Knowing the Nature of Knowledge. From Plato onwards, philosophers have tried to determine what it is to have knowledge. This project will uncover some factors that have impeded those philosophical efforts to understand knowledge's nature. The project will thus constitute a fundamental challenge to standard philosophical assumptions regarding how we could, if ever, know what knowledge is. A new conception of the nature of knowledge will be developed, by resurrecting an ancient but now-ignored con ....Knowing the Nature of Knowledge. From Plato onwards, philosophers have tried to determine what it is to have knowledge. This project will uncover some factors that have impeded those philosophical efforts to understand knowledge's nature. The project will thus constitute a fundamental challenge to standard philosophical assumptions regarding how we could, if ever, know what knowledge is. A new conception of the nature of knowledge will be developed, by resurrecting an ancient but now-ignored conception, and marrying it with contemporary technical sophistication. This new theory will be non-absolutist, admitting different grades of knowledge, even of a single fact. This will be a widely applicable theory.Read moreRead less
Vulnerability, autonomy and justice. Vulnerable people require assistance and care. But what are our responsibilities in relation to the vulnerable? And how can we provide assistance and care while avoiding stereotyping or paternalism? This research will advance ethical theory and be useful in solving practical problems in health research and policy.
Causes that make a difference: A philosophical theory of token-causation. Discussions of causation in philosophy and other disciplines raise matters of practical concern: for example, about how to improve causal explanations in economics, how to devise better ways of testing causal hypotheses in medicine, and how to automate procedures for discovering causal relations in agriculture. By clarifying the structure of causal concepts, the project will help in the efforts to address these problems, a ....Causes that make a difference: A philosophical theory of token-causation. Discussions of causation in philosophy and other disciplines raise matters of practical concern: for example, about how to improve causal explanations in economics, how to devise better ways of testing causal hypotheses in medicine, and how to automate procedures for discovering causal relations in agriculture. By clarifying the structure of causal concepts, the project will help in the efforts to address these problems, and so contribute indirectly to the national benefits that will accrue from solving them. A central aim of the project is to train several PhD students, the next generation of researchers, in this important field of enquiry.Read moreRead less
Practicalism: Knowing and Agency. Australian philosophy has a deserved reputation for excellence, especially in topics of traditional centrality for analytic philosophers. But more still needs to be done within Australian epistemology. Most of the recent related work has occurred within the philosophies of mind, of language, and of science, and to some extent within ethics. That work needs to be complemented by good work in epistemology. I hope this project will help to achieve that, thereby inc ....Practicalism: Knowing and Agency. Australian philosophy has a deserved reputation for excellence, especially in topics of traditional centrality for analytic philosophers. But more still needs to be done within Australian epistemology. Most of the recent related work has occurred within the philosophies of mind, of language, and of science, and to some extent within ethics. That work needs to be complemented by good work in epistemology. I hope this project will help to achieve that, thereby increasing the national and international philosophical visibility of Australian epistemology.Read moreRead less
Addiction, moral identity and moral agency: Integrating theoretical and empirical approaches. By clarifying and evaluating scientific claims about the moral impacts of addiction on the judgment and practices of drug addicted persons and by investigating the perspectives of users and treatment professionals, our project will contribute to the development of ethical and effective public policy, treatment and education programs in the addictions area, thus helping to address the causes and reduce t ....Addiction, moral identity and moral agency: Integrating theoretical and empirical approaches. By clarifying and evaluating scientific claims about the moral impacts of addiction on the judgment and practices of drug addicted persons and by investigating the perspectives of users and treatment professionals, our project will contribute to the development of ethical and effective public policy, treatment and education programs in the addictions area, thus helping to address the causes and reduce the impact of biological, social and environmental factors which diminish life potential in drug addicted persons. The innovative features of this project will enhance Australia's international reputation in bioethics and moral psychology, extend the reach of experimental philosophy, and facilitate future interdisciplinary work.Read moreRead less
