Please join for the 2nd Philosophy Colloquium Series talk, “Justification Without Normativity” by Larry Krasnoff, Professor at the College of Charleston. This will take place Tuesday, November 13th at 3:15pm in ECTR 113.
Abstract: In contemporary moral and political philosophy, it is often assumed that there is an essential relationship between practical reasons and norms. Norms provide reasons for actions, and to act for a reason is equally to act on a norm. Given this assumption, it is natural to conclude that practical justification – giving an account of the reasons we have to act – is strongly related to giving an account of normativity.
This paper is part of a book project arguing that the relationship between normativity and practical justification is a historical development. In this first chapter, I try to show that ancient Greek ethics pursued a project of practical justification that had no essential connection to normativity. Understanding this very different but still quite coherent project can help us understand the significance of the later turn to normativity.