Normativity: Epistemic and Practical

What should I do? What should I think? For as long as there has been philosophy, philosophers have investigated questions like this. Traditionally, ethicists tackle the first question, while epistemologists tackle the second. This division of labour corresponds to a distinction theorists draw between practical and epistemic normativity, where normativity is a matter of what one should or may do, what one has reason or justification to do, or what it is right or wrong to do, not simply of what one in fact does. So conceived, practical normativity concerns how one should act, while epistemic normativity concerns how one should think.

The tendency is to investigate the issue of what to do independently of the issue of what to think. But there is a growing awareness that treating the two issues separately leads to distortions and misunderstandings. Debates over epistemic normativity have failed to take on board developments on the practical side; those discussing practical normativity often make general claims whose implications in the epistemic case remain unexplored. Our project, which takes off from our highly successful research project, 'Aims and Norms', aims to explore issues about practical and epistemic normativity together, to examine the norms which concern us as agents alongside the norms which concern us as inquirers.

Normativity raises many questions. What are the norms? What is their source? How do they fit into the world as revealed by the sciences? The tendency to explore such questions separately with regard to practical and epistemic norms is surprising. First, 'ought' and related terms do not appear to have radically different meanings in practical and epistemic contexts, e.g. when asking 'Ought we believe that carbon emissions cause global warming?' or 'Ought we cut emissions?' Second, there seem to be deep dependences between practical and epistemic norms. Whether I have reason to believe Kim is diabetic looks relevant to whether I should give her sweets. Third, the line between practical and epistemic norms is more blurred than is often supposed. Epistemic norms seem to govern not only beliefs but also actions, e.g. gathering evidence; equally, there seem to be practical or ethical norms which govern us as believers, e.g. one should be open-minded. Fourth, many of the issues that arise concerning practical norms arise concerning epistemic norms. For example, if there is a question as to how practical norms can fit into a natural world of inert matter and blind mechanical forces, then surely the same question arises about epistemic norms. These points strongly support exploring practical and epistemic normativity together.

The project is organised in three stages. First, we will examine connections between practical and epistemic norms. How does what one ought to think influence what one ought to do and vice versa? Second, we will consider whether one can explain practical norms by appeal to epistemic norms or vice versa. Third, we will investigate the nature of normative judgment and the place of norms in the natural world. Ethicists have developed sophisticated frameworks for thinking about these issues regarding practical normativity. We will consider whether those frameworks can be applied to epistemic normativity and what this might tell us about both.

The project will foster collaborative research on the above issues involving an international team of philosophers participating in three workshops, corresponding to each stage of the project, and a major conference. It will make available the results of this research through a series of well-placed publications and encourage wider involvement in thinking about the issues through activities aimed at a non-academic audience. The ambition is to see whether, by investigating practical alongside epistemic norms, we might pave the way for a unified conception of normativity and, thereby, a unified conception of ourselves, as both thinkers and doers.

The priority of the project is to promote excellent and important research that will make a lasting contribution to its subject. In addition, the project will benefit those outside the academic research community through a 'Cultural Day', provisionally titled 'Thinking Well and Doing Right', the aim of which is to make the project's concerns accessible to the public and to offer its members an opportunity to reflect upon and discuss them and related matters. This event will transfer knowledge and skills to those outside academia. It will bring to the awareness of a wider audience the issues surrounding practical and epistemic normativity, help that audience to appreciate their significance, and indicate avenues for exploring them. More generally, it will introduce individuals outside academia to the practice of philosophical reflection on fundamental questions concerning how to live, how to think, and our place in the universe. It will thereby contribute to cultural enrichment.

The project aims to foster high-level, cutting-edge and specialised research. The talks and discussions of the Cultural Day will not seek to duplicate this research but will be thoroughly informed by it. Its aim is to enable those who attend to appreciate the key ideas and their importance, to offer points of view with respect to them, and to provide an opportunity for guided and informed reflection. Audiences will be given the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon the relevant issues and problems in a disciplined and productive way.

Philosophy at Southampton, supported by the University's dedicated Lifelong Learning team, has a very successful track-record of delivering research-led activities designed to benefit those outside Higher Education. Its energetic programme of events include annual Cultural Days of the sort proposed, the topics of which to date include two of Southampton's other areas of overlapping research expertise, Nietzsche and aesthetics. Other activities include its ongoing 'Philosophy Café' series of open talks run in conjunction with the John Hansard Gallery (http://www.southampton.ac.uk/lifelonglearning/philosophy/public_events/cafe.page) and the successful series of public lectures given at the Southampton City Gallery, now in its third year (http://www.southampton.ac.uk/lifelonglearning/philosophy/public_events/artgallerylectures.page).

The Principal and Co-Investigators are experienced in organising and delivering philosophical talks and seminars to those outside academia and Higher Education, having participated in many of these activities, as well as numerous informal discussion groups, introductory talks, and outreach activities aimed at students and tutors at local and not-so-local schools and colleges.