On Wednesday, February 7, 15:15-17:00, Geoffrey Sayre-McCord (University of North Carolina) will talk at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Groningen.
On “Cooperation”
Geoffrey Brennan and Geoffrey Sayre-McCord
Adam Smith rightly emphasized – repeatedly – the importance of cooperation in making people better off. He was not the first nor, by any means, the last. Indeed, “cooperation” is a term that is widely deployed in contemporary scholarship – not just in the social sciences (economics and political science most notably) and in the humanities (moral philosophy and political theory most notably) but also in evolutionary biology. In addition to being deployed in a variety of contexts and fields, “cooperation” has taken on a variety of meanings and often takes on a serious normative valence. This talk (which reflects a co-authored paper in draft) has the modest aim of sorting through some of these meanings and exploring, against that background, when and why cooperation itself might be of value, or be required, or constitute a virtue.
Dr. Sayre-McCord is Morehead-Cain Alumni Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina, where he directs the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics Program. The talk is hosted by the Philosohopy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Groningen, and will take place in room Omega in the Faculty of Philosophy.
On Thursday, February 8, 10:00-12:00, Dr. Sayre-McCord’s will hold a workshop on “Rational Agency and the Nature of Normative Concepts”. In case you consider participating, please contact Christopher Tarsney at
