Philosophy Research Seminar: Professor Michael Ridge (Edinburgh)
| Dates: | 23 February 2022 |
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| Times: | 15:15 - 16:50 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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Please note that this seminar will be taking place on Zoom. For the relevant Zoom link, contact Dr Stephen Ingram
Title:
- Playfulness as a Moral Virtue?
Abstract:
- In this paper I investigate whether playfulness might be a specifically *moral* virtue. This hypothesis might seem less plausible than both the hypothesis that playfulness is a prudential virtue and the hypothesis that it is an intellectual virtue (both of which I also think are true). However, the idea has a lot more going for it than it might at first seem, or so I shall argue. I'll start by drawing on some of my previous work with an account of what play itself is, then build an account of playfulness on the back of that account of play. I then defend what I consider a plausible sufficient condition for a character trait's being a moral virtue. With all of these pieces in place I offer several considerations in favour of the hypothesis that playfulness as I have characterized it is indeed a moral virtue - or, more cautiously, that for most people with a basic level of moral integrity and moral competence, playfulness is a moral virtue. The playfulness of Loki and the Joker is another matter. If time allows I will discuss what I consider the most powerful objections to this view and some possible directions for future research.
Travel and Contact Information
Find event
This event will run online - contact Dr Stephen Ingram for the Zoom link
