PPIG: Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Group
Speaker: Gunnar Björnson (Stockholm University)
Title: Blaming, demanding, and group obligations
Abstract: It is often said that groups of various kinds have duties or obligations: the witnesses of an assault an obligation to join forces to stop it, and the affluent of the world an obligation to prevent global climate catastrophe, say. But some think that such attributions of obligations are always mistaken when directed at groups that do not themselves satisfy standard conditions of agency (see, in particular, Collins 2013; 2019; 2020; 2022; Lawford-Smith 2015). In previous work (Björnsson 2014; 2020; 2021), I have proposed an account of such obligations that explains how non-agential groups can have obligations in virtue of the moral agency of their members. In this talk, I bolster my previous arguments by attending to acts of demanding and blaming, and to what such acts presuppose about their targets.
Further information
We are a group of researchers from diverse backgrounds in the above-mentioned groups (and beyond) who aim to gain an interdisciplinary yet deep understanding of the threads that bind the human mind and the world. In particular, this seminar series focuses on the nature of cognition, metacognition and social cognition. We’ll be tackling questions such as, what does it mean to think? What does it mean to think about thinking? And, what does it mean to think about one’s own thinking versus thinking about the thinking of other people? Please come along!
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Contact details
PPIG: Philosophy, Psychology, and Informatics Group
Hybrid: Online via invitation & Room G.05, 50 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9LH