Cecilie Eriksen - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Cecilie Eriksen

Aarhus University Press eBooks, 2009

Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022

When life changes in major ways, unknown moral territories open up. This can happen during perio... more When life changes in major ways, unknown moral territories open up. This can
happen during periods of war, if we become severely mentally ill, or when our
loved ones enter the terminal phase of life. In such liminal situations, humans
often experience ethical disorientation and a lack of clarity in figuring out how
to go on, as their ordinary moral compass and practical judgement seem to be
of little use. If ordinary ethics does not suffice, how shall we then understand
the ethics of liminal spaces? Are liminal spaces ethical vacuums, where there
are no moral obligations or ethical guidance as to how to go on? Or do we find
forms of ethical normativity even in the most radically liminal situations imaginable?
These are the questions this chapter addresses though a philosophically into the nature of ethical normativity in liminal spaces. I do so by introducing Jarrett Zigon’s concept of ‘a moral breakdown’, Jonathan Lear’s work on ‘irony’ and Anne O’Byrne’s idea of ‘the
end of ethics’. Using these concepts, I consider examples of care in three cases
of life in the borderlands of human communities, namely, the life of homeless
people, the life of the Muselmänner in the concentration camps of the Second
World War and the post-transformation life of Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s short
story ‘The Metamorphosis’. Against this background, I conclude that no matter
how radical the liminal spaces of human lives are, they are never ethical
vacuums. There will thus always be ethical guidance to find during and after
any moral change.

Aarhus University Press eBooks, 2009

Nordic Wittgenstein Review

Don't think, but look!" (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for se... more Don't think, but look!" (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for several influential thinkers in the broadly defined tradition of "empirically informed" philosophy, which has flourished in recent decades. However, a methodological gap exists between Wittgenstein's work and these turns to practice, history, science, fieldwork , and everyday life: Wittgenstein's approach differs substantially from that of thinkers who claim to take their cues from him, and no argument for the legitimacy of the move from Wittgenstein to empirically informed philosophy has been advanced to date. This article will demonstrate how such a move may be justified within a Wittgensteinian framework, as well as how it is philosophically beneficial and, at times, even necessary.

Routledge eBooks, Nov 29, 2022

New Perspectives on Moral Change, 2022

As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction pro... more As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction provides an overview of central differences and similarities in the intellectual orientations and backgrounds of, respectively, contemporary moral philosophy and moral anthropology through four central topics, namely ‘the nature of the moral’, ‘freedom’, ‘normativity’ and ‘the ordinary’.

Inquiry

The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often bee... more The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often been presented as nothing short of revolutionary. Does technology have a similarly transformative influence on societies' morality? Scholars have not rigorously investigated the role of technology in moral revolutions, even though existing research on technomoral change suggests that this role may be considerable. In this paper, we explore what the role of technology in moral revolutions, understood as processes of radical group-level moral change, amounts to. We do so by investigating four historical episodes of radical moral change in which technology plays a noteworthy role. Our case-studies illustrate the plurality of mechanisms involved in technomoral revolutions, but also suggest general patterns of technomoral change, such as technology's capacity to stabilize and destabilize moral systems, and to make morally salient phenomena visible or invisible. We find several leads to expand and refine conceptual tools for analysing moral change, specifically by crystallizing the notions of 'technomoral niche construction' and 'moral payoff mechanisms'. Coming to terms with the role of technology in radical moral change, we argue, enriches our understanding of moral revolutions, and alerts us to the depths of which technology can change our societies in wanted and unwanted ways.

Analysis

In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, dis... more In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, distinguishing them from other kinds of society-level moral change. This article surveys recent accounts of moral revolutions in moral philosophy. Different authors use quite different criteria to pick out moral revolutions. Features treated as relevant include radicality, depth or fundamentality, pervasiveness, novelty and particular causes. We also characterize the factors that have been proposed to cause moral revolutions, including anomalies in existing moral codes, changing honour codes, art, economic conditions and individuals or groups. Finally, we discuss what accounts of moral revolutions have in common, how they differ and how moral revolutions are distinguished from other kinds of moral change, such as drift and reform.

