The Sevenoaks School Journal of Philosophy - Volume Two APORIAii_digitalversion - Volume 2 | Page 3

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Editor's Introduction
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The second instalment of APORIA brings together another series of prize-win-
ning essays. The purpose of this collection is to celebrate both the intelligence of
our students, and to entice future philosophers to write intellectual work of this
calibre.
In her submission, Sonya Verkhoturova untangles the relationship be-
tween tolerance and cultural relativism, a pairing that is rarely challenged in
contemporary discourse. Subjecting these notions to a thorough analysis, her ar-
gument is clear and powerful: civilisation and moral progress come under threat
when human rights abuses and moral turpitude are sanitised with the ointment
of toleration. Underlying the seemingly attractive ethic of toleration is a refusal
to recognise the possibility, nay the desirability, of defending objective moral
truths. Morality, she concludes, is far more than mere etiquette.
In his contribution, Cedric Tan unravels and elucidates the thorny issue
of moral luck, a central conundrum in debates surrounding criminal and social
justice. Showing the practical relevance of philosophical speculation, he ex-
plores the ramifications that follow from the fact that humans allocate praise
and blame in an inconsistent manner, rewarding and punishing agents for
circumstances and consequences that lie beyond their control. Balancing politics
and morality, prudence and fairness, he advocates for a shift, in both the spirit
and the letter of the law, to create a more palpable deterrent against drink
driving.
Above all, these contributions remind us that we are truly fortunate as
educators, passing our days working and thinking in the presence of such capa-
ble and formidable young minds.
Dr Martin Otero Knott
Sevenoaks School
August 2018