Ryan Kulesa

Uehiro Scholarship for Future Generations

Joining us from: United States
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DPhil Philosophy (2024)

I am reading for the DPhil in Philosophy, specialising in moral philosophy. I am in my second year. My current research focuses on normative questions concerning moral status: Whose interests matter, morally? Why do they matter? To what extent do they matter?

​​​Answers to these questions have profound implications for a wide range of issues in practical ethics including, but not limited to, the permissibility of abortion, killing animals for food, and the obligations (if any) we have to artificial intelligence.

Here's an intuitive but imprecise summary of the view I've developed and defended in the thesis: one's moral status is a (non-linear) function of the kind of life we can reasonably expect that individual to live.  Non-human animals, on this view, have a lower moral status than persons since they, even when healthy, have a much lower capacity for well-being than persons.  Human embryos also have a lower status because, even though they may have significant well-being when healthy, the probability they experience that well-being is, for natural reasons, relatively low.  Most fetuses and the temporarily comatose, however, have significant moral status since, when given the means to a healthy development, they will live lives with extraordinary well-being. 

I wouldn't be able to pursue this project without the generous support of the Uehiro Foundation and St Cross College. Since I am not from the UK, the overseas fees would have prevented me from pursuing study at Oxford. The scholarship has not only allowed me to study at Oxford, but has also given me the financial freedom to focus entirely on my studies.  I am extraordinarily grateful for the support. 

St Cross, in addition to its generous financial support, has also been a great place to meet other scholars outside of my discipline. I've benefited greatly from meeting other international students, learning from their unique perspectives and expertise. Learning from my peers at St Cross has been and, I anticipate, will continue to be an important part of my professional development and social life.