Colloquium: Mark Schroeder (USC)

Department: Philosophy

Date and Time: January 26, 2018 | 3:00 PM-5:00 PM

Event Location: HIB 55

Event Details


Title: "The Common Subject Problem for Ethics"

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize and explore what I call the Common Subject Problem for ethics.  The Common Subject Problem is not a new problem; on the contrary, I will argue that it is one of the central animating concerns in the history of metaethical reflection, and of central importance in normative ethical theory.  But despite its importance, the Common Subject Problem is essentially invisible on many contemporary ways of carving up the problems of metaethics and normative ethical theory.  My aim, therefore, is to make progress – in part by naming the problem, but also by beginning to sketch out the contours of what give the problem its force, by distinguishing between different paths of response to the problem and assessing some of their chief merits, by exploring commonalities between the common subject problem in ethics and elsewhere, and finally, by distinguishing the Common Subject Problem from another problem with which it may be easily conflated.

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