Fiona Woollard, professor of philosophy on the College of Southampton, is the winner of the 2021 Journal of Applied Philosophy Essay Prize.
Professor Woollard was awarded the prize for her article, “Mother Knows Best: Pregnancy, Applied Ethics, and Epistemically Transformative Experiences.”
Right here’s the summary of the paper:
L.A. Paul argues that fascinating points for rational selection concept are raised by epistemically transformative experiences: experiences which offer entry to information that would not be identified with out the expertise. Consideration of the epistemic results of being pregnant has essential implications for our understanding of epistemically transformative experiences and for debate concerning the ethics of abortion and utilized ethics extra usually. Being pregnant is epistemically transformative each in Paul’s slender sense and in a wider sense: those that haven’t been pregnant face vital boundaries to buying the information made accessible by being pregnant. This data is essential for partaking with the ethics of abortion. The epistemically transformativeWIDE nature of being pregnant could require us to make use of new strategies to attempt to partially grasp what being pregnant is like, akin to, for instance, vital engagement with narrative literature. As a result of being pregnant can be epistemically transformative in a slender sense, we have to work out the best way to interact in moral reasoning when related information shouldn’t be totally accessible to all. This argument has implications past the talk about abortion. Philosophers in lots of areas of utilized ethics might want to work out the best way to reply appropriately to epistemically transformative experiences.
The prize consists of £1000 and a subsidy for attendance on the Society for Applied Philosophy annual convention.
