ColdWAR 2 Keynote: "Disentangled: Quietism about Moral Psychology, Instrumentalism about Moral Responsibility, & Policing the Subject", John Doris (Cornell Univ
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Goldwin-Smith Hall, G22, New York
Talk Title: Disentangled: Quietism about Moral Psychology, Instrumentalism about Moral Responsibility, & Policing the Subject ColdWAR (Workshop on Agency and Responsibility) features sophisticated original research on issues roughly captured under the label “agency and responsibility.” This general area involves investigation of such questions as: What does it mean to be an agent? How (if at all) does the nature of personhood and personal identity across time bear on questions of agency? What is the nature of, and relation between, moral and criminal responsibility? What is the relation between responsibility and the metaphysical issues of determinism and free will? What do various psychological disorders (autism, psychopathy, cognitive disabilities) tell us about agency and responsibility? What is involved in the development of moral agency? What is the will, willpower, and weakness (or strength) of will? What do the results from neuroscience imply (if anything) for our questions about agency and responsibility? What is the nature of autonomy and how is it related to agency and responsibility? Work in agency and responsibility, while more or less having a home base in the world of moral philosophy, draws from a host of cross-disciplinary sources, including moral psychology, psychology proper (experimental, developmental, etc.), political economy, philosophy of psychology, philosophy of law, legal theory, metaphysics, neuroscience, neuroethics, social norm theory, political philosophy, and more. It is unified by its focus on who we are as deliberators and (inter)actors, embodied practical agents negotiating (sometimes unsuccessfully) a world of moral and legal norms. This Keynote Talk will introduce the topics and discussions which will be held at Cornell University on October 24th. Though the workshop is by-invitation only, this Keynote is open to the Cornell community.