Five Critical Essays, edited by Austin Williams, is a collection that seeks to reinvigorate critical thinking, common sense and objective ethical discourse. It stands as a noble endeavour in authoritarian times.

The series of pamphlets argues that, as a profession, we have observed the externalisation of our individual moral compasses to a collective morality bureaucratised through DEI initiatives, ESG criteria, and Net Zero mandates dictated by those who manipulate societal fears into moral imperatives.

If we are unable to frame political and ethical issues honestly or objectively, then we are compelled to comply with dogmas and ideologies that only offer prescriptive and overly simplistic solutions to complex problems. This approach stifles innovative solutions that could emerge from genuinely diverse ethical debate. In the conclusion to the series of essays, Patrik Schumacher convincingly argues for a return to ethical self-determination rather than a collective conscience where, as Dennis Hayes proffers, we are told, “do X because it is ‘sustainable’, ‘inclusive’, ‘diverse’ etc”.

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