Nordic Wittgenstein Review, 2023

“Don’t think, but look!” (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for s... more “Don’t think, but look!” (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for several influential thinkers in the broadly defined tradition of “empirically informed” philosophy, which has flourished in recent decades. However, a methodological gap exists between Wittgenstein’s work and these turns to practice, history, science, field-work, and everyday life: Wittgenstein’s approach differs substantially from that of thinkers who claim to take their cues from him, and no argument for the legitimacy of the move from Wittgenstein to empirically informed philosophy has been advanced to date. This article will demonstrate how such a move may be justified within a Wittgensteinian framework, as well as how it is philosophically beneficial and, at times, even necessary.

Nordic Wittgenstein review, Jun 3, 2020

The theme of change is one of the most prominent traits of Wittgenstein's later work, and his wri... more The theme of change is one of the most prominent traits of Wittgenstein's later work, and his writings have inspired many contemporary thinkers' discussions of changes in e.g. concepts, "aspectseeing", practices, worldviews, and forms of life. However, Wittgenstein's conception of the dynamics of change has not been investigated in its own right. The aim of this paper is to investigate which understanding of the dynamics of changes can be found in the later Wittgenstein's work. I will argue that what emerges is a rich and complex picture that has the potential to aid our thinking in politics and elsewhere when developing strategies for creating changes. It can do so both as source of inspiration and by countering tempting, yet ultimately problematic ways of conceptualizing change like the hope for transforming harmful traditions and social practices with the help of a general explanatory theory of the fundamental dynamics of changes. 1 In this article, Wittgenstein's works are abbreviated in the following manner: Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics (hereafter RFM), Culture and Value (hereafter CV), On Certainty (hereafter OC), Philosophical Investigations (hereafter PI, and part two as PI II), Zettel (hereafter Z) and "Remarks on Frazer's The Golden Bough" (hereafter RF).

Inquiry, 2022

The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often bee... more The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often been presented as nothing short of revolutionary. Does technology have a similarly transformative influence on societies' morality? Scholars have not rigorously investigated the role of technology in moral revolutions, even though existing research on technomoral change suggests that this role may be considerable. In this paper, we explore what the role of technology in moral revolutions, understood as processes of radical group-level moral change, amounts to. We do so by investigating four historical episodes of radical moral change in which technology plays a noteworthy role. Our case-studies illustrate the plurality of mechanisms involved in technomoral revolutions, but also suggest general patterns of technomoral change, such as technology's capacity to stabilize and destabilize moral systems, and to make morally salient phenomena visible or invisible. We find several leads to expand and refine conceptual tools for analysing moral change, specifically by crystallizing the notions of 'technomoral niche construction' and 'moral payoff mechanisms'. Coming to terms with the role of technology in radical moral change, we argue, enriches our understanding of moral revolutions, and alerts us to the depths of which technology can change our societies in wanted and unwanted ways.

Philosophy Compass, 2021

Societies change over time. Chattel slavery and foot-binding have been abolished, democracy has b... more Societies change over time. Chattel slavery and foot-binding have been abolished, democracy has become increasingly widespread, gay rights have become established in some countries, and the animal rights movement continues to gain momentum. Do these changes count as moral progress? Is there such a thing? If so, how should we understand it? These questions have been receiving increasing attention from philosophers, psychologists, biologists, and sociologists in recent decades. This survey provides a systematic account of recent developments in the understanding of moral progress. We outline the concept of moral progress and describe the different types of moral progress identified in the literature. We review the normative criteria that have been used in judging whether various developments count as morally progressive or not. We discuss the prospects of moral progress in the face of challenges that claim that moral progress is not psychologically possible for human beings, and we explore the metaethical implications of moral progress.

