Project

Description

We are living in an age of increased moral disagreement and polarization. One explanation for this trend is partiality. People on one or both sides of contested social issues (abortion, COVID-19, climate change, etc.) do not give equal or adequate weight to the interests of all those concerned; their views are based on bias or prejudice. Finding ways of increasing impartiality may therefore be one of the most important tasks that humanity currently faces. This project attempts to contribute to this task. In particular, we will investigate one specific device that philosophers have used to promote impartial reasoning, namely the so called “veil of ignorance” thought experiment — an attempt to abstract from knowledge about one’s gender, race, income and other morally irrelevant characteristics that might distort one’s judgements. 

Previous research has only focused on people’s actual choices behind the veil of ignorance. This project, in contrast, will investigate the methodological appropriateness of the thought experiment. (1) How robust is the VOI (i.e., to what extent are the judgments people arrive at by engaging in the thought experiment influenced by irrelevant factors)? (2) How effective is the VOI (i.e., to what extent does it fulfill the function it was supposed to fulfill)? (3) What are the larger philosophical implications of these findings? 

The framework that we will use in investigating these questions is that of experimental philosophy. That is, we will run empirical studies on people’s intuitions to inform philosophical argumentation. Being supervised by leading experts at the Universities of Tokyo (outgoing phase), Graz (return phase), Oxford (secondment) and Wellington (secondment), the project's research has the potential to significantly impact a number of debates in both philosophy and psychology — and hopefully, will also make a small contribution to making morality more impartial in public discourse.

People

Principal Investigator:
Thomas Pölzler (University of Graz)

Supervisors:
Lukas Meyer (University of Graz)
Akira Inoue (University of Toyko)
Joanna Demaree-Cotton (Oxford University)
Justin Sytsma (Victoria University of Wellington)

Institutions

University of Graz, Department of Philosophy

University of Tokyo, Department of Advanced Social and International Studies

Oxford University, Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics

Victoria University of Wellington, Department of Philosophy

Schedule

October 2023 -
April 2024: University of Tokyo

May 2024 -
September 2024: Oxford University

October 2024 -
July 2025: University of Tokyo

August 2025 -
September 2025: Victoria University of Wellington

October 2025 -
September 2026: University of Graz