If they are dropped, the strength of the requirements of public morality increases, and utilitarianism and other impersonal theories appear less problematic as theories of public life, and of the relation between public and private life.
Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2015
Traditional human rights concepts seem to fit Internet activity when it is broadly allied to conv... more Traditional human rights concepts seem to fit Internet activity when it is broadly allied to conventional political mobilization and when it occurs in human rights-violating jurisdictions. Traditional concepts are strained, however, when Internet activity takes the unconventional form of 'hacktivism', and it occurs in human-rights respecting jurisdictions. Hacktivism is still activism but not always open or democratic activism. Unlike more familiar forms of activism, hacktivism can often be anonymous, sometimes gratuitously so, and can operate with a kind of impunity that its technology seems to afford. Hacktivism is sometimes also claimed to serve interests that transcend those of particular states, that is, the interests of the global population generally. But this claim is implausible if hacktivism is not accountable to anyone. Taking the cases of Wikileaks and Anonymous, I argue that some of the activities of these groups are highly questionable, and that forms of cyberactivism more strongly connected with public displays of protest and legally accountable disclosure are morally superior and cohere better with human rights. This line of thought is, admittedly, easier to articulate in the case of Wikileaks than in the case of Anonymous, whose free-form set of causes and swarm activity are not always attributable to a stable collective entity. The activities of these two groups are chosen for four reasons: because they are both prominent in hacktivism; because they together represent quite a lot of the spectrum of hacktivism; because they have operated at times in concert, and because, in the case of Wikileaks at least, the rationale for its activity is sometimes stated in the language of human rights.
Criminal Law and Philosophy, 2016
9401-x " A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or,... more 9401-x " A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
Microfinance - the practice of providing small loans to promote entrepreneurial activity among th... more Microfinance - the practice of providing small loans to promote entrepreneurial activity among those with few financial assets - is increasingly seen as a sustainable means of aiding the global poor. Perhaps its most influential advocate, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, has claimed that there is a human right to microfinance, given its potential for poverty alleviation. This book directs critical philosophical attention at this very widely used and praised poverty-reducing measure. In chapters that discuss microfinance schemes and models around the world, internationally renowned contributors address important questions about both the positive impact of microfinance and cases of exploitation and repayment pressure. Exploring how far microfinance can or should be situated within broader concerns about justice, this volume sheds light on ethical issues that have so far received little systematic attention, and it advances discussion on new human rights, exploitation, and global justice.
Background Source Materials
The American Journal of Bioethics, 2012
Journal of Medical Ethics, 1997
Unlike the managerially oniented reforms that have brought auditing and accounting into such prom... more Unlike the managerially oniented reforms that have brought auditing and accounting into such prominence in the UK National Health Service (NHS), and which seem alien to the culture of the caring professions, consumerist reforms may seem to complement moves towards the acceptance of wide definitions of health, and towards increasing patient autonomy. The empowerment favoured by those who support patient autonomy sounds like the sort ofempowerment that is sometimes associated with the patient's charter. For this reason moral criticism of recent NHS reforms may stop short of calling consumerism into question. This, however, would be a mistake: consumerism can be objectionable both within and beyond the health care market. the open market. In theory, providers compete for patients, and the competition, at least at the level of hospitals, drives
The Cambridge Companion to Hobbes
Constitutions and the Classics
Choice Reviews Online, 2000
Moral Theory and Anomaly Tom Sore// Is the practice of moral theorising inherently misguided? Mor... more Moral Theory and Anomaly Tom Sore// Is the practice of moral theorising inherently misguided? Moral Theory and Anomaly considers and rejects the claim that moral theory is too Utopian to apply properly to worldly pursuits like political office-holding and business, and ...
A Companion to the Philosophy of Science
Ethics and Information Technology
Automation does not always replace human labour altogether: there is an intermediate stage of hum... more Automation does not always replace human labour altogether: there is an intermediate stage of human co-existence with machines, including robots, in a production process. Cobots are robots designed to participate at close quarters with humans in such a process. I shall discuss the possible role of cobots in facilitating the eventual total elimination of human operators from production in which co-bots are initially involved. This issue is complicated by another: cobots are often introduced to workplaces with the message (from managers) that they will not replace human operators but will rather assist human operators and make their jobs more interesting and responsible. If, in the process of learning to assist human operators, robots acquire the skills of human operators, then the promise of avoiding replacement can turn out to be false, and if a human operator loses his job, he has been harmed twice over: once by unemployment and once by deception. I shall suggest that this moral ri...
