Moral Progress: Concept, Measurement, and Application

Academic Conference at VU University, Amsterdam, 23-25 June 2015

Moral Progress: Concept, Measurement, and Application

sponsored by the journal Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, (Springer)

Conference theme

Many philosophers and other scholars believe that, in spite of all the natural and moral evil that occurs every day and everywhere, there is moral progress. Is this belief just an assumption or a postulate, or is it also ‘evidence-based’? Most believers in moral progress think that moral progress in some domains might go together with moral stagnation, or even regress, in other domains. And moral progress might occur in some parts of the world, but not in others. Regardless of whether moral progress is overall or partial, global or local, the question arises how we can determine that it really takes place? How do we establish that a subsequent state is morally better than a preceding one? The most exciting question is, of course, how we can establish whether or not there is overall moral progress.

prof.dr. Bert Musschenga, e-mail: [email protected].