James Wilson
I am Senior Lecturer in the Department of Philosophy at UCL, and am also the Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Justice and Health. I work in ethics and political philosophy, and have a particular interest in the applied end of these disciplines. My main research interests are in the philosophy of intellectual property, bioethics, public health ethics, and methodology in ethical thinking.
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Papers by James Wilson
practices, and emerging disease vectors transform how
health and wellbeing are understood and negotiated.
Simultaneously, familiar illnesses—both communicable
and non-communicable—continue to aff ect individual
health and household, community, and state economies.
Together, these forces shape medical knowledge and how
it is understood, how it comes to be valued, and when
and how it is adopted and applied.
Perceptions of physical and psychological wellbeing
diff er substantially across and within societies. Although
cultures often merge and change, human diversity
assures that diff erent lifestyles and beliefs will persist so
that systems of value remain autonomous and distinct. In
this sense, culture can be understood as not only habits
and beliefs about perceived wellbeing, but also political,
economic, legal, ethical, and moral practices and values. [...]
higher-income than in lower-income countries, urban
health outcomes in specifi c cities cannot be assumed to
improve with economic growth and demographic
change. The so-called urban advantage—a term that
encapsulates the health benefi ts of living in urban as
opposed to rural areas—has to be actively created and
maintained through policy interventions. Furthermore,
average levels of health hide the eff ect of socioeconomic
inequality within urban areas. Rich and poor people live
in very diff erent epidemiological worlds, even within the
same city. And such disparity occurs in both high-income
and low-income countries.
Through case studies of sanitation and wastewater
management, urban mobility, building standards and
indoor air quality, the urban heat island eff ect (the
diff erence in average temperatures between city
centres and the surrounding countryside), and urban agriculture, we draw attention to the complexities
involved in the achievement of urban health improvement
through urban planning policies. Complexity
thinking stresses that the development of a plan that
anticipates all future change for these issues will not be
possible. Instead, incremental attempts to reach a goal
need to be tried and tested.
practices, and emerging disease vectors transform how
health and wellbeing are understood and negotiated.
Simultaneously, familiar illnesses—both communicable
and non-communicable—continue to aff ect individual
health and household, community, and state economies.
Together, these forces shape medical knowledge and how
it is understood, how it comes to be valued, and when
and how it is adopted and applied.
Perceptions of physical and psychological wellbeing
diff er substantially across and within societies. Although
cultures often merge and change, human diversity
assures that diff erent lifestyles and beliefs will persist so
that systems of value remain autonomous and distinct. In
this sense, culture can be understood as not only habits
and beliefs about perceived wellbeing, but also political,
economic, legal, ethical, and moral practices and values. [...]
higher-income than in lower-income countries, urban
health outcomes in specifi c cities cannot be assumed to
improve with economic growth and demographic
change. The so-called urban advantage—a term that
encapsulates the health benefi ts of living in urban as
opposed to rural areas—has to be actively created and
maintained through policy interventions. Furthermore,
average levels of health hide the eff ect of socioeconomic
inequality within urban areas. Rich and poor people live
in very diff erent epidemiological worlds, even within the
same city. And such disparity occurs in both high-income
and low-income countries.
Through case studies of sanitation and wastewater
management, urban mobility, building standards and
indoor air quality, the urban heat island eff ect (the
diff erence in average temperatures between city
centres and the surrounding countryside), and urban agriculture, we draw attention to the complexities
involved in the achievement of urban health improvement
through urban planning policies. Complexity
thinking stresses that the development of a plan that
anticipates all future change for these issues will not be
possible. Instead, incremental attempts to reach a goal
need to be tried and tested.