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CEPPA Talk (in person) – Thomas Schmidt (Humboldt-University)
March 31, 2022 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Location: Edgecliffe G03
Title: Ought and the Transmission of Reasons
Abstract: According to the widely held Weightiest Reasons view about how reasons for action and the practical ought are related to one another,
(WR) an agent ought to φ if, and only if, the reasons for φ are weightier than the reasons for every incompatible alternative to φ.
I show that complementing (WR) in a way that results in an extensionally adequate account is surprisingly difficult and compromises intuitive plausibility. In particular, it turns out that (WR) only returns correct results when it is combined with principles of reasons transmission some of which entail an implausible proliferation of reasons. Even so, the theoretical package that friends of (WR) must accept is to be preferred over competing views.