Analysis Review, 2022

In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, dis... more In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, distinguishing them from other kinds of society-level moral change. This article surveys recent accounts of moral revolutions in moral philosophy. Different authors use quite different criteria to pick out moral revolutions. Features treated as relevant include radicality, depth or fundamentality, pervasiveness, novelty and particular causes. We also characterize the factors that have been proposed to cause moral revolutions, including anomalies in existing moral codes, changing honour codes, art, economic conditions and individuals or groups. Finally, we discuss what accounts of moral revolutions have in common, how they differ and how moral revolutions are distinguished from other kinds of moral change, such as drift and reform.

New Perspectives on Moral Change – Anthropologists and Philosophers Engage with Transformations of Life Worlds, 2022

When life changes in a major way, new moral territories open up that challenge our ordinary moral... more When life changes in a major way, new moral territories open up that challenge our ordinary morality. In this article the ethical normativity of such liminal spaces is investigated by looking at the phenomenon of care in anthropological studies of homeless life, testimonies from the Second
World War and the post-transformation life of Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s
short story ‘The Metamorphosis’. This is done in dialogue with Jarrett Zigon’s
concept of ‘a moral breakdown’, Lear’s work on ‘ironic experiences’ and Anne
O’Byrne’s idea of ‘an end of ethics’. This dialogue sheds light on some of the
resources that can help people to recreate a moral world after radical changes to their form of life and concludes that in human life there are no ethical voids.

New Perspective on Moral Change: Anthropologists and Philosophers Engage with Transformations of Life Worlds, 2022

As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction pro... more As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction provides an overview of central differences and similarities in the intellectual orientations and backgrounds of, respectively, contemporary moral philosophy and moral anthropology through four central topics, namely ‘the nature of the moral’, ‘freedom’, ‘normativity’ and ‘the ordinary’.

Aarhus University Press eBooks, 2009

Berghahn Books, Dec 31, 2022

When life changes in major ways, unknown moral territories open up. This can happen during perio... more When life changes in major ways, unknown moral territories open up. This can
happen during periods of war, if we become severely mentally ill, or when our
loved ones enter the terminal phase of life. In such liminal situations, humans
often experience ethical disorientation and a lack of clarity in figuring out how
to go on, as their ordinary moral compass and practical judgement seem to be
of little use. If ordinary ethics does not suffice, how shall we then understand
the ethics of liminal spaces? Are liminal spaces ethical vacuums, where there
are no moral obligations or ethical guidance as to how to go on? Or do we find
forms of ethical normativity even in the most radically liminal situations imaginable?
These are the questions this chapter addresses though a philosophically into the nature of ethical normativity in liminal spaces. I do so by introducing Jarrett Zigon’s concept of ‘a moral breakdown’, Jonathan Lear’s work on ‘irony’ and Anne O’Byrne’s idea of ‘the
end of ethics’. Using these concepts, I consider examples of care in three cases
of life in the borderlands of human communities, namely, the life of homeless
people, the life of the Muselmänner in the concentration camps of the Second
World War and the post-transformation life of Gregor Samsa in Kafka’s short
story ‘The Metamorphosis’. Against this background, I conclude that no matter
how radical the liminal spaces of human lives are, they are never ethical
vacuums. There will thus always be ethical guidance to find during and after
any moral change.

Aarhus University Press eBooks, 2009

Nordic Wittgenstein Review

Don't think, but look!" (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for se... more Don't think, but look!" (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for several influential thinkers in the broadly defined tradition of "empirically informed" philosophy, which has flourished in recent decades. However, a methodological gap exists between Wittgenstein's work and these turns to practice, history, science, fieldwork , and everyday life: Wittgenstein's approach differs substantially from that of thinkers who claim to take their cues from him, and no argument for the legitimacy of the move from Wittgenstein to empirically informed philosophy has been advanced to date. This article will demonstrate how such a move may be justified within a Wittgensteinian framework, as well as how it is philosophically beneficial and, at times, even necessary.

Routledge eBooks, Nov 29, 2022

New Perspectives on Moral Change, 2022

As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction pro... more As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction provides an overview of central differences and similarities in the intellectual orientations and backgrounds of, respectively, contemporary moral philosophy and moral anthropology through four central topics, namely ‘the nature of the moral’, ‘freedom’, ‘normativity’ and ‘the ordinary’.

