Peter Railton, Gregory S. Kavka Distinguished University Professor and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan, will deliver a series of New York Institute of Philosophy Lectures focused on “Intuition and Intuitions”: Feb. 26, March 1, and March 4.
Peter Railton, Gregory S. Kavka Distinguished University Professor and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Philosophy at the University of Michigan, will deliver a series of New York Institute of Philosophy Lectures focused on “Intuition and Intuitions”: Feb. 26, March 1, and March 4.
The lectures will be held at the times and locations below:
• Fri., Feb. 26, 5 p.m., Lipton Hall, NYU School of Law, 108 W. 3rd St. (betw. Sullivan and MacDougal Sts.)
• Tues., March 1, 5 p.m., NYU’s Silver Center, Jurow Lecture Hall, 100 Washington Sq. East (betw. Washington Sq. East and Greene St.)
• Fri., March 4, 5 p.m., NYU’s Silver Center, Jurow Lecture Hall, 100 Washington Sq. East
The ideas of intuition and intuitions have played an important role in philosophy at least since the time of Aristotle and are firmly established in everyday life, where we often speak of acting intuitively, or of relying upon intuitions when making up our minds about what to think or feel. While we often cannot explain why, intuition and intuitions seem to possess a kind of authority we are reluctant to ignore. Despite the ubiquity of appeals to intuition and intuitions, these notions have never been entirely free of an air of mystery and concomitant doubt. And recent years have witnessed an intensification of this doubt, partly due to work in cognitive psychology and “experimental philosophy.”
In these talks, Railton will be undertaking a qualified defense of intuition and intuitions, by developing a theory of what mental structures and processes might lie behind some of the most important appeals to intuition and intuitions in philosophy and everyday life. This defense takes empirical psychology seriously, and connects intuition and intuitions with a rethinking now underway of the fundamental architecture of the mind in intelligent animals such as ourselves—detailed study indicates the centrality of statistical learning and evaluative, model-based action guidance. It seems that a posteriori evidence and a priori normative considerations are converging, and that we now can see what intuition and intuitions might actually be, how they can be well grounded, and also what particular limitations they can be expected to have.
Railton’s main research has been in ethics and the philosophy of science, focusing especially on questions about the nature of objectivity, value, norms, and explanation. A collection of some of his papers in ethics and meta-ethics, Facts, Values, and Norms, appeared with Cambridge University Press in 2003. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been associated with the Centre for Research in Applied Epistemology (Paris) and the Centre for the Study of Mind in Nature (Oslo).
The New York Institute of Philosophy is part of NYU’s Department of Philosophy, which is co-sponsoring the series. The series is free and open to the public, which may call 212.998.9056 or email am3565@nyu.edu for more information. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Subway Lines: A, B, C, D, E, F, M (West 4th Street) or N, R (8th Street)