Luara Ferracioli (Amsterdam): Family reunification schemes and liberal neutrality: a dilemma
Other
Those who believe that liberal states have a right to exclude prospective immigrants also believe that citizens should be able to invite romantic partners and family members to join them as new members of the state (as part of so-called family reunification schemes). In this essay, I argue that the…
Nicholas DiBella (Stanford): The World Is (Almost Surely) a Strange Place
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Are simpler metaphysical theories more likely to be true than more complex theories? Many have thought that they are. Others have stayed silent on the question of likelihood but have argued that we ought to favor simplicity in our theories for various practical reasons. In this talk, I wish to…
Peter Boltuc (Illinois Springfield): Non-Reductive Machine Consciousness -- how naturalism can be non-reductive
Other
Part I The Engineering Thesis: Can a robot have non-reductive first person stream of consciousness? (1) If neuroscience learns how first-person consciousness is generated in human cognitive architecture, (2) we would know the exact engineering blueprint for generators of such consciousness, which (…
Ivan Gonzalez-Cabrera (ANU): A model of normative cognition: norms, emotions and decision-making [Mid-Term Review]
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My goal in this paper is to show how neurocomputational models of decision-making can help us to pinpoint key explanatory targets for evolutionary and developmental accounts of normative cognition. Building on this literature, I will sketch the basic cognitive architecture underlying this form of…
Cheyney Ryan (Oregon): Where Have All the Soldiers Gone?
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For much of the 20th century, and earlier, democratic societies drew a strong connection between citizenship and military service. Believe it or not, a public opinion taken in 1964 showed the draft/conscription to be the most popular institution in the United States. Similar attitudes prevailed in…
Massimo Renzo (Warwick): Duties of Citizenship and Just War
Other
Just war theory is currently dominated by two positions. The standard view, reflecting current international law and formulated in the classic work of Michael Walzer, is that combatants both on the just and the unjust side have the same moral status (i.e. the same moral rights, duties, immunities…
Yoaav Isaacs (Princeton): Duty and Knowledge
Other
How should a deontologist make decisions in light of his or her deontological scruples? It is surprisingly difficult to find a decision theory which suits a deontological ethic. I will argue (God help me) that a deontologist's best option is a knowledge-first decision theory. I will develop the…