Injustice and the Emotions

The Ohio State University chapter of Minorities and Philosophy is excited to announce our inaugural graduate philosophy conference on the theme of Injustice and the Emotionsto be held May 5th-6th in the heart of Columbus, OH. We are especially excited to host our inaugural keynote by Dr. Meena Krishnamurthy (Associate Professor of Philosophy, Queen’s University). 

This conference provides opportunities for graduate students to present early research projects broadly connected to philosophical themes raised by the description below: 

Injustice elicits a slew of emotions. We are angered and saddened by injustice; we grieve in the face of its devastating effects; we lose or retain hope when combating persistent oppression. These phenomena ignite a host of questions about the relationship between emotions and injustice. For example, is anger or rage an (in)appropriate or (un)fitting response to unjust acts and institutions? Is demanding that victims of injustice forgo their anger itself a form of injustice? How should we think of forward-directed emotions such as hope in the face of oppression? What are the proper roles of backward-looking emotions such guilt or remorse as they surface in the public sphere? Answers to these questions may also depend on the intertwined relationships between theories of justice and accounts of the emotions. We thus also invite, and look forward, to scholarly contributions bearing on any of these areas of inquiry.

We are grateful to the Center for Ethics and Human Values at Ohio State for their generous support.