Workshop “Responsibility: What’s the Point?”

What’s the point or value of responsibility and blame attributions? Lately, the debate has developed quickly on this fundamental question. Recent proposals include: the point is to increase alignment of moral understanding (Fricker 2016), to scaffold each other’s moral sensitivities (McGeer 2019), to facilitate shared knowledge about the normative changes resulting from a wrong (Sliwa 2019), to remind each other of our values (Mason 2019), or to signal one’s commitment to norms (Shoemaker & Vargas 2021). The purpose of this workshop is to get informed about the latest developments in the debate, and to discuss the direction we think it should take.

The workshop will take place in person at the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam. Food and drinks will be provided during the day and the workshop, kindly supported by the Dutch Research School in Philosophy (OZSW). Attendance is free, but registration is required. If you want to register, please send an e-mail with the subject "Registration Responsibility Workshop" to Dominik Boll ([email protected]) by June 30. The program will be as follows:

9.45 – 10.00                Coffee

10.00 – 10.30              Introduction by the organisers

10.30 – 11.15              Sean Shields (Nottingham): The Conditional Value of our Responsibility Practices

11.15 – 12.15              Keynote: Leonhard Menges (Salzburg): A Moral Problem for Free Will and Responsibility

12.15 – 12.30              Coffee break

12.30 – 13.15              Daphne Brandenburg (Groningen): A Philosopher Goes to the Therapist

13.15 – 14.30              Lunch

14.30 – 15.15              Gunnar Björnsson (Stockholm): Re-Education and Rebalancing

15.15 – 16.00              Naomi Kloosterboer (VU Amsterdam): Taking Seriously and an Ethics of Holding Responsible

16.00 – 16.15             Coffee break

16.15 – 17.00              Alexander Edlich (LMU Munich): Why We Blame: Accountability Practices as Non-Toleration and Resistance

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VU Moral and Political Philosophy Group: https://research.vu.nl/en/organisations/moral-and-political-philosophy/persons/

OZSW study group Philosophy of Responsibility: https://www.ozsw.nl/study-group/responsibility/