Thomas More Institute

Category Archives: Moral Philosophy

Published on
10 July 2013

Political Parties, Manifestos and Governmental Accountability

Posted in British Politics, Education, Moral Philosophy, Morality in Public, Virtue

As Labour’s poll ratings plummet following the Unite scandal we have a suitable occasion to ask how some integrity may be injected back into politics. After David Cameron’s evisceration of his own party’s grass-roots there is perhaps an element of balance in watching poor Ed do much the same to Labour’s political base though none […]

Published on
1 July 2013

PRISM and the Long View of Modern Secularism

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Human Rights, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Moral Philosophy, Public Policy, Religion, Social Commentary, Virtue

In order to maintain public order secularism in our time relies on well- established delineation of ‘public’ and ‘private’ realms. While attempting to play down divisions between social groups, secularism reinforces a distinction between public conduct and private life. In this way a moderate secularism can reduce public conflict by emphasising those aspects of public […]

Published on
26 June 2013

Whistleblowers, Democracy and Authority

Posted in Big Society, British Politics, Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Moral Philosophy

You wait months for a whistleblower to say something genuinely newsworthy and then two come along in quick succession: Edward Snowden, a former NSA worker who let the world know about PRISM; and Peter Francis, a former police officer who reports that he was ordered to find out compromising information on family and friends of […]

Published on
10 June 2013

Innocence, Surveillance and Our Perennial Dilemma

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Legal Affairs, Liberty, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy, Public Policy, Religion

News that the United States government ordered the largest US communications company Verizon to hand over details of communications of all of its customers on a daily basis is as regrettable as it is shocking. That is to say, insofar as it is regrettable it is also shocking but it is not a complete surprise. […]

Published on
30 April 2013

After Dr. Kermit Gosnell the Abortion Debate has come Full Circle

Posted in Abortion, Human Life, Human Rights, Moral Philosophy

We have blogged before about the story of Dr. Kermit Gosnell the Philadelphia-based abortionist arrested for murder but, although his trial is ongoing, and the case against him horrendous news networks paid less than scant attention to the proceedings until 72 congressmen and women wrote to 3 of the largest television channels decrying their lack […]

Published on
5 April 2013

When Discussing Porn Sex-Ed. Should Start with Life

Posted in Civil Liberties, Conscience, Culture, Marriage & Family, Moral Philosophy

Perhaps the only social phenomena that could be attributed solely to the internet over the last 20 years has been the meteoric rise in the use of pornography. Like all vices pornography is nothing new but the pervasiveness of it online has led to discussions of whether it should be filtered out (censored) at source […]

Published on
4 February 2013

Beyond Gay Marriage

Posted in Human Rights, Marriage & Family, Moral Philosophy, Public Policy, Same-Sex Marriage

As MPs enter the House of Commons this week the press is flush with arguments for and against the proposed new legislation on ‘same-sex marriage’. There has been much talk of whether or not there is public support for this Bill. But, in spite of multiple surveys and polls commissioned across the political, social and […]