Join our Nonprofit partner Kibbitznest, Inc. as we begin our WINTER Liberal Arts Discussion

A collaboration with the

The University of Chicago Graham School
hosting presentations and discussions of original research

Moral communities: what they do and don’t have in common

with Stephen C. Walker, PhD

Thursday, January 25th, 2024

6:00-7:15pm

Free & open to the public, to reserve your spot, please email: info@kibbitznest.org

Stephen C. Walker holds a PhD in Philosophy of Religions from the University of Chicago Divinity School. He studies philosophy and the history of philosophy across multiple traditions; his research focuses on classical Chinese thought and especially on Daoism.

In American moral and political discussions, it’s customary to express mistrust (if not outright contempt) at the idea that what’s right is a function of culture. If there are as many ways of properly assessing right and wrong as there are well-established traditions and communities, then we can’t use the wrongness of a community to explain why we’re correcting it—or the rightness of our own to explain our status as protagonists. In tonight’s conversation we’ll explore the “cultural relativist” position from a functional point of view: if the primary function of moral standards is to foster group solidarity, then it’s impossible to understand morality at all unless we track the solidarity of different groups.

It’s hard to imagine that any group of people could persist long enough to develop an identifiable culture unless it offered its members tools for overcoming mutual dislike and competition. Every moral standard is arguably a tool by which people can be trained to restrain themselves so as to reduce the likelihood of strife and miscommunication with those around them; groups grow bigger and stronger to the extent that they can consistently educate people to use those tools effectively. From this perspective, debates about what’s right are either (when done with care) debates about which course of action will be more pleasing and predictable for some specific group of people or (when not) unilluminating clashes between people accustomed to different pleasures and predictions.

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