Suki Finn: The Metaphysics of Pregnancy
Seminar
Abstract: One of the central questions in the metaphysics of pregnancy is this: Is the fetus a part of, or contained by, the gestator? In this paper I seek not to answer this question, but rather to highlight various alternative mereotopological options for the fetus-gestator relationship and to…
Marion Boulicault (MIT): Gender and the Measurement of Fertility: A Case Study in Critical Metrology
Seminar
Human fertility is in an apparent state of crisis. In July 2017, scientists reported that sperm counts among men from North America, Europe and Australia have decreased by 50 – 60% since 1973, with no sign of halting (Levine et al. 2017). For women, the story is bleak and familiar: women’s…
Al Hajek and Wlodek Rabinowicz: "Degrees of Commensurability and the Repugnant Conclusion"
Seminar
Abstract: Two objects of valuation are said to be incommensurable when neither is better than the other, nor are they equally good. Hitherto, incommensurability has always been taken to be an ‘on-off’ matter. We argue instead that this relation comes in many degrees, which approximate different…
James Edgar Lim (TPR): "The Right Against Public Shaming"
Seminar
Public shaming is sometimes thought of as a “easier” alternative to formal punishment. Formal punishments like incarceration usually come with significant constraints, such as legitimacy requirements, due process requirements, etc. But the same does not hold for public shaming. In fact, public…
John Broome (Oxford): Incommensurateness is vagueness
Seminar
It is commonly said there can be three things, A, A+ and B, such that A+ is not better than B and B is not better than A, but A+ is better than A. This is said to be the identifying characteristic of incommensurateness. I doubt it is true. Instead, I think incommensurateness is a sort of vagueness…
ANU Annual Economics & Philosophy Workshop
Workshop
ANU Annual Economics & Philosophy Workshop Friday 22nd November 2019 Fred Gruen Seminar Room, Research School of Economics, ANU Note that all teas and lunch will be served nearby in the inner courtyard. Schedule: 9.30 – 10.45 Stéphane Zuber, Paris School of Economics “A new puzzle…