Past Events
Visiting Speaker Seminar Series | Past Seminars:
- February 16, 2023 | Cristian Rettig Bianchi, (Universidad Adolfo Ibanēz, Chile) - 'On the (unnecessary) thesis of forfeiture.'
- October 19, 2022 | Simon Kirchin (Kent) - 'The normativity of fit', jointly with TCD Department of Philosophy.
- February 22, 2022 | Jo Wolff (University of Oxford) - 'Structural harm, structural injustice, structural repair.'
- December 9, 2021 | Ashwini Vasanthkumar (Queens University) - 'Self-respect under conditions of oppression.'
- July 8, 2021 | Cristián Rettig (Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez, Chile) - ‘Towards an action-guiding theory of human rights.’
- May 27, 2021 | Hannah Carnegy-Arbuthnott (University of York) - ‘The institutional point of self-ownership.’
- April 22, 2021 | Gopal Sreenivasan (Duke University) - ‘The moral independence of legal human rights.’
- March 25, 2021 | Rima Basu (Claremont McKenna College) - ‘Normative expectations.’
- December 4, 2020 | Meena Krishnamurthy (Queen’s University, Ontario) - “Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis and Development”.
Work In-Progress Workshop Series | Past Workshops:
- February 9, 2023 | David O’Brien (Tulane) - ‘Can egalitarians handle self-sacrifice?’
- September 6, 2022 | Adina Preda (TCD) - 'Human rights and equality' | Gerald Lang (Leeds) - 'Deontology and the minimization logic' | Elizabeth Ashford (St. Andrews), title TBA.
- April 18, 2022 | Benjamin Kiesewetter (Freie Universitat Berlin) - 'What may we expect of each other' | Rowan Cruft (University of Stirling) - 'What are duties?'
- October 18, 2021 | Adina Preda (TCD) - 'Can there be positive human rights?'
- June 17, 2021 | Pietro Intropi (TCD) - ‘Self-ownership and reciprocity’
- February 25, 2021 | Jesse Spafford (TCD) - ‘Radical Left-Libertarianism: The Solution to the Self-Ownership Thesis' Pollution Problem.'
REAL Workshops | Past Workshops
- June 7-8, 2021 | ‘Human rights and equality’ (on Zoom)
The kinds of justification or ground most commonly offered for human rights ca be divided into instrumental and non-instrumental justifications.
According to the former, human rights protect valued features of human life; according to the latter, human rights are expressions of our inviolable moral status as persons. Both types of justification have significant limitations; the second one in particular, is arguably plagued by a vicious circularity problem, as several authors have noted: if inviolability is part of the definition of moral status, this seems to express the same idea as rights.
In light of these issues, this workshop explored alternative grounds and evaluations for human rights. In particular, the workshop considered (basic) equality as a possible ground for human rights and whether it can be understood in a way that is not reducible to either of the grounds mentioned earlier.
More generally, the workshop considered the ways in which human rights and egalitarian commitments may converge or diverge.
Schedule | June 7, 2021
- 10-11.30- Adina Preda (TCD) - ‘Justifications of human rights’
- 11.30-12.30 - Ian Carter (University of Pavia) - ‘Equality and opacity’
- 12.30-1.30 - Lunch break
- 1.30-2.30 - Gopal Sreenivasan (Duke University) - ‘Human rights and democratic legitimacy’
- 2.45- 4.15 – Ariel Zylberman (University of Albany, SUNNY) - ‘Rights constitutivism’
Schedule | June 8, 2021
- 10 – 11.30 - Jiewuh Song (Seoul National University) - ‘Egalitarian reasons and human rights obligations
- 11.30 – 12.30 - Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (Aarhus University) - ‘Discrimination and moral equality of persons: Could we oppose the former and not accept the latter?’
- 12.30 – 1.30 - lunch break
- 1.30-2.30 - Laura Valentini (LMU Munich) -‘On the explanatory dispensability of natural rights’
- 2.45 – 4.00 - Jesse Tomalty (University of Bergen) - ‘Discrimination at the border’
Collaborative Events:
The Centre has so far collaborated with other associations for joint events and welcomes proposals for future collaborations.
From July to September 2020, the Centre hosted an Irish Philosophy work-in-progress series online in collaboration with the Irish Philosophical Society led by Cara Nine (UCC).
Since September 2020, The Centre has collaborated with the PSAI Political Theory Specialist Group and a number other centres and departments in Ireland to host the All-Ireland Online Seminar Series in Political Theory.
For enquires about any of our events, please feel free to contact the Centre Director, Adina Preda.