The conference will be held from 4-6 July\, 2015 in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.
\nWhat is suffering&rsquo\;s \;role \;and \;value? Physical suffering motivates injury avoidance\; but empirical results continue to suggest many other\, neglected roles that suffering plays. Hence we will ask: How does suffering bear on attention\, memory\, deliberation\, problem-solving\, and social cooperation? And how does recent research into hedonics illuminate suffering&rsquo\;s pedagogical \;role?
\nTurning to emotions\, the evidence of its neural overlap with pain is burgeoning\, emotional suffering surely plays distinctive roles too\, e.g. in moral knowledge and virtuous behaviour. Emotions can be appropriate and inappropriate and inappropriate to the circumstances\; so might it even be that emotional suffering is sometimes intrinsically valuable? \;
\nFinally\, what can we learn about the \;role \;of suffering from its putative opposite: pleasure? And how do our results illuminate the \;value \;of affective experience in general? \;
\nThe day will be organized around the research of the following presenters: \;
\nDavid Bain (Philosophy\, University of Glasgow )
\n&ldquo\;Action\, desire\, and the simplicity of pain behaviour&rdquo\;
\nMichael Brady (Philosophy\, University of Glasgow)
\n&ldquo\;Emotional and physical suffering: a virtue-ethical perspective&rdquo\;
\nJennifer Corns (Philosophy\, University of Glasgow)
\n&ldquo\;Hedonic adverbialism&rdquo\;
\nFrederique de Vignemont (Philosophy\, Institut Jean-Nicod)
\n&ldquo\;Drawing the boundaries of one&rsquo\;s body: the role of pain&rdquo\;
\nRichard Gray (Philosophy\, Cardiff University)
\n&ldquo\;The role of pain&rdquo\;
\nColin Leach (Social Psychology\, University of Connecticut)
\n&ldquo\;The value of others&rsquo\; suffering: Schadenfreude &\; its sisters&rdquo\;
\nKevin Reuter (Philosophy\, University of Bochum)
\n&ldquo\;The content and structure of affective concepts&rdquo\;
\nTimothy Schroeder (Philosophy\, Ohio State University)
\n&ldquo\;Perceiving things as worse&rdquo\;
\nTasia Scrutton (Theology and Religious Studies\, University of Leeds)
\n&ldquo\;Themes in depression recovery narrative&rdquo\;
\nFabrice Teroni (Philosophy\, University of Bern)
\n&ldquo\;All the right reasons to suffer&rdquo\;
\nDiscussants at large include: Fiona Macpherson\, Myrto Mylopoulos\, Paul Noordhof\, and Carolyn Price.
\nThe conference is funded by the John Templeton Foundation and is part of the larger project: The \;Value \;of Suffering: An Interdisciplinary Investigation of the Nature\, Meaning\, and \;Role \;of Affective Experiences.
\nThe \;Value \;of Suffering Project is an international\, interdisciplinary research project headed by principal investigators David Bain and Michael Brady\, the aim of which is to foster multidisciplinary exploration of the roles that affective experiences&mdash\;suffering in particular&mdash\;play in our lives.
\nFor more information\, please visit our website: \;http://www.valueofsuffering.co.uk/
\nRegistration \;is £\;15 for student and £\;30 for staff\, and includes tea and coffee.
\nTo register or for further inquiries please email Jennifer Corns: \;jencorns@gmail.com
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