18 August to 1 September

Ethical Reflection and making a difference

Becoming a Visiting Professor of Ethics at Leeds Met is a pleasure, because our university is so clearly aware of its ethical responsibilities and aims to serve human well-being, both through its research and teaching curriculum, and through local, regional and international outreach. It is also a challenge, because this awesome vision will always be elusive. The human lot always bears, at the same time, joy and sorrow. This will not change during our participation in it. However, through scholarly endeavour and commitment we can make a difference. It is in the detail that the university encounters its challenges and its opportunities. As it does this it makes its specifically academic contribution to the wider pursuit of human well-being.

None of this is easy. It is in fact invariably so difficult that it is tempting to look the proverbial 'other way'. The first hurdle is simply to remember that this is not an option. These weekly ethical reflections serve as an aid to that end. Part of their strength lies in their diverse origins, from colleagues at Leeds Met and from further afield. The more people contribute to them from different areas of the life of the university, the better.

John Elford, Visiting Professor of Ethics, Canon Theologian Emeritus, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. Professor Elford is the General Editor of a forthcoming series of books for the international publisher Peter Lang, with the provisional title Carnegie Studies in Applied Ethics.