CSU Philosophy Seminar, Wagga Wagga, 8 March, Luke Roelofs (NOTE UNUSUAL ROOM)
8 views
Skip to first unread message
Cohen, Daniel
Mar 2, 2016, 9:24:58 PM3/2/16
to wagga...@googlegroups.com
Tuesday, 8 March, 4.00 - 6.00pm
Luke Roelofs (Australian National University)
Title: Rationalism, Sympathy, and Covert Solipsists: Why It Is Irrational to Be Amoral
Abstract: Moral rationalism is an attractive way to combine objectivism about moral truth with a naturalistic metaphysics and epistemology. But on the face of it, people can be immoral yet perfectly rational, which undermines the rationalist's claim that moral judgements flow from reason. In particular, Sean Nichols accuses rationalism of having no workable account of psychopaths, who are systematically blind to moral considerations due to what seems to be an affective, rather than cognitive, defect. I outline a novel solution to this problem, based on stealing a move from sentimentalist theories and grounding morality in properly-systematised sympathy. Although sympathy is usually thought of as a purely affective add-on to social cognition, recent theories which ground social cognition in 'simulation' open up the possibility of giving sympathy an essential cognitive role. More precisely, apparently unsympathetic social cognition can be analysed as an exercise of sympathetic imagination with complete or near-complete inhibition of affective and motivational aspects, and this inhibition is something we can rationally evaluate. It follows that unsympathetic subjects are to some extent misperceiving the facts about other minds, and egoistic agents are literally acting as though other people's feelings were not real. The surprising result is that any consistently egoistic agent is a solipsist in denial, and thus irrational for failing to accept a factual belief - the reality of other minds - for which they have ample evidence.
Location: CSU Wagga Campus, Building 21, Room 102 (PLEASE NOTE UNUSUAL ROOM).
You can also participate in this seminar by videolink from our Canberra location: Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CSU), Level 1, 10-12 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT (take the lift to level 1 and ring the doorbell to your right). Parking is available behind the building. To be let in to the car park, stop temporarily in the bay, and call us on 6272 6277 or come up to our offices on level 1.
Upcoming seminars:
17 March, Wagga Wagga: Anne Schwenkenbecher (Murdoch University)
5 April, Wagga Wagga: Michael Brady (University of Glasgow)
13 April, Canberra: Katerina Hadjimatheou (University of Warwick)
Please see waggaphilosophy.com for further details.
Daniel Cohen
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy | School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Charles Sturt University
Boorooma St
Wagga Wagga, 2678
Australia
Tel: +61 2 6933 2565
Email: dco...@csu.edu.au
Charles Sturt University
| ALBURY-WODONGA | BATHURST | CANBERRA | DUBBO | GOULBURN | MELBOURNE | ORANGE | PORT MACQUARIE | SYDNEY | WAGGA WAGGA |
LEGAL NOTICE
This email (and any attachment) is confidential and is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not copy, distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery. Email should be checked for viruses and defects before opening. Charles Sturt University (CSU) does not accept liability for viruses or any consequence which arise as a result of this email transmission. Email communications with CSU may be subject to automated email filtering, which could result in the delay or deletion of a legitimate email before it is read at CSU. The views expressed in this email are not necessarily those of CSU.
Charles Sturt University in Australia
http://www.csu.edu.au
The Grange Chancellery, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW Australia 2795
(ABN: 83 878 708 551; CRICOS Provider Numbers: 00005F (NSW), 01947G (VIC), 02960B (ACT)). TEQSA Provider Number: PV12018
Consider the environment before printing this email.
Luke Roelofs (Australian National University)
Title: Rationalism, Sympathy, and Covert Solipsists: Why It Is Irrational to Be Amoral
Abstract: Moral rationalism is an attractive way to combine objectivism about moral truth with a naturalistic metaphysics and epistemology. But on the face of it, people can be immoral yet perfectly rational, which undermines the rationalist's claim that moral judgements flow from reason. In particular, Sean Nichols accuses rationalism of having no workable account of psychopaths, who are systematically blind to moral considerations due to what seems to be an affective, rather than cognitive, defect. I outline a novel solution to this problem, based on stealing a move from sentimentalist theories and grounding morality in properly-systematised sympathy. Although sympathy is usually thought of as a purely affective add-on to social cognition, recent theories which ground social cognition in 'simulation' open up the possibility of giving sympathy an essential cognitive role. More precisely, apparently unsympathetic social cognition can be analysed as an exercise of sympathetic imagination with complete or near-complete inhibition of affective and motivational aspects, and this inhibition is something we can rationally evaluate. It follows that unsympathetic subjects are to some extent misperceiving the facts about other minds, and egoistic agents are literally acting as though other people's feelings were not real. The surprising result is that any consistently egoistic agent is a solipsist in denial, and thus irrational for failing to accept a factual belief - the reality of other minds - for which they have ample evidence.
Location: CSU Wagga Campus, Building 21, Room 102 (PLEASE NOTE UNUSUAL ROOM).
You can also participate in this seminar by videolink from our Canberra location: Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics (CSU), Level 1, 10-12 Brisbane Avenue, Barton ACT (take the lift to level 1 and ring the doorbell to your right). Parking is available behind the building. To be let in to the car park, stop temporarily in the bay, and call us on 6272 6277 or come up to our offices on level 1.
Upcoming seminars:
17 March, Wagga Wagga: Anne Schwenkenbecher (Murdoch University)
5 April, Wagga Wagga: Michael Brady (University of Glasgow)
13 April, Canberra: Katerina Hadjimatheou (University of Warwick)
Please see waggaphilosophy.com for further details.
Daniel Cohen
Senior Lecturer in Philosophy | School of Humanities and Social Sciences
Charles Sturt University
Boorooma St
Wagga Wagga, 2678
Australia
Tel: +61 2 6933 2565
Email: dco...@csu.edu.au
Charles Sturt University
| ALBURY-WODONGA | BATHURST | CANBERRA | DUBBO | GOULBURN | MELBOURNE | ORANGE | PORT MACQUARIE | SYDNEY | WAGGA WAGGA |
LEGAL NOTICE
This email (and any attachment) is confidential and is intended for the use of the addressee(s) only. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, you must not copy, distribute, take any action in reliance on it or disclose it to anyone. Any confidentiality is not waived or lost by reason of mistaken delivery. Email should be checked for viruses and defects before opening. Charles Sturt University (CSU) does not accept liability for viruses or any consequence which arise as a result of this email transmission. Email communications with CSU may be subject to automated email filtering, which could result in the delay or deletion of a legitimate email before it is read at CSU. The views expressed in this email are not necessarily those of CSU.
Charles Sturt University in Australia
http://www.csu.edu.au
The Grange Chancellery, Panorama Avenue, Bathurst NSW Australia 2795
(ABN: 83 878 708 551; CRICOS Provider Numbers: 00005F (NSW), 01947G (VIC), 02960B (ACT)). TEQSA Provider Number: PV12018
Consider the environment before printing this email.
Cohen, Daniel
Mar 6, 2016, 8:47:52 PM3/6/16
to wagga...@googlegroups.com
!!!! LOCATION UPDATE: The seminar will be held in Building 21, Room 102 !!!!
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages