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Chappell's recent work developing an anti-systematic philosophical ethics, and in particular his work on the notions of personhood and second-personality, has had an impact on (1) provision of public and health services, (2) policy-making, and (3) cultural life. He has presented work on ethics and persons to public audiences in Northampton, Mexico City, Oxford, St Andrews, Leeds, Milan, and Sydney. Besides a general intellectual-cultural impact on these public audiences, he has had specific impacts on thinking and practice (1) in paediatrics at The Northampton General Hospital and (2) in religious and educational constituencies in Britain and Australia.
Drawing on his longstanding research in theology and medical ethics, Robin Gill has been an active member of four of the most important national health-care ethics and bioethics committees in the UK (the British Medical Association's Ethics Committee, the Medical Research Council's Stem Cell Bank Steering Committee, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists Ethics Committee). Through this work he has produced the content of some of the most widely-used ethical guidance and training by medical practitioners in the UK, contributed to a working group that has led to the Welsh Assembly establishing an opt-out organ donation system in Wales (the first part of the UK to do so), been an active member of the committee which determines what forms of stem cell research are authorized in the UK, and shaped major policy reports on bioethics. Given the scale of his contribution and the influence of the organizations with which he has worked, this has arguably made Gill one of the most important influences on professional medical ethics and bioethics in the UK from the field of theology and religious studies during this REF cycle.
More than a decade's research at the University of Leeds has focused on a cohesive set of issues bearing directly and indirectly on ethics in the workplace: reasons for action, moral psychology, good judgement, character and integrity. The impact of this work covers: consultancy on organisational ethics; development and delivery of CPD for engineers; use of web-based and online materials to engage professionals in ethical reasoning; applied research and engagement with practitioners on integrity at work; a submission to the Leveson enquiry; and an ethics template for the National Nuclear Laboratory. Its significance and reach in embedding ethics in professional life is demonstrated by the range of these activities and the size of the organisations involved.
Dr Toby Ord is the founder of an international organisation called Giving What We Can. This organization is dedicated to the fight against poverty in the developing world. Its members pledge to give at least 10% of their income to aid and to direct their giving to the organisations that have a demonstrated ability to use their incomes most efficiently. The impetus for the founding of the organization was provided by Dr Ord's early work in ethics. He subsequently undertook additional research into how his ethical ideas could be put into practice. The fruits both of this research and of related research by other Oxford philosophers appear on the organisation's website, where, through a combination of pure and applied philosophy, the ethical case for making the pledge is urged. The arguments advanced have proved to be extremely persuasive: many people have been moved by them, and to great effect. The organisation has over 326 members, from seventeen countries, who together have pledged to give over US $130,000,000 to charity.
This case study looks at the research of Dr William Rossiter, who was a Senior Lecturer in English Literature, specializing in late medieval and early modern literature. The mandatory study of Shakespeare at GCSE and A-level presupposes a moral virtue inherent in studying Shakespeare's works, and Dr Rossiter sought to establish whether this moral virtue exists and to identify what it consists of. For the project called `Shakespeare for Schools', he gave a series of lectures and workshops on the topic in 2013, primarily but not exclusively aimed at school students. Local A-level students from a varied demographic were invited to attend a lecture and workshop on Shakespeare's comedies, tragedies or sonnets, depending on the texts they were studying, followed by a further seminar three months later, with a view to enhancing their knowledge of the early modern ethical principles that underpin those texts. The general public were also invited to a lecture on the themes of time and quality of life in Shakespeare's sonnets delivered on the anniversary of his birth/death (23 April 2013), as part of the opening night of Liverpool City Council's In Other Words literary festival. The impact of the events lies in the effect of the university-level analysis of Shakespeare's works and the moral code they foster, or are seen to foster, upon groups approaching Shakespeare from outside of academia. This impact initiative sought to (a) emphasize the accessibility of Shakespeare and early modern studies, (b) identify the ways in which Shakespearean ethics affect everyday ethical decisions, (c) interrogate the mandatory teaching of Shakespeare in UK schools, wherein his works are taught as part of the GCSE English syllabus and at A-level, and (d) encourage local students to apply to university by introducing them to university-level research.