Festival 2022
Join the Oxford Uehiro Centre and colleagues from across Oxford in exploring how to think critically about life in this public festival of practical ethics. The Festival of Arguments is free to take part in, and focusses on exploring today’s most pressing ethical dilemmas. Join us for walks, talks, debates, competitions, classes and more!
Thank you to everyone who took part in the Festival of Arguments 2022! We hope you enjoyed it. This year’s Festival was the biggest so far with events across six days exploring what practical ethics really is, and how important it is to all of us as we navigate the modern world.
We would love to receive your feedback. Please tell us about your experiences of the Festival of Arguments 2022 using the feedback form here: https://oxford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/festival-of-arguments-2022
We are now at work planning next year’s event! You can keep in touch by joining the Festival's mailing list and following us on Facebook and Twitter. You may also be interested in the Festival spin-out series Thinking Out Loud - a podcast series that began in 2020 as part of the inaugural festival, and our Bitesize ethics summer programme, which we also hope to repeat next year.
If you’re interested in putting on an event as part of the festival next year, or would like to suggest an event please email us.
The current focus of Thinking Out Loud is on Animals and Pandemics. Covid-19 is very likely a zoonotic disease, which means that it was transmitted from animals to humans. Other dangerous infectious diseases, such as SARS, MERS, Ebola and HIV originated in animals too. In fact, of all emerging infectious diseases in humans, 75% are zoonotic. Joining Katrien Devolder are philosophers, scientists and other experts to discuss how we might prevent future pandemics. See all our TOL interviews on our YouTube channel playlist.
Episode 3: Factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics! with Professor Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego)
In this interview with Dr Katrien Devolder (University of Oxford), Professor Aaron S. Gross (University of San Diego) explains why factory farms are breeding grounds for pandemics, and what we, as individuals, can do to help end factory farming (even if we don't feel ready yet to become a vegan...)
https://www.youtube.com/embed/30BFiBPFVCg
Episode 2: Should we feed our pets a vegan diet?, with Dr Josh Milburn (Sheffield)
There are plenty of good reasons to avoid products from factory farms. We can change our own diets, but can we change that of our pets? We discuss the option of vegan pet food, pet food made from invertebrates, and in vitro meat (incl. in vitro human flesh!).
Episode 1: How to prevent future pandemics, with Jeff Sebo (Professor of Environmental Studies at NYU)
Katrien and Jeff discuss factory farms as breeding grounds for pandemics, and the importance of considering human and animal health together.
