A Conference in Memory of Derek Parfit

Date

Time

Location

Friday

Dec. 15

10:15am - 5:15pm
New Brunswick Theological Seminary, Rutgers University
35 Seminary Place, Hageman Hall (Ground Floor), New Brunswick, NJ 08901
This event will recur Every Friday, Saturday until Dec. 16, 2017

Information

Registration is free but required. Registration deadline: December 8, 2017.

Please register here. 

Inquiries: derek.parfit.conference@gmail.com

Generous support provided by the New York Institute of Philosophy at NYU. 

 

Program

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15

10:15 a.m. — Welcoming Remarks and Introduction

10:30-11:15 a.m. — Sharon Street (New York University), “Realism, Nihilism, and the Concept of a Normative Reason”

11:15-11:45 a.m. — Discussion; Chair: Thomas Hurka (University of Toronto)

11:45-12:00 — Coffee break

12:00-12:45 p.m. — Jeff McMahan (University of Oxford), “Doubts about Parfit’s No-Difference View”

12:45-1:15 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Stephanie Beardman (Princeton University)

1:15-2:30 p.m. — Lunch

2:30-3:15 p.m. — Elizabeth Harman (Princeton University), “Abortion and the Non-Identity Problem”

3:15-3:45 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Johann Frick (Princeton University)

3:45-4:00 p.m. — Coffee break 

4:00-4:45 p.m. — Samuel Scheffler (New York University), “Temporal Neutrality and the Bias toward the Future”

4:45-5:15 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Alex Guerrero (Rutgers University)

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 16

10:30-11:15 a.m. — Peter Singer (Princeton University) and Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek (University of Łódź), “Parfit on Act-Consequentialism”

11:15-11:45 a.m. — Discussion; Chair: Melinda Roberts (The College of New Jersey)

11:45-12:00 p.m. — Coffee break 

12:00-12:45 p.m. — Mark Johnston (Princeton University), “Does Reasons and Persons (Part 3) Undermine Ethics?”

12:45-1:15 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Rahul Kumar (Queen's University)

1:15-2:30 p.m. — Lunch 

2:30-3:15 p.m. — Frances Kamm (Harvard University), “Parfit on the Irrelevance of Deontological Distinctions”

3:15-3:45 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Dale Jamieson (New York University)

3:45-4:00 p.m. — Coffee break 

4:00-4:45 p.m. — Larry Temkin (Rutgers University), “Box Ethics”

4:45-5:15 p.m. — Discussion; Chair: Ruth Chang (Rutgers University)

Concluding Remarks

 

 

Directions

From the New Brunswick train station to the conference (at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary): (10 minute walk)

If you get off a train coming from New York/Newark:
Exit the train platform by walking down the sidewalk leading away from the tracks at the side of a large parking deck. You will then walk by a Starbucks/Barnes and Noble. (Don’t take the exit requiring you to walk down a large metal staircase – walk up closer to the front of the train to get to the correct exit.) When you reach the street (Somerset Street), you will be able to cross at a crosswalk and then proceed straight onto College Avenue. Walk down College Avenue for about .3 miles. The seminary will be on College Avenue on your right, immediately after Seminary Place intersects College Avenue.

If you get off a train coming from Trenton/Princeton:
You will get off the train and enter the train station. Exit the train station at the bottom of the escalators/stairs and turn right onto Easton Avenue, walking under the train tracks and up a hill to a stoplight. Turn right at the stoplight, on Somerset Street. After ~100 yards, turn left on College Avenue. Walk down College Avenue for about .3 miles. The seminary will be on College Avenue on your right, immediately after Seminary Place intersects College Avenue.

From the conference (at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary) to the Hyatt: (13 minute walk)

Turn left out of the seminary onto College Avenue. After about .3 miles, College Avenue will end at Somerset Street; turn left on Somerset Street. Walk down Somerset Street until it ends at George Street; then turn right on George Street. At the first stoplight, cross the street and turn left on Albany Street. The Hyatt will be on your right after you cross Neilson Street.

From the conference (at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary) to the Heldrich: (16 minute walk)

Turn left out of the seminary onto College Avenue. After about .3 miles, College Avenue will end at Somerset Street; turn left on Somerset Street. Walk down Somerset Street until it ends at George Street; then turn right on George Street. Continue on George Street through several stoplights. The Heldrich will be on your right after Monument Square Park, which is a very small triangular area just after the intersection of George Street with Liberty Street and Livingston Avenue.