WoW - Workshop on Welfare 2023

July 12th to 13th, 2023
Saarland University, Germany

Extended Call for Papers

The extended deadline for submissions of abstracts is 31 March. For further information see below.

Information on the workshop

Considerations about welfare, the value of welfare and its distribution within populations are central to moral philosophy. They are of particular concern for all philosophers who take welfare to be (at least) one source for normative reasons. And, regardless of any deontic implications, welfare axiology also provides an array of fascinating philosophical questions.

  • What is personal goodness and what constitutes welfare?
  • Is well-being purely subjective and should we accept a resonance constraint on welfare?
  • Can we circumvent problems like ones raised by the experience machine or desires with post-mortal content?
  • What accounts of pleasure, desire or objective goods are compatible with classical theories of welfare?
  • How does the welfare of persons relate to value assessments of populations?
  • Does the aggregation of individual welfare require a shift to an impersonal point of view?
  • Can we extend value assessments to variable populations?
  • How can we solve problems of variable population comparisons such as the Non-Identity Problem and the Repugnant Conclusion?
 

This workshop provides a forum for the discussion of those and related questions. It aims at rallying scholars of philosophy to expand our understanding in these issues, and we hope to promote the philosophical engagement with welfare axiology. May welfare fare well in Germany, Europe and beyond.

 

Keynote speakers are

  • Gwen Bradford (Rice University)

  • Krister Bykvist (Stockholm University)

Call for Papers

We are inviting submissions for talks, which should be between 20 and 30 minutes in length. We are particularly interested in current or future research projects, and especially welcome submissions from philosophers in an early stage of their academic career and from underrepresented groups in academic philosophy. To propose a talk, please send an abstract of approximately 500 words as a PDF attachment to workshoponwelfare(at)gmail.com. The abstract should be suitable for blind review, i.e. it should not contain any information that may identify you as the author. The (extended) deadline for submission is March 31th, 2023. You will be notified about the acceptance of your paper latest by April 15th, 2023. Please make sure that the e-mail to which the abstract is attached contains your name, institutional affiliation, and the title of the paper.

The workshop will start on 12 July at 11 am. The talks will be finished on 13 July by 5 pm at the latest, but we would be delighted if participants stay for dinner on the second day of the workshop as well.

 

The workshop is organised by Jonas Harney (Saarland University) and Thorsten Helfer (Saarland University), and generously supported by GAP (Gesellschaft für Analytische Philosophie), GUS (Gesellschaft für Utilitarismusstudien), and UdS Professorship for Practical Philosophy

Der Header ist ein Ausschnitt von Hermann Waibels Bild "Lichtfarbe" von 1987. Wir danken Herrn Waibel für die freundliche Erlaubnis, sein Bild zu nutzen.