Kirsten Mann (ANU): Aggregation cases and the large numbers objection (TPR)
Other
Can a very large number of instances of low (but positive) value outweigh a small number of instances of very high value? When faced with thought experiments like the Repugnant Conclusion and Life for Headaches, many of us have the strong intuition that they cannot: no number of headaches cured can…
Philip Pettit (ANU/Princeton): Two Concepts of Free Speech
Other
Free speech raises a question, first, as to what speech options ought to be free and, second, as to what makes a speech option free. This paper assumes that any plausible ideal will require that a wide range of speech options should be free and explores the issue of what makes them free. There are…
James Willoughby (ANU): …are doomed to repeat it (TPR)
Other
This talk is a TPR. It will contain an overview of my thesis and a paper. The question that I will answer in my thesis is: how confident should you be in your own philosophical theories? To answer this question I will be looking at some large sources of evidence that might undermine our confidence…
Luke Roelofs: Revelation, Confusion, and Panpsychism
Other
Constitutive panpsychists face a dilemma over what is sometimes called the ‘revelation principle’, according to which being in a conscious state teaches you the nature of that conscious state. On the one hand, they rely on some version of this principle in arguing against physicalism. On the other…
David Kinney (LSE): Choosing a Level of Causal Description: A Pragmatic Approach
Other
Several recent authors in philosophy of science—including Weslake (2010), Woodward (2010, 2016), Weatherson (2012), and Franklin-Hall (2016)—argue that the most appropriate description of a particular causal relationship in nature is not necessarily the most detailed or fine-grained description of…
Susan Pennings (ANU): Responsibility-sensitive health care and the Abandonment Objection (TPR)
Other
Many luck egalitarians argue that social institutions should prioritise neutralising the disadvantages people face which are a result of unchosen social or natural causes, over disadvantages caused by individuals' own reasonably avoidable choices. One of the main objections to luck egalitarianism…