University of Chicago Press, 2018
The [...] discussion is divided into five sections. In the first, technologies for targeted surve... more The [...] discussion is divided into five sections. In the first, technologies for targeted surveillance will be reviewed, along with the risks of unjustified intrusion they carry. I shall address the question why intrusion is normally morally wrong. This will involve me in discussing the value of privacy and the different zones protected by established informal conventions about privacy. Privacy in the relevant sense is associated with access to information rather than control of information. On the basis of the distinction between access and control, I give reasons in the second section for thinking that bulk collection is not as intrusive as better established technologies used for targeted surveillance. Section 3 distinguishes the NSA and bulk collection from the Stasi and its methods of intelligence collection, and rejects the claim that the two are relevantly similar. In section 4, I introduce a concept from republican theory – that of domination — to articulate a sound line o...
American Philosophical Quarterly, 2015
This article considers the relation between public and private morality as a stumbling block to a... more This article considers the relation between public and private morality as a stumbling block to a unified moral theory, and therefore as a source of skepticism about moral theory. It aims to show that some of the difficulties for theory in this area are a product of assuming that private morality has a certain priority over the public, and that moral life is unitary. These assumptions are questionable and perhaps question-begging. If they are dropped, the strength of the requirements of public morality increases, and utilitarianism and other impersonal theories appear less problematic as theories of public life, and of the relation between public and private life.
Journal of Human Rights Practice, 2015
Traditional human rights concepts seem to fit Internet activity when it is broadly allied to conv... more Traditional human rights concepts seem to fit Internet activity when it is broadly allied to conventional political mobilization and when it occurs in human rights-violating jurisdictions. Traditional concepts are strained, however, when Internet activity takes the unconventional form of 'hacktivism', and it occurs in human-rights respecting jurisdictions. Hacktivism is still activism but not always open or democratic activism. Unlike more familiar forms of activism, hacktivism can often be anonymous, sometimes gratuitously so, and can operate with a kind of impunity that its technology seems to afford. Hacktivism is sometimes also claimed to serve interests that transcend those of particular states, that is, the interests of the global population generally. But this claim is implausible if hacktivism is not accountable to anyone. Taking the cases of Wikileaks and Anonymous, I argue that some of the activities of these groups are highly questionable, and that forms of cyberactivism more strongly connected with public displays of protest and legally accountable disclosure are morally superior and cohere better with human rights. This line of thought is, admittedly, easier to articulate in the case of Wikileaks than in the case of Anonymous, whose free-form set of causes and swarm activity are not always attributable to a stable collective entity. The activities of these two groups are chosen for four reasons: because they are both prominent in hacktivism; because they together represent quite a lot of the spectrum of hacktivism; because they have operated at times in concert, and because, in the case of Wikileaks at least, the rationale for its activity is sometimes stated in the language of human rights.
Criminal Law and Philosophy, 2016
9401-x " A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or,... more 9401-x " A note on versions: The version presented here may differ from the published version or, version of record, if you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the 'permanent WRAP URL' above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.
Microfinance - the practice of providing small loans to promote entrepreneurial activity among th... more Microfinance - the practice of providing small loans to promote entrepreneurial activity among those with few financial assets - is increasingly seen as a sustainable means of aiding the global poor. Perhaps its most influential advocate, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus, has claimed that there is a human right to microfinance, given its potential for poverty alleviation. This book directs critical philosophical attention at this very widely used and praised poverty-reducing measure. In chapters that discuss microfinance schemes and models around the world, internationally renowned contributors address important questions about both the positive impact of microfinance and cases of exploitation and repayment pressure. Exploring how far microfinance can or should be situated within broader concerns about justice, this volume sheds light on ethical issues that have so far received little systematic attention, and it advances discussion on new human rights, exploitation, and global justice.
Background Source Materials
The American Journal of Bioethics, 2012
Journal of Medical Ethics, 1997
Unlike the managerially oniented reforms that have brought auditing and accounting into such prom... more Unlike the managerially oniented reforms that have brought auditing and accounting into such prominence in the UK National Health Service (NHS), and which seem alien to the culture of the caring professions, consumerist reforms may seem to complement moves towards the acceptance of wide definitions of health, and towards increasing patient autonomy. The empowerment favoured by those who support patient autonomy sounds like the sort ofempowerment that is sometimes associated with the patient's charter. For this reason moral criticism of recent NHS reforms may stop short of calling consumerism into question. This, however, would be a mistake: consumerism can be objectionable both within and beyond the health care market. the open market. In theory, providers compete for patients, and the competition, at least at the level of hospitals, drives