Ethics and Political Philosophy Group Talk (Rowan Mellor)

The Ethics and Political Philosophy Research Group is pleased to welcome Rowan Mellor, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Toronto.

Talk Title

Joint Ought

Talk Abstract

This talk focuses on the following kind of puzzle case. Several people each have two options: A or B. It would be best if they all did A, significantly worse if they all did B, and worst of all if they did different things. As it happens, each is going to do B, regardless of what the others do. There seems to be something wrong with this result. But what? Each person, it seems, ought to choose B: since, given what the others are going to do, choosing A would bring about the worst possible result. I’ll argue that we should resolve this puzzle by positing irreducibly joint ‘oughts’. What these people jointly ought to do is all pick A. But, given how the others will act, what each individually ought to do is pick B.

About the Ethics and Political Philosophy Group

The Ethics and Political Philosophy Group meets periodically throughout the year to discuss topics in value theory and related fields, including meta-ethics, normative ethics, applied ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of law, moral psychology, practical reason, agency, and identity.