What is the Point of Morality?

Organizers: Dr. Stefan Fischer & Prof. Dr. Jacob Rosenthal

Topic:

Does morality have a point or function, and if so, what is it? Can we learn anything about the nature of morality by asking for its point? And what, if anything, would a point of morality imply for normative ethics and metaethics? The aim of the conference is to bring together moral philosophers who work in a broadly „Humean“ tradition and in a broadly „Kantian“ tradition, and who currently tackle these and related questions in their writings. 

Invited Speakers:

• Carla Bagnoli (Modena and Reggio Emilia)
• David Copp (Davis)
• Sebastian Köhler (Frankfurt)
• Jimmy Lenman (Sheffield)
• Ida Miczke (University of Warsaw)
• Herlinde Pauer-Studer (Wien)
• Tilla Resheff (Duisburg-Essen)
• Nick Smyth (Fordham)

Program:

Day 1 (Thursday, 5 June)

9:20-9:30: Welcome/Introduction (Fischer/Rosenthal)

9:30–10:45: David Copp: Does Morality Have a Point?

11:00–12:15: Jimmy Lenman: Improving the World

-Lunch Break-

13:30–14:45: Sebastian Köhler: Functions for Expressivists 

15:00–16:15: Tilla Resheff: The Function of Morality within Evolutionary Moral Realism

16:30–17:45: Stefan Fischer: The Point of Morality and the Autonomy of Normative Ethics

Day 2 (Friday, 6 June)

9:30–10:45: Carla Bagnoli: Morality as a Peculiar Institution

11:00–12:15: Herlinde Pauer-Studer: The Relational Resources of Kants Practical Philosophy

-Lunch Break-

13:30–14:45: Jacob Rosenthal: Morality as Deriving from Mutual Recognition

15:00–16:15: Ida Miczke: Should Morality be Action-Guiding?

16:30–17:45: Nick Smyth: What is the Function of Morality in the Digital Age?

The abstracts of the talks, as well as the workshop program as a pdf-file, can be found here.

Participation is free, but we kindly ask you to register in advance (stefan.fischer@uni-konstanz.de; jacob.rosenthal@uni-konstanz.de).