18 February Lecture - Chris Cowley

Tuesday 18 February

Associate Professor Christopher Cowley
Topic: The Ethics of Clumsiness and Ignorance

The below is the audio of the lecture:

Below is a short interview with Prof Cowley on the topic of the lecture:

Abstract:

If somebody harms me deliberately, I blame them. Now for blame to 'work', I have to assume that they understood enough of what they were doing, and that they were free enough to refrain from doing it. In other words, I assume they chose to harm me. But what if they are ignorant and therefore did not understand what they were doing? Sometimes I blame them, sometimes I might excuse them for their ignorance. How does that work? And what if they are clumsy, or insensitive, or unimaginative, or just plain stupid? How much can I blame them for such cognitive defects? This lecture will look at these kinds of fault, both in morality and in the criminal law. 

Biography:

Christopher Cowley teaches the philosophy of law and the philosophy of autobiography at the UCD School of Philosophy.