[SydPhil] University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series, Glen Pettigrove, (University of Glasgow)

[Ryan Cox]

Hi everyone,

This week's speaker in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series is Glen Pettigrove, (University of Glasgow)

The title of the talk is "The Well-Tempered Musician: On the Virtue of Obedience and the Value of Tradition". Here is an abstract for the talk:

At the time Thomas Aquinas wrote the Summa Theologia, no one would have been surprised to find him arguing that obedience is a moral virtue. They are not even likely to have been taken aback by the claim that it ‘is more praiseworthy than the other moral virtues’ (ST II-II, Q 104, A 3). Eight centuries later, the situation is decidedly different. Far from arguing for its pre-eminence, the average 21st century western reader is more likely to be sceptical about the claim that obedience is a virtue. We will admit that in some domains a readiness to take orders is necessary, such as within a military command structure. But even here we are likely to think it more a necessary evil than a kind of excellence. The one exception might be among children, and it is a trait we expect them to grow out of.

Against this backdrop, Christine Swanton’s recent call for virtue theorists to revive the virtue of obedience will come as a surprise (2021, 270-271). Swanton recommends thinking about obedience as a role-based virtue. This strikes us as promising. If there is such a virtue, it makes sense to think of it as partly defined by social roles. Our aim is to explore the contours of obedience and consider whether it can help us address a lively debate in the philosophy of music regarding the obligations of classical performers.

The seminar will take place at 3:30pm on Wednesday Apr 24 in the Philosophy Seminar Room (N494).

Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au

Ryan Cox
Associate Lecturer in Philosophy
Discipline of Philosophy
School of Humanities
University of Sydney
ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.sydney.edu.au/pipermail/sydphil/attachments/20240421/fb7fb9eb/attachment-0001.htm>