Marta Johansson Werkmäster: The Imperfect Duty to Praise (and Blame)

The Research Seminar Series in Philosophy invites you to a seminar with Marta Johansson Werkmäster, "The Imperfect Duty to Praise (and Blame)".

Abstract: This talk explores whether we, in general, have a moral duty to praise praiseworthy individuals. We argue that such a duty exists and that it is best understood as an imperfect duty. We reach this conclusion by examining and rejecting three alternative views: the moral requirement view, the supererogation view, and the suberogation view. While each captures certain key features of the normativity of praise, we argue that the imperfect duty view is preferable. Unlike the alternatives, it accounts for praise’s gift-like quality, the moral failing of those who never, or only very rarely, offer praise, and the moral achievement of those who do so regularly or occasionally. We conclude by briefly extending this analysis to blame, thereby offering a preliminary unified account of the normativity of holding people responsible.

All interested are welcome to this seminar.

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