[SydPhil] DANIEL MUÑOZ This Wednesday

[David Braddon-Mitchell]

Hi all

This coming wed 12 August we will hear from Daniel Muñoz (ANU)  At 3.30 is the4 Seminar Room, N494

Title and abstract below!

Values as Vectors
Value theorists often represent an item’s value using a single precise number. But on this approach, no two items can be “on a par,” since parity, unlike equality, implies a difference in value and may persist even when one item is “sweetened.” To solve this problem, Derek Parfit and Ruth Chang contend that values must be imprecise. I argue that the appeal to imprecision is both inadequate and unnecessary. The fundamental problem with using numbers is not hyperprecision, but one-dimensionality. I illustrate this point using a model of values as real vectors, which are multidimensional yet fully precise. Peeling back the model’s assumptions, we uncover a fresh and flexible framework for value theory, as well as an elegant definition of parity: to be on a par is to be tied in value overall despite a tradeoff along underlying dimensions