The standard issues around 'the ethics of writing' concern either politically and ethically 'engaged' writing; plagiarism; or the presentation of scientific evidence and a range of related technical matters. Our interest is different from both of these.
 
Rather as the practice of photography has for some time now been seen as raising ethical issues (particularly around consent, use, privacy, pain and death) so we wish to raise questions about the ethical responsibilities inherent in the practice of (non-technical) writing. Biography is an obvious example; but what about autobiography? And might novelists, short-story writers, poets and playwrights also have ethical responsibilities in relation to their practices? For example, do they incur moral obligations to their likely readers? Are they in any way responsible for their work's reception and/or (mis)use? What might be the place of authorial intention in relation to readers' interpretation? And what about academic writing: do authors have responsibilities in relation not just to honesty but also to readers and/or in relation to the practices they deal with? Might terms such as 'irresponsibility', 'complicity' and 'culpable ignorance' reasonably have purchase in a range of sorts of writing?
 
CAPPE proposes to hold an informal workshop on Wednesday 7 December, 2 - 5 pm (venue to be decided) where interested colleagues present short talks on these and/or related issues with a view to initiating a more substantial project.
 
Please send brief proposals to Bob Brecher (r.brecher@brighton.ac.uk) by Friday 21 October.

Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics, & Ethics (CAPPE), University of Brighton
Transforming Sexuality and Gender 
Research Cluster, University of Brighton
Centre for Ethics and Value Inquiry,
(CEVI), University of Gent
 
The Politics of Sex & Gender
Lecture Series
6.30pm-8.00pm
University of Brighton, Edward Street Campus Lecture Theatre
 
Arianne Shahvisi (Brighton & Sussex Medical School) - 11th October 2016
“Pro-choice” and the limits of reproductive autonomy
 
Heather Brunskell-Evans (University of Leicester) - 25th October 2016
Pornography: The Performance of Sexual Freedom
 
Paul Reynolds (Edge Hill University) - 15th November 2016
Sexual Consent: A Necessary Fiction?
 
Vicky Margree (University of Brighton) - 22nd November 2016
Women, Biology, Technology: The Dialectic of Sex Revisited
 
Conny Wächter (Ruhr University, Bochum) - 6th December 2016
Complicity and Transgender Politics
 
Nadje Al-Ali (SOAS, University of London) - 24th January 2016
How to talk about gender based and sexual violence in the Middle East? Dilemmas for transnational feminist solidarity
 
Tom Claes (University of Gent) - 7th February
Sexual Rights / Sexual Politics
 
Lisa Downing (University of Birmingham) - 21st February
Feminist Philosophy and the Politics of Selfishness
 
Katharine Jenkins (University of Nottingham) - 7th March 2017
Who's Afraid of Andrea Dworkin? Feminism and the Analytic Philosophy of Sex
 
Ros Gill (City University) - 21st March 2017
The Confidence Cult: How Neoliberal Individualism is Remaking Feminism