Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Scientism and Humanities Education Abstract: In this talk I discuss a pedagogical implication of scientism. Because scientism elevates science and derogates what is deemed non-scientific, the arts and humanities become, on such a view, less valuable parts of university curricula. I survey some of the current data on declining study of ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: All’s Well that Ends Well? Abstract: Distinguish how well someone’s life is going at a particular point -- their momentary well-being -- from how well their life went as a whole, their lifetime well-being. How are these related? The simplest answer is that lifetime well-being is just aggregate momentary well-being. Theories that deny this are forms of holism about lifetime ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe 104 Title: Should hate speech be against the law? Abstract: Hate speech has become increasingly prevalent, fuelled by social media, political polarization, and the rise of extremist groups. It can have a profoundly negative impact on individuals and communities, causing harm, inciting violence, and perpetuating discrimination. However, hate speech is notoriously difficult to ... Read more
Location: Teams (online only) Title: Superogation Abstract: This paper considers the relation between supererogation and duties (also here referred to as obligations) from a nonconsequentialist point of view. It first considers whether supererogation may sometimes take precedence over positive and negative duties and how this relates to personal costs (including efforts) required to perform one’s duty. It then ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Climate Change as a Philosophical Problem Commentator: Quân Nguyen (Edinburgh) Abstract: The paper this talk belongs to speaks to two main points. One is that the onrushing climate catastrophe renders the modern liberal value of personal autonomy unintelligible as a concept to live by. Originally, that was the only point I ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: The Quest for Additionality Abstract: Many people aim to make the world a better place by spending their money in certain ways. The school of “effective altruism” teaches that, if one donates one’s money wisely, one can have a positive impact. Currently, many people want to make us believe that if one ... Read more
Title: On seeing women as objects: objectification and affordance perception Location: Teams (online only), the talk will be streamed from Edgecliffe G03 Abstract: Objectification is a central topic in feminist philosophy theorising. But what is it for someone to objectify another person? A common theme is that objectification involves treating and viewing the other person ... Read more
Title: Eliminative Harming without Intentions Location: Edgecliffe G03 Abstract: Consider the following pair of cases Roughshod. You are driving to the hospital for an emergency life-saving operation. If you do not make it in time, you will die. However, Victim is lying in the only road that will get you there in time. Although Victim ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Positive interest rates block green transitions, and there is no compelling reason not to fix the interest rate at zero Commentator: Carl Mildenberger (Zurich)
Title: Chance Prioritarianism Location: Teams (online only), and streamed from Edgecliffe G03 Abstract: I will defend what we could call survival chance prioritarianism, according to which the moral value of improving someone’s chance of surviving (some period) is greater the more likely the person was to die before the improvement. I motivate this view by ... Read more