Lecture by Prof. Benjamin Hale
As part of the IDUB programme Visiting Professors, the University of Wrocław will host Prof. Benjamin Hale, Professor of Philosophy in the Philosophy Department at the University of Colorado Boulder. His areas of specialisation include environmental ethics, disaster ethics, public health ethics, public policy and philosophy, as well as social and political philosophy.
The lecture, titled Muddy Markets and Dirty Hands: Individual Environmental Action in a Globalised World, will take place on 9 June 2025, from 1:15 p.m. to 2:45 p.m., at ul. Koszarowa 3 (building of the Institute of Philosophy and the Institute of Sociology), room 240.
Abstract lecture
Many people argue that individual actors can and should respond to social and environmental problems by making ethical or conscientious decisions in the marketplace. They encourage consumers to purchase fair trade coffee, buy locally-grown produce, avoid shopping in stores with union-busting tactics, boycott exploitative soda manufacturers, and so on. In past work I have argued both that markets beget a peculiar form of causal impotence (meaning that an individual consumer’s actions are inefficacious in bringing about the desired ends) and that individual moral responsibilities are too diffuse to be meaningful. But what about dirty hands? There are other compelling arguments and moral systems that suggest that one ought not to bind oneself up in morally vicious or corrupt industries (as it is damaging to one’s character). The question remains: given the indeterminate nature of individual actions in widely networked global markets, is there some sense to be made of the claim that selective participation in markets is a pathway to avoid moral marring?
Bio
Professor Benjamin Hale’s research focuses on the philosophical dimensions of public policy and economics, particularly a wide range of issues in applied ethics, normative ethics, and even metaethics. A significant portion of his major work deals with environmental matters, including natural disasters, ecological intervention, and emerging technologies. He is the author of The Wild and the Wicked: On Nature and Human Nature (MIT Press, 2016), and has published numerous articles in journals such as Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Food Ethics, Journal of Wildlife Management, and Synthese. He is also co-editor of the journal Ethics, Policy & Environment.
Date of publication: 2.06.2025
Added by: M.K.
