How Demanding are Morality and Rationality? Seminar

"I cannot determine whether a 14-premise argument is valid in less than a second even if a computer can. Am I, to this extent, irrational? Would I be more rational if I could? I argue that "yes" is a good answer, if we want the concept of rationality to play a worthwhile theoretical role in an account of reasoning. My argument exploits parallels between this issue and analyses of the demandingness objection against many ethical theories. Just as rationality on my account seems too hard to achieve, so, it is argued, ethical theories which require me to give to charity until it hurts are too demanding to be taken seriously. My argument is a response to worries about both rationality and morality. It distinguishes norms that set the standards of right action and rational decision from norms against which agents should be judged. My account also has a lot to say about cakes!"

This series of seminars are sponsored by the Royal Institute of Philosophy and in association with the Southampton Ethics Centre .