The probems of free will and moral responsibility will be the focus for University lecture series
Published: 30 October 2024
A leading philosophy professor will deliver this year’s Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow.
The Gifford Committee is delighted to announce that Professor Pamela Hieronymi (UCLA) will be delivering this semester’s Gifford Lectures.
The American philosopher will be delivering four public lectures on the problem of free will and moral responsibility.
Ahead of the public lecture, which are ticketed but free to attend, Professor Hieronymi said: "My immodest ambition, in these Lectures, is to unwind what I take to be the problem of free will and moral responsibility. I think the problem can be unwound, because I believe it is a philosophical problem in the pejorative sense: It is created by certain philosophical pictures to which we are naturally (or culturally) prone. We model our life and experience in ways that, upon reflection, lead to difficulty and paradox.
"In this case, there are two problematic models. One concerns control. Our picture of what it is to control things is too narrow. The other concerns moral responsibility. Our model of moral responsibility is badly off center. The solution is to do some remodeling: to expand our too-narrow notion of control and recenter our off-center ideas about responsibility. This is what I will attempt."
The lectures will be held on the evenings of 11-14 November, beginning at 18:30. All are welcome.
Lecture One: 'Problems in Life and a Problem in Theory'
Date: Monday 11 November at 6.30pm
Location: Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre, University Avenue
Lecture Two: 'Mind Control'
Date: Tuesday 12 November at 6.30pm
Location: Sir Charles Wilson Lecture Theatre, University Avenue
Lecture Three: 'The Ethical Challenge'
Date: Wednesday 13 November at 6.30pm
Location: Lecture Theatre 745, James McCune Smith Building, University Avenue
Lecture Four: 'Matter that Matters'
Date: Thursday 14 November at 6.30pm
Location: Lecture Theatre 745, James McCune Smith Building, University Avenue
For more about the lectures, see https://www.gla.ac.uk/events/lectures/gifford/.
For more about Professor Hieronymi, see https://hieronymi.humspace.ucla.edu/
First published: 30 October 2024