Work and self-development: a philosophical reappraisal. Many Australians are worried about work, perhaps in more complex ways than ever before. Young people entering work lack the orientation once provided by established career paths, mid-life workers are often subject to disorienting shifts in role and difficulties finding the right 'work-life' balance, and many people leaving work find their lives suddenly bereft of meaning. This project will shed light on these anxieties by framing work withi ....Work and self-development: a philosophical reappraisal. Many Australians are worried about work, perhaps in more complex ways than ever before. Young people entering work lack the orientation once provided by established career paths, mid-life workers are often subject to disorienting shifts in role and difficulties finding the right 'work-life' balance, and many people leaving work find their lives suddenly bereft of meaning. This project will shed light on these anxieties by framing work within an image of the human that does justice to the depth and complexity of contemporary work experience. It promises a deeper understanding of work that would help promote good health and strengthen Australia's social and economic fabric.Read moreRead less
Applying the Ethics of Recognition: Work and the Social Bond. Work matters to most Australians. It is not just of instrumental value, worth it just for the money: a good, fulfilling job is integral to a fulfilled life. Our sense of well-being is inseparably bound up with how things are going at work. But how is this well-being sustained? What moral expectations do we bring to work and what happens when they are not met? This project will develop new answers to these questions by focusing on clai ....Applying the Ethics of Recognition: Work and the Social Bond. Work matters to most Australians. It is not just of instrumental value, worth it just for the money: a good, fulfilling job is integral to a fulfilled life. Our sense of well-being is inseparably bound up with how things are going at work. But how is this well-being sustained? What moral expectations do we bring to work and what happens when they are not met? This project will develop new answers to these questions by focusing on claims for recognition arising out of work. Experiences of misrecognition at work, we propose, seriously damage one's capacity to lead a fulfilling life. By identifying ways in which recognition can be given or denied at work, the project will be of great community benefit.Read moreRead less
Discovery Indigenous Researchers Development - Grant ID: DI0348095
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$20,000.00
Summary
The Intersubjectivity of Race in the Social and Personal Construction of Identity and Self Identification. The project will investigate the social construction of race and identity. Its aim is to demonstrate how race operates as an external and prescriptive marker, which is internalised and performed; and how race intersects with other factors operating on the construction of identity. This notion challenges many standard accounts, and provides a new and innovative framework for analysing race a ....The Intersubjectivity of Race in the Social and Personal Construction of Identity and Self Identification. The project will investigate the social construction of race and identity. Its aim is to demonstrate how race operates as an external and prescriptive marker, which is internalised and performed; and how race intersects with other factors operating on the construction of identity. This notion challenges many standard accounts, and provides a new and innovative framework for analysing race and identity. The project draws on work and theories rarely used in analysing racial identity in Australia, and applies them in new and innovative ways. The expected outcomes include resolution of problems of difference in race and identity, within race theory.Read moreRead less
Autonomy and Identity: A Relational Theory. Autonomy is widely regarded as an important value in liberal democratic societies and underpins many of the basic rights and legal protections enjoyed by citizens. The principle of respect for autonomy is a guiding ethical principle in a range of areas, including in medical and legal contexts, for example in requirements regarding informed consent, and in ethical guidelines governing protocols for research involving human subjects. A better understandi ....Autonomy and Identity: A Relational Theory. Autonomy is widely regarded as an important value in liberal democratic societies and underpins many of the basic rights and legal protections enjoyed by citizens. The principle of respect for autonomy is a guiding ethical principle in a range of areas, including in medical and legal contexts, for example in requirements regarding informed consent, and in ethical guidelines governing protocols for research involving human subjects. A better understanding of autonomy and its relationship to the social context has the potential to produce indirect socio-economic benefits by informing theory and practice in these and other areas. Read moreRead less
A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out ....A philosophical examination of how bodies support communal bonds and how these bonds can be disrupted. By explaining how bodies support open senses of belonging with others and to places, this project accounts for a key element of the social fabric that is usually overlooked in cognitive models of social and political interaction. This grounding of community in the corporeal and affective exposes a range of ways that communal bonds can be threatened or weakened which would be otherwise left out of account. The study thereby points to the political conditions necessary to foster vibrant, healthy, and ethical community.Read moreRead less