Philosophy seminar: This Wednesday at 4pm: "Skepticism about Blameworthiness: Normative not Metaphysical "

[Cohen, Daniel]

Philosophy Seminar Series

WEDNESDAY, 23 August 2017

CSU, Wagga Wagga. Building 29, Room 217, 4-6pm

Richard Rowland (Australian Catholic University)

"Skepticism about Blameworthiness: Normative not Metaphysical "

ABSTRACT: This paper argues that although there are non-instrumental reasons to have pro-attitudes and certain con-attitudes there are no non-instrumental reasons to blame; call this view No Reason. If No Reason is correct, then although some people are admirable and praiseworthy and some things are desirable and others undesirable, no one is blameworthy. This paper’s argument for No Reason provides a normative case for skepticism about blameworthiness rather than providing what we might call a metaphysical case for skepticism about blameworthiness deriving from skepticism about free will. Accordingly this normative case for skepticism about blameworthiness avoids the problems faced by skepticism about blameworthiness that derives from skepticism about free will. The idea that a non-metaphysically based, normative or evaluative, case for skepticism about blameworthiness might be made is in the air in the recent literature on blame. But such a non-metaphysically-based case for skepticism about blameworthiness has not been made. This paper makes such a case. This paper argues that there is a non-instrumental reason to have a token of attitude type T only if it is sometimes non-instrumentally better to have a token attitude of type T. But it is never non-instrumentally better to blame others than to not blame others. So, there are no non-instrumental reasons to blame.

The seminar will also be accessible via video-conference at our Canberra Campus at Level 1, 10-12 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT (take the lift to level 1 and ring the doorbell to your right).

Those based on other campuses can join the seminar using a personal computer (go to: https://conference.csu.edu.au/441331) or by phone (dial 02 6933 7555 and input the Conference ID as 441331, followed by the hash (#) key).

For details about future seminars, please see: waggaphilosophy.com

Cheers,

Daniel


Daniel Cohen
Associate Head of School
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy
School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Charles Sturt University
Tel: +61 2 6933 2565
Email: dco...@csu.edu.au

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