Joint SAP-CEU Budapest, Summer School: Applied Philosophy: Issues, Method, and Nature, July 2014

The course will examine two sets of questions. Some sessions will focus on various topics in applied philosophy. These will include some of the more well-known issues, e.g. abortion, punishment, neuroethics, population ethics, animal ethics, civil disobedience, ethics of war, and euthanasia, as well as some less well known topics in applied philosophy, e.g. applied epistemology. Other sessions will focus on the meta-question. Issues addressed will include questions such as: how is reflective equilibrium applied with applied philosophy and, in particular, is reflective equilibrium achieved any differently from how it is achieved in non-applied philosophy? In what ways does applied ethics differ from other disciplines in applied philosophy? What exactly is the difference between applied and non-applied philosophy? Is it possible to have, say, justified beliefs in normative ethics independently of results established in applied ethics? What are good examples of excellent arguments in applied philosophy? Which results can one expect applied philosophy to deliver? By running the applied philosophy topics and the meta-questions in parallel the students will be encouraged to integrate their understanding of the two overarching questions of the course.

Prior to the course, students will be encouraged to submit short papers (max 6 pages) describing their research project in applied philosophy, which will be pre-circulated and discussed at the course with feed-back invited from faculty.