Jonathan Glover (; born 1941) is a British philosopher known for his books and studies on
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
. He currently teaches ethics at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...
. Glover is a fellow of the
Hastings Center, an independent
bioethics research institution in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the
Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.
Education
Glover was educated at
Tonbridge School, later going on to
Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was a fellow and tutor in
philosophy
Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
at
New College, Oxford
New College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by Bishop William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as New College's feeder school, New College was one of the first col ...
, and is now a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.
Career
Glover's book ''Causing Death and Saving Lives'', first published in 1977, addresses practical
moral questions about life and death decisions in the areas of
abortion
Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...
,
infanticide
Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose being the prevention of re ...
,
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death.
Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
,
euthanasia
Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering.
Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
, choices between people,
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...
, and issues of
war and
peace
Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...
. His approach is broadly
consequentialist (utilitarian), though he gives significant weight to questions of individual autonomy, the
Kantian notion that we ought to treat other people as ends in themselves rather than merely as means. He criticises the idea that time periods of mere consciousness or life itself are intrinsically valuable: these states matter, he argues, because they are pre-requisites for other things that are valuable and make for a life worth living. There is, then, no absolute
sanctity of human life. He criticises the
principle of double effect, as well as the acts and omissions doctrine, specifically the notion that there is a huge moral difference between
killing someone and intentionally
letting them die. He also draws on insights from history and literature, not just strictly from philosophy. On the topic of 20th century war and moral distance, he writes, "There is the feeling that because killing at a distance is easier, one would not have to be such a monster to do it." Throughout, the emphasis is on the consequences of moral choices for those affected, rather than on abstract principles applied impersonally.
In ''Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century'', published in 1999, Glover considers the psychological factors that predispose us to commit barbaric acts, and suggests how man-made moral traditions and the cultivation of moral imagination can work to restrain us from a ruthlessly selfish treatment of others. Gaining greater understanding of the monsters within us, he argues, is part of the process of caging and containing them. He examines the various types of atrocity that were perpetrated in the 20th century, including
Nazi genocide,
mass killings under Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, and more recent slaughter
in Bosnia and
Rwanda
Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...
, and examines what sort of bulwarks there could be against them. He allows that religion has provided bulwarks, which are getting eroded. He identifies three types of bulwark. The two more dependable are sympathy and respect for
human dignity. The less dependable third is Moral Identity: "I belong to a kind of person who would not do that sort of thing". This third is less dependable because notions of moral identity can themselves be warped, as was done by the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
.
In ''
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason'',
Sam Harris
Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, determinism, neuroscience, meditation ...
quotes Glover as saying: "Our entanglements with people close to us erode simple self-interest. Husbands, wives, lovers, parents, children and friends all blur the boundaries of selfish concern. Francis Bacon rightly said that people with children have given hostages to fortune. Inescapably, other forms of friendship and love hold us hostage too...Narrow self-interest is destabilized."
In 1989, the
European Commission
The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...
hired Glover to head a panel on embryo research and assisted reproduction.
In 2018, Glover was awarded the
Dan David Prize for his work in bioethics.
Bibliography
Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*B
Book chapters
*
References
Further reading
*Davis, N. Ann; Keshen, Richard;
McMahan, Jeff. (eds) (2010). ''Ethics and Humanity: Themes From the Philosophy of Jonathan Glover''.
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
.
*
Scialabba, George"Oh, the humanity reflecting on the 20th century's horrors – with understanding and some hope". ''
Boston Globe''. 22 October 2000.
*
Tharoor, Shashi"Guns, Rights and People..." ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
''. 17 September 2000. Accessed 6 August 2011.
*
Pinker, Steven"All About Evil " ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. 29 October 2000. Accessed 6 August 2011.
Review of ''Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century''by
Margaret Urban Walker . ''
The Journal of Value Inquiry'' 36 (1): 119–123. 2002. .
*Lanigan, John
"''Choosing Children'' by Jonathan Glover" ''
Philosophy Now''. 2006. Accessed 6 August 2011
Archived5 August 2011.
External links
Jonathan Glover's websiteKing's College Page on Glover*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glover, Jonathan
1941 births
20th-century British philosophers
21st-century British philosophers
British abortion-rights activists
Living people
Academics of King's College London
Fellows of New College, Oxford
Fellows of King's College London
People educated at Tonbridge School
Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Utilitarians
Fellows of the Hastings Center
British bioethicists