CEPPA Talk – David Christensen (Brown University)

Title: Epistemic Akrasia: No Apology Required Abstract: It is natural to think that rationality imposes some relationship between what a person believes, and what she believes about what she’s rational to believe. Epistemic akrasia—for example, believing P while believing that P is not rational to believe in your situation—is often seen as intrinsically irrational. This ... Read more

CEPPA Talk – Stephanie Collins (Monash University)

Title: Legislative Intent: A Rational Unity Account (co-authored with David Tan (Deakin University)) Abstract: Does the legislature have intentions concerning the effects of legislation? If so, how can that intent be known by outsiders? Existing theories of legislative intent can be divided into three camps: skepticism, constructivism, and realism. This paper begins by outlining problems for ... Read more

CEPPA Talk (in person) – Walter Sinnott-Armstrong (Duke University)

Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: How to Build Morality into AI Abstract: AI is spreading fast. We humans need to figure out the best way to prevent AI from making the worst decisions, which are harmful, unfair, or otherwise morally wrong. One way is to design AI to predict what humans would judge to be immoral if ... Read more

CEPPA Talk (online only) – Jeff McMahan (Oxford University)

Title: “Compensation for Wrongful Life” Abstract: In a recent case in the UK, a 20-year-old woman with spina bifida brought an action against her mother’s physician for failing to advise her to take folic acid supplements for several months before becoming pregnant. The court ruled in the woman’s favor, accepting her claim that, had the ... Read more

Knox Lecture 2022 – Frances Kamm (Rutgers University)

The 2022 Knox Lecture will be delivered online by Professor Frances Kamm (Rutgers University) on Thursday, 19 May at 5:15pm UK time. Title: "Handling Future Pandemics: Harming, Not Aiding, and Liberty" Abstract: All over the world there have been protests, based on a concern with liberty, against restrictions intended to defeat the current pandemic. In ... Read more

CEPPA Talk (in person) – Matthew Adler (Duke University)

Location: Edgecliffe G03 and Teams Title: “Person-Affecting Consequentialism: Equity-Regarding, Desert-Neutral, Repugnant” Abstract: The philosophical literature on consequentialism regularly distinguishes between “person-affecting” and “impersonal” moral justifications or accounts.   The “person-affecting”/”impersonal” distinction can be interpreted in various ways.  I understand it as follows.  A person-affecting justificatory framework sees individuals’ well-being gains and losses—well-being effects on persons—as the fundamental ... Read more

The Ethics Cup – The Finals

United College St. Andrews, United Kingdom

The finals of 2022 The Ethics Cup, featuring the 12 top-performing teams from across the U.K.

Enrico Galvagni – CEPPA Work-In-Progress Talk (in person)

Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Hume’s Account of Virtue and Its Place in the History of Ethics Abstract: Hume’s account of virtue is notoriously puzzling. On the one hand, he claims that the virtues are qualities useful or agreeable to oneself or to others. On the other, he says that they are qualities which give a pleasing ... Read more

CEPPA Talk (in person) – Brian Hedden (ANU)

Location: School 6 Title: Counterfactual Decision Theory Abstract: I defend counterfactual decision theory, which says that you should evaluate an act in terms of which outcomes would likely obtain, were you to perform it. Counterfactual decision theory has traditionally been subsumed under causal decision theory as a particular formulation of the latter. This is a mistake. ... Read more