Keynote 6, Paulina Sliwa

Paulina Sliwa

https://www.sid.cam.ac.uk/aboutus/people/pas70

Saturday 30th June, 11am-12.30pm Grimond Lecture Theatre 2

Reverse-engineering Blame

This paper develops an account of our blaming practice. We can characterize practices by honing in on their constitutive function. This is to ask what general aim the practice serves, what interests of ours it satisfies. I argue that the constitutive aim of our blaming practice is epistemic. Wrongdoing is a normative power, much like promises and consent: it gives rise to characteristic changes in the normative landscape. Our blaming practice serves to communicate these changes. In so doing, it satisfies our interest to know the shape of the normative landscape in which we are embedded. I argue that the resulting picture captures many central features of our blaming practice. I draw out some consequences for how we think about excuses and forgiveness.