Anchoring Narratives
Activity
Philosophers and scientists often engage in historical reconstruction, outlining sweeping narratives on topics such as the evolution of cognition, language, morality, and so on. These narratives are closely related to what is known as "how possibly explanation" but little work has been done…
John Broome (ANU)
Activity
Abstract: Philosophers often fail to separate rationality from normativity as sharply as they should. One reason is that the word 'reason' can be used to refer to either; I shall spend some time on the different meanings of this word. Another reason is that some substantive arguments aim to show…
Sam Shpall (Sydney): Against Romanticism
Activity
Romantic views hold that love is an outlier in moral psychology because of its immunisation from rational norms. Such views are historically robust, practically important, and philosophically mysterious. I claim that three main sources of romantic views are (i) an appeal to love’s “blindness,” (ii…
Nick Smith (Sydney): The Grandfather Paradox: You're Doing it Wrong
Activity
The most important objection to the logical possibility of backwards time travel (btt) is the so-called Grandfather Paradox (GP). Lewis presented a solution to GP in 1976. On the one hand, it has been widely accepted that Lewis showed that GP does not threaten the logical possibility of btt. On the…
Measuring the value of health care
Activity
In this talk, I will discuss two metrics to measure the value of health care interventions: Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) and Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs). These measures are intended to help policymakers allocate funds impartially and efficiently, and are widely used in national…
Simon Cotton: Can Might Make Right in International Relations? Grotius, the Theory of the Second Best, and Optimal Law Given Anarchy
Activity
In this paper, I investigate one of the most puzzling normative claims in international relations: ‘might makes right’. I first distinguish the version of this claim that interests me from alternatives with which it is often conflated, including a positive, causal one. I then explain why it is…