What do we do?
Our view is that the best moral philosophy and ethics must be consistent with a psychologically realistic picture of human judgment and decision-making. On the other hand, for scientific work to have real ethical relevance, it has to be informed by in-depth philosophical understanding of the problems we are trying to solve.
We therefore aim to advance studies in philosophical moral psychology through combining rigorous scientific research practices with high-quality philosophical ethics.
Specifically, we use interdisciplinary methods from experimental philosophy (especially subfields like bioXphi) and moral psychology (the scientific study of the processes that underlie and explain moral judgment, reasoning, agency and behaviour) to advance our understanding of morality.
Current Projects
Below are some examples of some active areas of research in the lab.
Gender, Justice and Medical Ethics
Principles of beneficence and respect for autonomy are pillars of contemporary medical ethics. But do these explicit principles cohere with the moral reasoning of ordinary patients? And are they extended to all patients equitably? Patients sometimes feel that their decisions are disrespected, or their wellbeing isn't cared for. Certain social groups - such as women, ethnic minorities, or immigrants - are especially likely to feel that they aren't "listened to", that their pain is dismissed, that they aren't believed, or that their rights to make their own medical decisions have been violated - despite being legally competent to make decisions and give consent. We're interested in the experience of harm and injustice in medicine, and in investigating how moral reasoning, and psychological processes such as stereotyping, may contribute to violations of medical ethics.
We are currently funded by a British Academy Knowledge Frontiers grant to specifically investigate how conceptions of autonomy can be gendered or subject to stereotypes and how this impacts respect for women's autonomous decision-making in different cultural and linguistic settings.