Drawing on Aristotle and Bob Dylan, this lecture starts with a brief discussion of the possibilities and impossibilities of using formal methods in moral and political theory. Subsequently, the outlines of a formal analysis of the notion of moral responsibility are presented. The analysis is applied to the so-called many hands problem and the ethics of collective decision making.
Prof. Martin van Hees is Dean of Amsterdam University College and professor of Moral and Political Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy of VU Amsterdam. Previously he held chairs at the University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen. Van Hees' research interests concern the foundations of (moral and political) liberalism. He works on theories of freedom, the analysis of moral responsibility, and the ethics of cooperation and his research has a strong interdisciplinary focus. He has held visiting professorships in Germany (Adam-Smith-Professor of Philosophy and Economics, Bayreuth), China and India. Van Hees is also a member of the board of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).
Common Room
Amsterdam University College
Science Park 113, 1098 XG Amsterdam
Dora Achourioti