A two-day workshop on T.M. Scanlon’s recently published book Why Does Inequality Matter? (OUP, 2018).
In this highly anticipated monograph, Scanlon turns his attention to political philosophy and more specifically to the question whether and in what way material inequalities between persons are morally problematic. He distinguishes a number of dimensions along which inequality matters morally and examines each of them with great care. On the theory that emerges, economic inequality is a morally complex phenomenon tying together a variety of distinct and potentially conflicting moral concerns. Scanlon’s book exemplifies what political philosophy might be able to contribute to public discourse: to take stock of conceptual intricacies that might otherwise get overlooked in the debate and so to clarify the terms on which it proceeds.
T.M. Scanlon is the Alford Professor of Natural Religion, Moral Philosophy, and Civil Polity, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He is one of the world’s foremost living philosophers. Over the past four decades he has been at the forefront of debates in numerous areas of practical philosophy, including meta-ethics, normative ethics, and moral psychology.
Programme
ZOB E 2 at the Center for Ethics, Zollikerstr. 115, Zurich (scroll down for map)
MONDAY, 10th SEPTEMBER 2018
9:00-9:15 Opening Remarks
9:15-10:45 Comment Session 1: Ch. 2 by Juri Viehoff (UZH) and Ch. 3 by Claire Plassard (UZH)
11:00-12:30 Keynote: Emily McTernan (UCL) Do Sweat the Small Stuff: Living as Equals, Social Norms, and Taking Offence
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Comment Session 2: Ch. 4 by Sara Amighetti (UZH) and Ch. 5 by Ivo Wallimann-Helmer (UZH/Fribourg)
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:30 Keynote: Anca Gheaus (Pompeu Fabra) Fair Equality of Opportunity in Unjust Circumstances
17:30-18:00 Coffee break
18:00-19:30 Ed Miliband (UK Labour) and T.M. Scanlon (Harvard) in conversation
20:30 Dinner at Rechberg Restaurant
TUESDAY, 11th SEPTEMBER 2018
9:15-10:45 Comment Session 3: Ch. 6 by Francis Cheneval (UZH) and Ch. 7 by Micha Glaeser (UZH) and Felix Timmermann (UZH)
11:00-12:30 Keynote: Martin O’Neill (York) From Diagnosing Inequality to Overcoming It: On the Shape of a Scanlonian Political Programme
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:30 Comment Session 4: Ch. 8 by Friedemann Bieber (UZH) and Chapter 9 by David Hemous (UZH) and Jennifer Page (UZH)
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:30 Keynote: T.M. Scanlon (Harvard) Reply
17:30-18:30 Drink reception
19:30 Dinner at Tufi Restaurant
Speakers
Emily McTernan
University College London
Anca Gheaus
Universitat Pompeu Fabra
Martin O'Neill
University of York
Ed Miliband
Member of Parliament (UK)
Funding
This workshop could be organised with the generous support of