Dear All
Seminars will be going on after the end of semester for a while (so
many good visitors find it easiest to get to Australia later in the
year) so please keep coming along! If necessary I will bring smarties.
This wed we have Eric Scwitzgebel who will talk to us about:
The Moral Behavior of Ethics Professors
If philosophical moral reflection improves moral behavior, then one
might expect professional ethicists to behave especially well.
Unfortunately, there are no published empirical studies of the moral
behavior of ethics professors. I have several studies in progress on
the question, with the following results so far: (1.) The majority of
philosophers do not believe that ethicists behave, on average, better
than non-ethicists of similar social background. (2.) Ethics books
are actually more likely to be missing from academic libraries than
non-ethics philosophy books of comparable age and popularity, and the
result holds both for widely-known classics and for the obscure
professional monographs likely to be borrowed only by professors and
advanced students of philosophy. (3.) Ethicists and political
philosophers are no more likely to vote in public elections than are
other professors, though political scientists are more likely to
vote. (4.) Although philosophy students are among the most generous
in giving to student charities at University of Zurich, their rates of
giving do not increase over the course of their education, with
increased exposure to philosophical ethics. However, it is not easy
to sustain the view that philosophical moral reflection is
behaviorally inert without giving up one or another of several
plausible or appealing normative or empirical theses.
Main talk 3.30 in Refectory (NOTE REVERSION TO REGULAR TIME); grad
talk 2PM in common room.
Should be a fun talk! I can vouch for Eric's talks having just heard
one in Canberra.
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