Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Values as Vectors Abstract: Often, two things seem tied in value, though slightly improving one would not break the tie. How can we model such 'insensitivity to sweetening'? A leading answer is that overall values, rather than being like precise numbers, must be imprecise, giving rise to a special nontransitive value ... Read more
5th Annual CEPPA Graduate Conference 30-31 May, 2023, at the University of St Andrews The Centre for Ethics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs (CEPPA) is proud to host the 5th Annual CEPPA Graduate Conference at the University of St Andrews (UCO: School V). The event will be held in-person with the option for spectators to join online. Registration will open once ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: QUASI-REALISM FOR REALISTS Abstract: Reductive realists think that normative properties are identical to descriptive properties. But they are often charged with being relativists: it is often argued that their view implies that when two people make conflicting normative judgements, these judgements can both be true. I will argue that reductive realists ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: “Superspreading the Word”. Abstract: Quasi-realists are expressivists who say much of what realists say. To avoid making their view indistinguishable from realism, however, they usually stop short of saying everything realists say. Many realists therefore think that something important is missing from quasi-realism. I will argue that quasi-realists can undermine this ... Read more
Location: Edgecliffe G03 Title: Humorlessness and Moral Recognition Abstract: We’re often quick to point fingers at people who fail to find humor in themselves. And our accusations have a moral tinge: we decry people for being sanctimonious buzzkills, and command them to ‘get over themselves’. But are these moralized reactions justified? And what, if anything, ... Read more
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: School III in-person and Teams online (for online attendees, headphones should be worn to prevent a feedback loop from occurring) Title: Social Reproduction and the Politics of Care Abstract: For decades, socialist feminists have insisted that an adequate approach to any economy, and especially to capitalism, must involve attention to social reproduction, i.e., to “the activities ... Read more
The 5th Annual CEPPA Graduate Conference in St Andrews, 30-31 May, 2023.