http://ethics-etc.com A forum for discussing contemporary philosophical issues in ethics and related areas Sun, 11 May 2008 04:25:43 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en On why ethicists tend to write longer papers, Saul Smilansky has proposed the following hypothesis: 1. Do many people NOT write short papers because they believe that (with the exception of Analysis) the journals insist on longer papers? Do you have this perception? Do vote and let us know. I'm ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/05/08/ethicists-write-longer-papers-poll/ Daniel Elstein from University of Leeds gave a talk recently at the Oxford Moral Philosophy Seminar on "Is there a normative question and if so, how can it be answered?" Here is an abstract of his talk: A neglected debate in metaethics is between Kantian and Humean expressivists. Kantian expressivists ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/05/07/elstein-on-is-there-a-normative-question/ I'd like to draw your attention to the following: The UT-Austin philosophy department is pleased to announce a week-long graduate student workshop on philosophical methodology, August 12 – August 16. Possible workshop subtopics include (but are not limited to) intuition, conceptual analysis, reflective equilibrium, reduction, and ontological commitment. Already confirmed speakers include Julia Driver (Washington University/St. Louis), ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/05/05/ut-austin-graduate-student-workshop-on-philosophical-methodology-aug-12-16/ I've been looking through the recent issue of Analysis. It has 13 papers, of which one is on meta-ethics, and there's nothing in either normative or applied ethics. This is a fairly typical showing. There are occasional papers on free will (which is a distinct topic, combining metaphysics and ethics), ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/05/02/why-do-ethicists-write-such-long-papers/ Towards the end of the chapter Appiah remarks that the greatest works in ethics exhibit a deep, irrepressible heterogeneity, heterogeneity that reflects a richness and complexity of the ethical life he believes that many moral philosophers overlook in their quest for neat (even: intricate) theories. This last chapter is certainly ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/28/appiah%e2%80%99s-experiments-in-ethics-chapter-5/ Apologies for cross-posting. THICK CONCEPTS University of Kent, Canterbury, UK 3rd-5th July, 2009 Invited Speakers: Jonathan Dancy (Reading; Texas, Austin) Daniel Elstein (Leeds) Allan Gibbard (Michigan, Ann Arbor) Chris Hookway (Sheffield) Tom Hurka (Toronto) Simon Kirchin (Kent) Jerry Levinson (Maryland) Adrian Moore (Oxford) Michael Smith (Princeton) Alan Thomas (Kent) Pekka Vayrynen (Leeds) Nick Zangwill (Durham) Supported by The Mind Association, and The University of Kent. Many philosophers are ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/28/thick-concepts-conference-first-cfp/ Professor Geoff Sayre-McCord from UNC has recently recorded a chat with Will Wilkinson on metaethics for Bloggingheads.tv. Here's the link to the diavlog: http://brainwaveweb.com/diavlogs/10593 Some of the topics covered are as follows: * How to be a moral realist (03:36) * What is metaethics? (04:38) * What to do when ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/28/sayre-mccord-on-metaethics-for-blogginheadstv/ NORMATIVITY AND THE CAUSAL THEORY OF ACTION One-day conference, 18 July 2008, 9am – 6pm Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, UK Conference venue: Clifton Hill House, Bristol SPEAKERS: Michael E. Bratman (Stanford): From goal-directedness to the agent's rational guidance Lynne R. Baker (Umass, Amherst): Agency and the first-person perspective Roman Altshuler (SUNY, Stony ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/21/cf-normativity-and-the-causal-theory-of-action/ First of all, it is a genuine pleasure to contribute to this forum: I only hope my comments will not lag too far behind the quality of previous posts! Now to Experiments in Ethics . . . Chapter four is entitled "The Varieties of Moral Experience" and my discussion will follow ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/17/appiahs-experiments-in-ethics-chapter-4/ ETHICS WITHOUT PRINCIPLES: The Diversity of Contexts of Moral Particularisms Date: May 10, 2008 Place: University of Paris I - Panthéon Sorbonne – ExeCo Centre Panthéon : 12, place du Panthéon, room 1, 75005 Paris, France Contact e-mail : a.c.zielinska@gmail.com Conference webpage: http://meliparen.blogspot.com/ Keynote Speakers: Jonathan DANCY, Sandra LAUGIER, and John SKORUPSKI PROGRAM – Saturday, May 10. 09h00 Sandra Laugier ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/07/conference-on-moral-particularism/ British Society for Ethical Theory Annual Conference 2008, University of Edinburgh, 14 – 16 July 2008 Speakers and Papers 1. Carla Bagnoli (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee): Practical Reflection and Agential Authority 2. Campbell Brown (University of Edinburgh): The Composition of Reasons 3. Krister Bykvist and Jonas Olson (Jesus College and Brasenose College, ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/04/02/bset-schedule/ In this chapter, Appiah presents experimental studies that seem to challenge our use of intuitions. He then outlines some responses to these studies. I shall begin with a summary of the chapter, using Appiah’s subheadings for easy navigation. I shall then offer some commentaries on this ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/03/31/appiahs-experiments-in-ethics-chapter-3/ Everybody’s heard about Joshua Greene’s fMRI studies of moral judgement. Many have also heard about the study by Koenigs, Young, Adolphs, Cushman, Tranel, Cushman, Hauser and Damasio of patients with prefrontal damage. In a communication I co-authored with Nick Shackel and which has just come out in Nature, we criticise ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/03/21/utilitarianism-and-the-brain/ The second chapter of Experiments in Ethics (E in E) is entitled ‘The Case against Character’, and it focuses on a recent critique of virtue ethics due to Gilbert Harman, John Doris and some other philosophers. The inspiration for their attack on virtue ethics is a body of experimental work ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/03/17/appiahs-experiments-in-ethics-chapter-2/ Manchester Centre for Political Theory (MANCEPT) Value, Respect, and Wellbeing: Themes from the Work of Joseph Raz Friday 9 May 2008 Time: 9.30am - 5.15pm Venue: The Boardroom, Arthur Lewis Building, University of Manchester Provisional Programme: 9.30 - 10.00 registration 10.00 - 11.15 session 1: Steven Wall (Bowling Green State University) 11.15 - 11.30 ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/03/15/cf-raz-on-value-respect-and-well-being/ Chapter One is essentially a ground clearing exercise. Appiah’s aim is to argue that experimental philosophy is not the innovative and threatening enterprise that it might seem: instead, it is a return to philosophy’s roots. Philosophy has traditionally been closely informed by scientific work, and the best philosophers have often ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/03/03/appiahs-experiments-in-ethics-chapter-1/ Professor James Griffin's outstanding and important book, On Human Rights, has now been published by Oxford University Press. Professor Griffin is the White's Professor of Moral Philosophy, Emeritus, at Oxford University, and currently holds appointments at Oxford, Rutgers University and Australian National University. Dr. John Tasioulas (Oxford) has ... http://ethics-etc.com/2008/02/27/james-griffins-on-human-rights/