Join us in the Tsuzuki Lecture Theatre at 5.30pm to hear Plumer Visiting Fellow, Saul Smilansky, discuss “Crazy Ethics”.
Saul describes his lecture:
‘”Crazy Ethics” (CE) is a radical, ambitious view of the content of morality. It claims that while morality as such can make sense (e.g. is not just a relativistic cultural product or a way of manipulating people emotionally), it is full of PPP – Perplexities, Paradoxes and Perversities. Absurdity prevails in central areas of the moral universe. The craziness or absurdity I am discussing does not indicate that we are making a mistake, but absurdity can be a feature of true, or at least quite plausible, beliefs, or descriptions of states of affairs. Seeing the absurdity is a revelation of reality.
The craziness of ethics has been almost completely neglected; unlike in other areas of philosophy (paradoxes are central in logic, epistemology, or the philosophy of science, for example). This neglect is not innocent – we are motivated to try to avoid the indications of absurdity, for psychological and social reasons. Hence, uncovering CE is not only a matter of discovering truths about morality and the meaning of life, but of overcoming ourselves.
I am completing a book that aims to defend and explore the CE view. In my talk, I will explain further CE and why it matters. Mainly, I will give three diverse examples of CE which we can then discuss. And I will speak a bit on why technological changes will make CE all the more important in the future; and on how we might deal with it (clue: this itself involves more craziness).’
All welcome!