Brian Weatherson, University of Michigan
14. Dezember 2017  17-19 Uhr  3B NIG

Poster WKAP-Vortrag Brian Weatherson

Thick Moral Ignorance

Abstract: Several philosophers have endorsed the view that while factual ignorance is relevant to blame, moral ignorance is not. In previous work I’ve also defended this view, and this paper continues the defense. One problem for any view that distinguishes between factual and moral attitudes is that it is hard to cleanly divide all attitudes into one of the two camps. In particular, so called thick moral terms, such as terms to do with courage, friendship and fairness, pose a problem for this neat division. I’ll argue that most of these terms do not really pose a problem for the view about blame and ignorance. But there is a problem about fairness, and thinking about why fairness is a problem gets at some deep issues that affect a number of contemporary philosophical debates.