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Faculty of Philosophy

 

Judith Jarvis Thomson (Professor of Philosophy Emerita, MIT) will give the 9th Routledge Lecture in Philosophy on 'Partiality'. Prof Thomson is widely recognized for her work in moral philosophy and metaphysics. In moral philosophy, Thomson has made significant contributions to its sub-fields of applied ethics, moral theory, and meta-ethics.

Partiality consists in favoring some people in a group rather than others.  Morality permits us some instances of favoring, but forbids us others.  We are pretty good at recognizing which instances are permissible and which are not.  What we lack is a moral theory that would explain and justify the differences.   It is hard to find such a theory, so a  second thing we lack is an explanation of the fact that it is so hard to find such a theory.  The lecture will concern itself with both problems.

This Lecture is free and open to the public. There is no need to book.

Date: 
Monday, 15 June, 2015 - 17:30 to 18:30
Event location: 
Sidgwick Hall, Newnham College