CFP: Contemporary Issues Across Ethics and Epistemology

As many philosophers have recently observed, ethics and epistemology are very close philosophical disciplines. As the former discipline is concerned with the assessment of our actions, and the general principles governing it, the latter discipline is concerned with the assessment of our beliefs, and the general principles governing it. Ethics and epistemology, in other words, are both concerned with normative questions pertaining to our practical and doxastic conduct. This structural analogy has naturally raised the question of how one discipline relates to another. Moreover, many philosophers have come to appreciate that important aspects of each discipline can be fruitfully clarified or better understood by drawing on resources internal to the other discipline, or by investigating conceptual connections among them. With the aim of contributing to this trend, this conference brings together graduate students and young scholars working on ethical or epistemological themes with an interest in the possible interaction between both disciplines, or working on topics that lie at their intersection. The following is a non-exhaustive list of possible questions that perspective contributors might be willing to address:

- How does epistemic appraisal relate to ethical appraisal?

- What is the nature and source of moral and epistemic normativity?

- Are we responsible for the way we act and for what we believe?

- Is there an epistemic condition on moral responsibility? How do knowledge and moral responsibility interact?

- What does it mean to believe/act responsibly?

- What does it take to have an excuse for the way we act/for what we believe?

- Are there distinctively epistemic dimensions of injustice, and if so what forms do they take?

- What is the nature of moral and epistemic virtues and vices? How do they relate with one another?

- Is epistemic/practical akrasia possible? And is it possibly rational? What is the relation between epistemic and practical akrasia?

- Is epistemic/moral paternalism ever permissible?

- Has knowledge or justified belief a practical, interest-oriented component?

- What is moral/epistemic luck? How does it affect moral/epistemic evaluations?

How to submit

Abstracts (approx. 500 words) suitable for blind review should be sent to the following address: [email protected] by April 29, 2018. Notification of acceptance is due by May 15, 2018.