Dear all,
We are delighted to announce that Prof. Richard Holton (University of Cambridge) will give a talk at CogSci Colloquium on Wednesday, April 23rd , at 15:00 (Please note that this talk is not at the usual CogSci Colloquium time).
Title: Moral Kinds and Moral theories
Abstract: Moral thought involves both ‘thin’ concepts (good, bad, right, wrong etc.) and thick (cowardly, brutal, lying, grateful etc.). How do these relate? I suggest that both have their place in a proto moral theory that the child develops, one that parallels the child’s proto scientific theory, which also contains thin concepts (cause) and thick (push, kill, break etc). The child’s moral theory is derived from a wide variety of sources—observation, explicit instruction, the child’s own affective reactions, etc.—which have to be integrated to form a coherent account. The resulting theory then structures the child’s moral behaviour—their space of possible actions, affective responses, explicit grasps of norms, and so on. What is unclear is the relation of the thin and the thick concepts—Does one kind come first? Do they develop together?—both in the moral case and the scientific.
Time: 15:00 pm (Wednesday, April 23rd)
Venue: room 2.111 Waldweg 26
Best regards
Saba
