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Wednesday, 1 March 2023 - 5.00pm
Location: 
Online webinar

CLTDGSpeaker: Daniel Murata (Surrey)

Abstract: Ronald Dworkin claims that moral reasoning is interpretive reasoning, which can be understood (as I will try to elucidate) as a mode of theoretical reasoning. Dworkin seems to deny the distinction between theoretical reasoning (reasoning concerned with what is the truth about a given matter) with practical reasoning (reasoning about what one ought to do). Against this picture and drawing from Bernard Williams, I will argue that a proper understanding of the way we engage with reasons gives due weight to the conflicts we feel and to their emotional residues, notably regret. If the Williamsian criticisms of Dworkin are right, then this will have an impact in how we understand our own engagement with the law. I will lay out Dworkin’s argument that moral reasoning is interpretation and connect it to his understanding of law. Then I will proceed to the criticisms, drawing mostly from what Williams has said in Ethical Consistency, Moral Luck and In the Beginning was the Deed. The main takeaway will be that Dworkin’s interpretive theory misplaces the idea of regret. The reason for this is that Dworkin’s interpretive theory attributes more flexibility to the materials it interprets than they have. Because practical reasoning starts from whom we are (or so I will argue), the Dworkinian model ends up presenting interpretations that cannot be accepted by the concrete agents. The final section of the paper discusses the view I am putting forward in relation to our engagement with the law.

The Paper: https://bit.ly/murata23lt

The Zoom link: https://bit.ly/cltdg23lt3

Everyone is welcome to attend!

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