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The Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften: Events
Thursday, 22 June 2023, 11:00Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, Am Wingertsberg 4, 61348 Bad Homburg
Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften of Goethe University
Fellow colloquium
Hadi Adanali (Ankara)
»Cognition and Morality: The Role of Intuition«
Abstract
The role of intuition in our moral decisions and judgments has been subjected to close scrutiny in recent decades in various disciplines including philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. That intuition plays a role in our moral decisions is generally accepted but many disagree about its scope and how it relates to other mental processes such as perception, thinking, reasoning, arguing, etc. The recent debate on intuition has been motivated by two relatively recent developments in cognitive science: the dual processes theories, and the research on heuristics and biases. According to the dual processes theory, our minds have two different ways of processing information: one way is fast, automatic, and unconscious, and the other is slow, deliberate, and conscious. Intuition, we are told, belongs to the first level and is also a heuristic that makes our moral decisions easy for us. Some argue that the role of intuition at this level is a mixed blessing: It hits as much as it misses its target, particularly in making moral decisions. Last but not least, intuition is claimed to be associated with emotions, and interestingly, with the deontological theory of ethics. I will briefly summarize the debate, clarify some misunderstandings, and finally, will make a case for cooperation between intuitive and deliberate ways of moral reasoning and judgment.
The speaker
Hadi Adanali received his Ph.D. in Islamic Philosophy at the University of Chicago in 1995. He has taught philosophy at various universities, including Bilkent University and Gazi University in Ankara, and Gregorian University in Rome. As a senior advisor at the Office of the Prime Ministry of Turkey, he was involved with the UN Alliance of Civilizations Project 2005–2016. In the summer term 2023, he is a Fellow at the Forschungskolleg Humanwissenschaften, working together with Ömer Özsoy, Professor of Qur’an Exegesis at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main and Goethe Fellow at the Forschungskolleg.
Participation and registration
Closed event. For participation on site, please register in advance (contact: Beate Sutterlüty; email: b.sutterluety@forschungskolleg-humanwissenschaften.de).
