Bioethics Centre
'... not just the premier Christian bioethics
institute in Britain, but one of the finest in
the
world, Christian or secular'.
The Most Rev. Anthony Fisher O.P.,
Archbishop of Sydney, Australia.
Elizabeth Anscombe Centenary Symposium:
Ethics and Agency
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is holding a symposium to mark the 100th anniversary of Elizabeth Anscombe's birth, on the theme of 'Ethics and Agency'.
Date: Monday, 18 March 2019
Time: 1pm-4.30pm
Venue: Blackfriars, Oxford
Speakers
Prof. David Albert Jones
Prof. Maria Alvarez
Dr Roger Teichmann
Dr Lucy Campbell
For more on the life and philosophical thought of Elizabeth Anscombe, please visit this page.
Register for this symposium
Anscombe Memorial Lecture 2018
The Anscombe Memorial Lecture 2018 was delivered by Prof. Patricia Casey, Professor of Psychiatry at University College Dublin on 6th July 2018.
A video recording of the lecture is available here.
Anscombe on Intention:
A Philosophy Reading Group
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre held a reading group on 'Anscombe on Intention', which aimed to introduce participants to Elizabeth Anscombe's thought and writings on intention and action theory, including her book Intention (1957), widely considered a classic of 20th Century philosophy.
Conscience in Law and Medicine:
A Half-Day Symposium
On 12 April 2018, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre held a half-day symposium exploring issues relating to conscience protections in law and medicine.
Speakers
Toni Saad
Mary Neal
Andrew Papanikitas
Heloise Robinson
Foundations of Natural Law:
A Philosophy Reading Group
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre hosted a reading group on natural law, which was held over four sessions. This introductory series served to provide a space for discussing foundational texts and themes in natural law theory.
Mind, Medicine & Morals:
The ethics of psychiatry and mental health care
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre held an international conference on the ethics of psychiatry and mental health care on 5-7 July, 2018 at St Anne's College, Oxford. Speakers included Baroness Sheila Hollins, Former President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Paul Farmer CBE, Chief Executive of Mind, and Jonathan Herring, Professor of Law at Oxford University. This conference explored topics such as resource allocation and mental health, ethics of research in psychiatry, compulsory treatment of mental illness, assisted suicide for psychiatric reasons and the mental health effects of sexual abuse.
For more information on the conference, please visit this page.
Abortion, Disability and the Law:
Day Conference in Ireland
On Friday, 20 October, 2017, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre, in association with the Consultative Group on Bioethics of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference, held a day conference in Athlone examining the ethical, legal, social and psychological issues raised by abortion or childbirth following a diagnosis of foetal anomaly.
On 16 October 2017, the annual Anscombe Memorial Lecture was delivered by the Anscombe Centre's former director, Prof Luke Gormally, on the topic, 'Chastity, Human Dignity and the Common Good: Anscombe and Aquinas', in Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. The 2017 Lecture coincided with the 40th anniversary of the Centre, so it was fitting to welcome back Prof Gormally, who was involved with the Centre since its establishment in 1977 and was director for over 20 years.
Anscombe on Contraception:
A Half-Day Symposium
On Saturday, 22 July 2017, the Anscombe Bioethics Centre held a half-day symposium on 'Anscombe on Contraception' with our Visiting Research Fellow for July 2017, Prof. Stephan Kampowski. The other speakers at this event were Dr Mary Geach, Dr Anthony McCarthy and Dr Pia Matthews.
Press Statement (20 February 2017)
Conference on Abortion and Disability: Warnings from recent history and calls for life-affirming alternatives
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has released a press statement about its recent day conference, 'Abortion, Disability and the Law', which took place on Saturday, 18th February in Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University. The press statement includes a summary of the conference proceedings.
Seminar Series:
The Moral Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre held a seminar series on the moral philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe, who has been described as 'a giant among women philosophers' and one of the 'pioneers of a genuine renewal of Catholic thought'. This seminar series was organised in conjunction with the recent release of a new collection of essays reflecting on Anscombe's thought, The Moral Philosophy of Elizabeth Anscombe, edited by Luke Gormally, David Albert Jones, and Roger Teichmann, which was published following a conference organised by the Centre in 2013.
Anscombe Memorial Lecture 2016
On 7 November, 2016, Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, delivered the 7th Anscombe Memorial Lecture, on the topic, 'Is Medicine Losing its Way? A firm foundation for medicine a real therapeia'. In his lecture, Cardinal Eijk discussed various non-therapeutic medical practices, such as sexual reassignment surgery, gene doping, assisted reproduction, and assisted dying, in relation to mind-body dualism and the classical Christian conception of the human person as an essential unity of body and soul.
A video recording of the lecture is available to view here.
Professor Joseph Boyle
Cardinal Eijk also celebrated Mass for the benefactors of the Anscombe Bioethics Centre among whom we remember Professor Joseph Boyle who passed away in September 2016. Professor Boyle was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto and a long-time friend of the Centre. He was Visiting Research Fellow of the Centre in 2011 and again in 2015. In 2015 he delivered the sixth Anscombe Memorial Lecture on the topic, 'Against "Assisted Dying"'.
A video recording of Professor Boyle's lecture can be viewed here.
New Publication:
The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth
We are delighted to announce the publication by Routledge of The Ethics of Pregnancy, Abortion and Childbirth: Exploring Moral Choices in Childbearing by Dr Helen Watt, the Anscombe Centre's Senior Research Fellow. See here for a brief description of the book, chapter headings, and endorsements.
Copies are now on sale here and also on Amazon (electronic/Kindle copy available). To request a review copy, please contact the publisher at Myles.Stavis@taylorandfrancis.com mentioning the journal/publication for which you would like to write a review.