Speakers conference Moral Emotions
Simone van der Burg
Simone van der Burg worked as an assistant professor of ethics and technology at the technical universities in Eindhoven and Delft. At this moment she is working at the university of Twente, where she does research in a laboratory where a new medical technique is developed, which is intended to determine the chemical substances of the blood (oxygen, glucose) non-invasively. The main interest of the research is to develop a view on the role that ethicists may have in the practice of the development of such a technology. Next to many popular publications on ethics Simone van der Burg published articles in Science and Engineering Ethics and Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte. Her books are ‘In kritisch gezelschap’ (dissertation, 2007), Denken Doorzien (Teleac/NOT 1999).
Title: A virtuous perception of risk
Abstract: Virtues play an important role in the moral perception of the world. Perception is often associated with the visual senses, but virtues need a training of the whole character and, as such, they involve also an emotional response towards the world. John McDowell seems to accentuate this close connection between perception and emotion, for he speaks of moral ‘sensibility’ in stead of ‘perception’. In my talk I would like to start from John McDowell’s inspiring writings on virtues and moral sensibility. But I will also amend his view. Although McDowell suggests that a moral person needs the whole catalogue of virtues to perceive the world adequately, I want to distinguish between the virtues that help to bring moral sensibility about, and the virtues that may be an obstacle to it. The central question is whether there are suitable virtues that help to correctly inform us about the risks of new technologies; or whether there are also virtues that may make us blind towards technological risks.
