Philosophy as therapy? An inquiry into the application of a Wittgensteinian idea in the moral realm. KU Leuven
My research is, firstly, aimed at giving a detailed account of ...
How to divide things fairly? Philosophers have been pondering this question under the heading of ‘distributive justice’ at least since Aristotle. It has recently been argued that the meaning of this term changed dramatically in the last 200 years.Today, distributive justice deals primarily with the fair division of benefits and burdens arising from social cooperation. It gives citizens a right to material goods based on need or effort. Yet ...
The aim of my research project on the Aristotelian treatise Magna Moralia is twofold. In the first phase of the research, I will make a critical edition of the medieval Latin translation of Magna Moralia. This edition, which will appear in the renowned Aristoteles Latinus series and will also be made available online via the Aristoteles Latinus Database, is an important prerequisite before studying the content of the text: it is of essential ...
Since the end of the twentieth century, moral psychology and moral philosophy have taken a sentimental turn: the emphasis lies on emotions as motivating factors for moral behavior. However, what role do U+2018rationalU+2019 cognitive factors play in the production of moral behavior? This research approaches this question by using insights from evolutionary sciences and neurosciences.
I have two main objectives. (1) To develop a new account, the Strawson-Hart account, of the nature of morality. (2) To present a new approach, the responsibility-first approach, to the study of moral responsibility. I start from the thought that P.F. Strawson’s ‘Freedom and Resentment’, the key text in responsibility theory, cannot be understood without grasping Strawson’s conception of morality. I argue that H.L.A. Hart’s work sheds light on ...
The moral perspective has traditionally been understood as an impersonal perspective. Moral philosophers are often committed to the view that personal projects and attachments, for example, are morally irrelevant. In my view, however, the moral perspective is at least partly a personal perspective. (1) My first objective is to explain in what ways the moral perspective is and is not a personal perspective. This part of the project has two ...
In the thought of both Max Scheler and Karol Wojtyla the concept of moral responsibility and its justification plays a crucial role. In my study I would like to examine to what extend a plea for moral responisibility within the framework of "global justice" and "global ethics" can be founded on the insights of both Scheler and Wojtyla and h ow these insights can be useful as a rejection of moral indifference and passivity.