Abstract

Prof. Baumeister and Prof. Holton have been awarded a grant from the Templeton Foundation for an interdisciplinary project on moral virtue and self-control. They have joined forces to empirically investigate the Aristotelian distinction between a self-controlled person who faces but overcomes temptation and a virtuous agent who is not tempted in the first place. Their research might shed new light on the familiar problem of how to best deal with challenges to our resolutions.

The event includes two 30-minute talks followed by a 30-min discussion and Q&A. The event will be chaired by Dr Eric Levy (Judge Business School, University of Cambridge)

How to get to Sedgwick Lecture Block Room 3: http://www.kings.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/admissions/lecture-room-3.pdf

http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/events/moral-virtue

Professor Roy Baumeister is one of the world’s most influential social psychologists. A prolific writer, he has published over 500 scientific papers over his academic career and more than 30 books, including the New York Times bestseller Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength. His work covers a variety of topics including self-regulation, the ‘need to belong’, human sexuality, self-esteem and meaning. He received his Ph.D. in social psychology from Princeton University, and is currently a Francis Eppes Professor of Psychology at Florida State. He has received lifetime career awards from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the International Society for Self and Identity and the Association of Psychological Science.

Professor Richard Holton is one of the most prominent moral philosophers today. He completed his PhD in philosophy at Princeton University, and has since taught at several universities including MIT , Monash, and Edinburgh. He is currently a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and a fellow of Peterhouse College. He is known for his seminal contributions to moral psychology, ethics, philosophy of law, and philosophy of language and action, most notably addiction and weakness of will. He has published numerous academic articles, as well as the book Willing, Wanting, Waiting, where he presents a unique account of the will and related phenomena.