CFP: Workshop on Ethics & Relationships

Workshop on Ethics & Relationships

Location: Boğaziçi University, Istanbul

Date: August 10th and 11th

This workshop is generously supported by Koç University and Boğaziçi University.

Confirmed speakers:

Robert Streiffer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Bill Wringe (Bilkent University)

Ege Yumuşak (Columbia University)

We invite submission of abstracts of 500-1000 words. Please submit by April 14th.

Please prepare abstracts for blind review and submit abstracts to the organizers: Seçil Aracı ([email protected]) and David Killoren ([email protected])

Workshop format:
We intend to have six-or-so speaking slots. Speakers will present for 30 minutes followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Pre-circulation of a draft will be welcomed but not required. Refreshments will be served throughout the event and a workshop dinner and drinks will occur on the final day of the workshop (Friday). (All food provided will be 100% vegan.) On the Saturday after the workshop has concluded, there will be an optional group tour of some of the most beautiful and historic spots in Istanbul.

Topics may include (but are not limited to):

-Explorations of philosophical and/or ethical questions about particular types of relationships, such as: friendships; familial relationships; workplace relationships; rivalries, enemy-ships, frenemy-ships; political relationships (e.g., relationships between citizens of the same country; relationships between immigrants and citizens); relationships between collective entities (e.g., relationships between countries; relationships between corporations); relationships between individuals and collective entities (e.g., relationships between individuals and states; relationships between individuals and corporations).

-Metaphysics of relationships: What are relationships? How do they differ from mere relations? For example, how (if at all) does the left-of relation differ in kind from relationships such as friendships, familial relationships, etc.? How are relationships individuated? How many relationships does each of us have? What does it take to form a relationship? Can you be in a relationship with someone without knowing it? How do we exit relationships?

-Relationships and obligations: Are there “special obligations” to those with whom we have relationships? If so, which relationships can give rise to these sorts of obligations?

-The value of relationships: Are relationships valuable—either instrumentally or non-instrumentally? Are there any relationships that have no value or negative value?

-Relationships and rights: Is there a moral right to certain kinds of relationships (e.g., is there a right to friendship, or to romantic relationships)? What are the ethical, metaphysical, and/or conceptual connections between rights and relationships?

-Relationships and reasons: If you have a particular relationship with someone, does this fact all by itself supply you with reasons for or against treating them in certain ways? Alternatively, do relationships affect the weight of relationship-independent reasons? Or are relationships and reasons connected in other ways?