Centre for Ethics, Philosophy and Public Affairs
Title: Welfare and Felt Duration Abtract: How should we understand the duration of a pleasant or unpleasant sensation, insofar as its duration modulates how good or bad the experience is overall? Given that we seem able to distinguish between subjective and objective duration and that how well or badly someone’s life goes is naturally thought ... Read more
This week we will discuss Tyler Cowen's 'What Do We Learn From The Repugnant Conclusion?'. Luca notes that if people find Section 3 hard to read, he is very happy to explain it at the MPRG. Additionally, he mentions that '(1) section 5 is not essential (but it is extremely fun) and (2) it is absolutely unnecessary to ... Read more
This talk is part of our series on Climate Ethics Title: The Ranked Range View Location: Edgecliffe G03 Abstract: The bad effects of climate change will affect, and be affected by, the number of people who will exist, and their quality of life. Thus, when evaluating our climate policies and actions, we need to know ... Read more
this week will have a Work in Progress session discussing Bradley Hillier-Smith's draft paper, 'The Egalitarian Case for Open Borders: Moral Arbitrariness'. Abstract: This paper argues that recent debates on egalitarian objections to immigration restrictions overlook a crucial, powerful normative principle that underpins objections to inequalities: any inequalities between morally equal persons - whether in goods, resources, welfare but also ... Read more
Title: Encroachment and epistemic negligence Abstract: In this talk, I argue that the moral duty of non-negligence is a fruitful way to understand and motivate the claim that moral reasons can ‘encroach’ on epistemic norms. More forcefully: we should readily affirm that on the epistemic norms governing agents like us—that is, who have limited cognitive ... Read more
Title: Contingency and the Present Location: School V
Location: Edgecliffe G03 and Teams Contact: [email protected] We will meet in a hybrid format (online and in Edgecliffe G03) to discuss Eric Marcus's article 'Wanting and willing' Eric Marcus, 'Wanting and Willing', abstract: How homogenous are the sources of human motivation? Textbook Humeans hold that every human action is motivated by desire, thus any heterogeneity derives ... Read more
Title: Practical Reason and the Satisfaction of Desire Location: Teams (online only) Abstract: I have a desire for dulce de leche ice-cream (or that I myself eat ice-cream) but there’s no ice-cream nearby. A heavenly angel takes pity on me and decides she will help me out. She conjures the ice-cream and quickly shoves it ... Read more
This week we will be reading C. Thi Nguyen's 'Value Capture?'. Location: Edgecliffe G03 and Teams Contact: [email protected]
Title: Compromises and Lesser-Evil Compromises in Ending Wars. Abstract: Contemporary conflicts often lack a clear end-state, posing challenges to the traditional notion of victory in just wars. This ambiguity calls for a revaluation of war’s objectives, suggesting that wars should end without a clear victory. In this paper, I will explore various moral and non-moral ... Read more