ESPF Colloquium Thomas Schmidt

Colloquium talk for the department of ethics, social and political philosophy, faculty of philosophy. All welcome. 

Title: A New Account of Conditional Obligation

Abstract:

In some situations, one ought to refrain from doing x, but one ought to do x rather than y – i.e., if one does either x or y, then one ought to do x. The much-discussed Gentle Murder case is a paradigm: one ought not to murder, but if one murders, then one ought to do it gently. The classic task is to explain how this can be consistent.

I propose a novel account of such conditional obligations in terms of reasons. This account is particularly attractive since it seamlessly complements the widely accepted weighing conception, according to which one ought to take an option if, and only if, the reasons for it are weightier than those for each alternative.