Moral Sentimentalism and the Foundations of Morality

Two-Day Conference on “Moral Sentimentalism and the Foundations of Morality”

Friday, November 14 and Saturday, November 15, 2014

College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

Speakers (in alphabetical order):

Simon Blackburn (UNC Chapel Hill);  Justin D’Arms (Ohio State); Remy Debes (Memphis); Sabine Döring (Tübingen); Michael Frazer (Harvard); Daniel Jacobson (UMichigan); Antti Kauppinen (Trinity College,  Dublin); Michelle Mason (Minnesota); Diana Tietjen Meyers (UConn); Jesse Prinz (CUNY); Peter Railton (UMichigan); Karl Schafer (Pittsburgh); Karsten Stueber (Holy Cross); David Wong (Duke)

Description: In recent years there has been a tremendous resurgence of philosophical interest in moral sentimentalism, an ethical and meta-ethical tradition first articulated in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment and particularly associated with David Hume and Adam Smith. This renewed interest in moral sentimentalism is best understood as being due to the convergence of a vigorous philosophical debate about the nature of and interdisciplinary research into the psychological mechanisms underlying our capacity for moral judgment and moral agency. The speakers will highlight both the promises and potential pitfalls of moral sentimentalism and suggest ways of thinking through its problems.

The conference program will be available soon. The conference functions also as a workshop for an anthology on moral sentimentalism edited by Remy Debes (Memphis) and Karsten Stueber (Holy Cross)

The conference is free and open to the public, but it would be good if you could e-mail the organizer Karsten Stueber at [email protected] and let him know if you plan to attend. A limited number of seats are also available for the conference lunches on Friday and Saturday.

The conference is generously supported by the McFarland Center for Ethics, Religion and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross.