Burmanföreläsningarna 2026. 2: Responsibility, Causation & the Problem of Collective Harms
ons
20
maj
Onsdag 20 maj, 2026kl. 13:15 - 15:00
Hörsal HUM.D.220 – Hjortronlandet
Institutionen för idé- och samhällsstudier bjuder in till de årliga Burmanföreläsningarna i filosofi. Årets gästföreläsare är Carolina Sartorio, Rutgers University, som ger tre öppna föreläsningar under tre dagar på temat ansvar för konsekvenser (Responsibility for Consequences).
Föreläsning 2: Responsibility, Causation, and the Problem of Collective Harms
Onsdag 20 maj kl. 13.15-15.00, Hörsal HUM.D.220 – Hjortronlandet
Abstract (på engelska)
What is the relation between (non-basic) moral responsibility and causation? Some think that we can only be responsible for what we cause, and that our responsibility for an outcome is always grounded in having caused it; in contrast, others think that we can be responsible for outcomes that we don’t cause, as in the case of collective harms, and that our responsibility in those cases is grounded in other factors. I first argue against both views—I argue that they fail for the same reason: they are too dependent on the truth of controversial metaphysical assumptions. I then put forth an alternative view that is more metaphysically neutral (and independently plausible). Finally, I draw consequences for the problem of collective harms.
