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SUMMARY:Truth AND consequences - Polly Mitchell (King's College London)
DTSTART:20210128T153000Z
DTEND:20210128T170000Z
UID:TALK156406@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Helen Curry
DESCRIPTION:In his 1987 paper 'Truth or Consequences'\, Dan Brock candidly
  describes his experience working as an in-house philosopher with the Pres
 ident's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine. Brock as
 serts that there is a deep conflict between the goals and virtues of philo
 sophical scholarship and public policymaking\; whereas the former is conce
 rned with the search for truth\, notwithstanding the social consequences t
 hereof\, the latter must be primarily concerned with promoting good conseq
 uences. He argues that when philosophers are actively engaged in policy-ma
 king\, they must shift their primary goal from truth to the policy consequ
 ences of their actions. I will argue that while Brock is right to highligh
 t the tensions between scholarly and public philosophy\, his conclusion th
 at these tensions amount to a 'deep conflict' reflects a needlessly pessim
 istic view of the possible shape and nature of applied philosophy. I will 
 sketch out an account of applied philosophy which denies the need to choos
 e between truth and consequences. Consideration of the nuance and complexi
 ty of the political and social landscape in which philosophical practice t
 akes place is not distinct from philosophical practice but\, on the contra
 ry\, a crucial part of applied philosophy. Applied philosophy\, far from r
 epresenting a dilution of gold-standard philosophical methods\, can be und
 erstood to embrace a distinctive way of doing philosophy – one which see
 s truth and consequences as compatible ends.
LOCATION:Zoom
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