Cornell Workshop on Mind and Value III - The Self in the Space of Reasons, September 2024

The Self in the Space of Reasons

The theme for this year’s workshop is the relationship between selves as conscious subjects and the normative. One set of questions concerns the nature of conscious subjects, what they are, whether and how they matter, and how their existence bears on other things that matter. Another set of questions concerns how conscious subjects have access to reasons for action and belief, and how those reasons shape the experience of being a self. Talks and discussion based on these and other topics to be held at Cornell University on September 6-8, 2024. 

Participating scholars include: 

• Emad Atiq (Cornell University)
• Earl Conee (University of Rochester)
• Heather Demarest (University of Colorado, Boulder)
• Matt Duncan (Rhode Island College)
• Mark Johnston (Princeton University)
• Rachana Kamtekar (Cornell University)
• Ned Markosian (UMass)
• Julia Markovits (Cornell University)
• Andrei Marmor (Cornell University)
• Trenton Merricks (University of Virginia)
• Cole Mitchell (Cornell University)
• Shaun Nichols (Cornell University)
• David Shoemaker (Cornell University)
• Erica Shumener (Syracuse University)
• David Sobel (Syracuse University)
• Jack Spencer (MIT)
• Sharon Street (New York University)
• Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth University)

Workshop Program

Friday, September 6th:

10:00am - 11:30am - Heather Demarest (U. of Colorado, Boulder), with comments by Erica Shumener (Syracuse)
“Persisting in Spacetime”

11:40am - 1:10pm - Ned Markosian (UMass), with comments by Shaun Nichols (Cornell)

“Causation, Agent Causation, and Free Will”

1:20pm - 2:20 - Lunch Provided

2:30pm - 4:00pm - Sharon Street (NYU), with comments by David Sobel (Syracuse)

“On Recognizing Oneself in Others.”

Optional Hike

Dinner on your own

Saturday, September 7th:

10:00am - 11:30am - Trenton Merricks (Virginia), with comments by Earl Conee (Rochester)

“Composition and Moral Status”

11:40am - 1:10pm - Amie Thomasson (Dartmouth), with comments by Cole Mitchell (Cornell)

“Metaethics and the Functions of Moral Language”

1:20pm - 2:20 - Lunch Provided

2:30pm - 4:00pm - Mark Johnston (Princeton), with comments by Dave Shoemaker (Cornell)

“Ontological Reduction, Grounding, Superinternality, Ontological Trash, Emergence and the Embodiment of Mind”

Cocktail Hour and Dinner

Sunday, September 8th:

10:00am - 11:30am - Julia Markovits (Cornell), with comments by Rachana Kamtekar (Cornell)

“Praise and Blame in the Absence of Moral Knowledge”

11:40am - 1:10pm - Jack Spencer (MIT), with comments by Matt Duncan (Rhode Island)

“Knowledge and Normal Luminosity”