Jonathan Glover facts for kids

Jonathan Glover (born in 1941) is a British philosopher. He is well-known for his books and studies about ethics, which is the study of what is morally right and wrong. He currently teaches ethics at King's College London. Glover is also a special researcher at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. He is a fellow of the Hastings Center, which is a research group in the United States that studies difficult questions about life and medicine.

Learning and Career

Early Life and Education

Jonathan Glover went to Tonbridge School and then studied at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He later became a teacher and researcher in philosophy at New College, Oxford. Today, he is a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics.

Thinking About Life and Death

Glover wrote a very important book called Causing Death and Saving Lives, first published in 1977. In this book, he looks at tough moral questions about life and death. He explores choices people make in difficult situations.

He often thinks about the consequences of our actions. This means he focuses on what happens because of a choice, rather than just following strict rules. He also believes it's important to treat other people with respect, seeing them as valuable individuals, not just as tools to get something done.

Glover questions the idea that life itself is always valuable no matter what. He argues that life is important because it allows us to do other valuable things and have a life worth living. He also discusses how people often see a big difference between directly harming someone and simply letting them be harmed. He suggests that sometimes, the moral difference might not be as big as we think. He uses ideas from history and stories, not just from philosophy, to help explain his points.

Understanding Human Actions

In his 1999 book, Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century, Glover explores why people sometimes do terrible things. He looks at the psychological reasons that might lead to cruel acts. He also suggests how our shared moral traditions and using our imagination can help stop us from being selfish and hurting others.

He believes that understanding the darker parts of human nature helps us control them. He studied many sad events from the 20th century, like large-scale violence and conflicts. He wanted to find out what could prevent such terrible acts from happening again.

Glover points out three main ways to protect against cruelty:

• Sympathy: Feeling for others and understanding their pain.
• Respect for Human Dignity: Believing that every person has value and deserves respect.
• Moral Identity: Thinking of yourself as a person who would never do certain bad things.

He notes that while religion has sometimes helped, the first two—sympathy and respect—are usually more reliable. This is because ideas about who we are (moral identity) can sometimes be twisted to support bad actions.

Connections and Awards

In 1989, the European Commission asked Jonathan Glover to lead a group. This group looked into research about human development and new ways for people to have children.

In 2018, Glover received the Dan David Prize. This award recognized his important work in bioethics, which is the study of ethical questions that come up in biology and medicine.