‘Changing Partners: Should You Stop Your Beloved from Changing Who They Are?
Is it wrong to stop your spouse from taking a job in a different country? Your child from going to university? Your sibling from getting married? Farbod Akhlaghi works on the ethics of transformative experience – experiences which change who we are, and which remain unknowable until we personally encounter them.
Transformative choices shape our lives. But when, if ever, is it ok to try to stop those we stand in special relationships to, like friends, family members, and romantic partners, from making such choices?
In this talk, Farbod will explore a particular ethical puzzle about romantic love and transformative choice. A romantic partner has a right to make transformative choices for themselves. But we also have reasons to try to stop those we love from changing in ways that risk our relationships with them. Farbod will argue that, sometimes, to respect such a right and to love well requires willingness to put ourselves - and our relationships – at great risk.
Date | Thursday, 8th February 2024
Time | 7.30pm - 9.00pm
Location | The Synge Theatre, The Arts Building, Trinity College Dublin
Dr. Farbod Akhlaghi
Farbod is a Junior Research Fellow in Philosophy at Christ's College, University of Cambridge and a Visiting Research Fellow in Philosophy at TCD. His primary research focuses on moral philosophy, metaphysics, & their intersections. From Aug 2024, he will be an Assistant Professor in Moral Philosophy at Trinity College Dublin.