The Puzzle of Moral Memory Seminar

Abstract

A largely overlooked and puzzling feature of morality is Moral Memory: apparent cases of directly memorising, remembering, and forgetting first-order moral propositions seem odd. To illustrate: consider someone reporting that they have forgotten that torture is wrong, or acting as if they are remembering that euthanasia is permissible, or memorising that capital punishment is wrong. In the talk I'll clarify Moral Memory, then consider and reject a series of explanations of it, before proposing an account which appeals to the nature of evaluation.

 

This series of seminars are sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy.