The Research Seminar Series in Philosophy invites you to a seminar with Sebastian Östlund, "Well-Being and Urban Injustice".
Abstract: Sweden has long had a reputation of having a wide-reaching welfare system in part to address plights such as homelessness and addiction. Nevertheless, that welfare system does not cover everyone to the same effect. Furthermore, any allegedly altruistic aims are not as robust as might be thought. For instance, some aim to ban panhandling to get rid of something which is perceived as a problem, mainly, for those who do not need to resort to it to get by. However, I argue that even if no nefarious intentions were involved in such policy-proposals, trading off the peace of mind of well-to-do parts of the population at the cost of hiding conditions stemming from people being badly off is a severe injustice. To appropriately promote justice, I conclude that it is not enough to increase people’s positive well-being experiences when that comes at a cost of others needing to endure ill-being.
All interested are welcome to participate in this seminar.
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