Maxim Bishev

[Jerome Luxon]

Hello Everyone,

 

The PhilSoc seminar this coming week (26/5) will be Maxim Bishev's Confirmation of Candidature. Please find the title and abstract below. As always, the seminar will be held in room 6.71 on the top floor of the RSSS from 3-4:30, and the zoom link can be found below the title and abstract.

 

Kind Regards,

Jerome

Upcoming PhilSoc:

02/06/26	Jerome Luxon	Confirmation	The Emotion Gadget Hypothesis
09/06/26	Thomas Graham	Open to all
16/06/26	Taufiqurrahman	Confirmation
23/06/26	James Vlachoulis	Confirmation

Title: Three Issues in the Characterisation of Egoism

Abstract: This paper examines three major debates concerning the characterisation of egoism in contemporary moral philosophy. It argues that many traditional objections to egoism arise from conflating distinctions that must instead be carefully separated. The first debate concerns whether egoism can satisfy the universality requirement of morality once a distinction is drawn between agent-neutral and agent-relative principles. The paper argues that universality is a formal requirement concerning consistency across cases, not a substantive commitment to impartiality. Egoism may therefore be universal while remaining agent-relative. The second debate concerns whether flourishing consists entirely in internal psychological states or partly in objective relations to the external world. Using Nozick’s experience machine and Aristotle’s account of eudaimonia, the paper argues that flourishing possesses allocentric realisation conditions extending beyond subjective experience. The third debate concerns the distinction between justificatory and deliberative levels of moral theory. While egoism may function coherently as an ultimate justificatory standard, direct egoistic deliberation often undermines the practical conditions required for flourishing itself. Drawing on Rawls, Mill, Sidgwick, and Annas, the paper argues that flourishing frequently depends upon forms of engagement incompatible with constant self-interested calculation. Egoism ultimately survives these debates only in a substantially refined and philosophically demanding form.

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Jerome Luxon

PhD Candidate

School of Philosophy

Research School of Social Sciences

Australian National University

[Jerome Luxon]

Hello all, 

Reminder this talk is on today. 

Best,

Jerome

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jerome Luxon

PhD Candidate

School of Philosophy

Research School of Social Sciences

Australian National University

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From: Jerome Luxon <Jerome...@anu.edu.au>
Sent: 21 May 2026 11:54
To: 'Colin Klein' via anu-philosophy <anu-phi...@googlegroups.com>
Cc: local.philsoc <local....@lists.anu.edu.au>
Subject: Maxim Bishev