Inquiry

The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often bee... more The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often been presented as nothing short of revolutionary. Does technology have a similarly transformative influence on societies' morality? Scholars have not rigorously investigated the role of technology in moral revolutions, even though existing research on technomoral change suggests that this role may be considerable. In this paper, we explore what the role of technology in moral revolutions, understood as processes of radical group-level moral change, amounts to. We do so by investigating four historical episodes of radical moral change in which technology plays a noteworthy role. Our case-studies illustrate the plurality of mechanisms involved in technomoral revolutions, but also suggest general patterns of technomoral change, such as technology's capacity to stabilize and destabilize moral systems, and to make morally salient phenomena visible or invisible. We find several leads to expand and refine conceptual tools for analysing moral change, specifically by crystallizing the notions of 'technomoral niche construction' and 'moral payoff mechanisms'. Coming to terms with the role of technology in radical moral change, we argue, enriches our understanding of moral revolutions, and alerts us to the depths of which technology can change our societies in wanted and unwanted ways.

Analysis

In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, dis... more In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, distinguishing them from other kinds of society-level moral change. This article surveys recent accounts of moral revolutions in moral philosophy. Different authors use quite different criteria to pick out moral revolutions. Features treated as relevant include radicality, depth or fundamentality, pervasiveness, novelty and particular causes. We also characterize the factors that have been proposed to cause moral revolutions, including anomalies in existing moral codes, changing honour codes, art, economic conditions and individuals or groups. Finally, we discuss what accounts of moral revolutions have in common, how they differ and how moral revolutions are distinguished from other kinds of moral change, such as drift and reform.

Nordic Wittgenstein Review, 2023

“Don’t think, but look!” (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for s... more “Don’t think, but look!” (PI: § 66). This exhortation has served as a methodological mantra for several influential thinkers in the broadly defined tradition of “empirically informed” philosophy, which has flourished in recent decades. However, a methodological gap exists between Wittgenstein’s work and these turns to practice, history, science, field-work, and everyday life: Wittgenstein’s approach differs substantially from that of thinkers who claim to take their cues from him, and no argument for the legitimacy of the move from Wittgenstein to empirically informed philosophy has been advanced to date. This article will demonstrate how such a move may be justified within a Wittgensteinian framework, as well as how it is philosophically beneficial and, at times, even necessary.

Nordic Wittgenstein review, Jun 3, 2020

The theme of change is one of the most prominent traits of Wittgenstein's later work, and his wri... more The theme of change is one of the most prominent traits of Wittgenstein's later work, and his writings have inspired many contemporary thinkers' discussions of changes in e.g. concepts, "aspectseeing", practices, worldviews, and forms of life. However, Wittgenstein's conception of the dynamics of change has not been investigated in its own right. The aim of this paper is to investigate which understanding of the dynamics of changes can be found in the later Wittgenstein's work. I will argue that what emerges is a rich and complex picture that has the potential to aid our thinking in politics and elsewhere when developing strategies for creating changes. It can do so both as source of inspiration and by countering tempting, yet ultimately problematic ways of conceptualizing change like the hope for transforming harmful traditions and social practices with the help of a general explanatory theory of the fundamental dynamics of changes. 1 In this article, Wittgenstein's works are abbreviated in the following manner: Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics (hereafter RFM), Culture and Value (hereafter CV), On Certainty (hereafter OC), Philosophical Investigations (hereafter PI, and part two as PI II), Zettel (hereafter Z) and "Remarks on Frazer's The Golden Bough" (hereafter RF).

Inquiry, 2022

The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often bee... more The power of technology to transform religions, science, and political institutions has often been presented as nothing short of revolutionary. Does technology have a similarly transformative influence on societies' morality? Scholars have not rigorously investigated the role of technology in moral revolutions, even though existing research on technomoral change suggests that this role may be considerable. In this paper, we explore what the role of technology in moral revolutions, understood as processes of radical group-level moral change, amounts to. We do so by investigating four historical episodes of radical moral change in which technology plays a noteworthy role. Our case-studies illustrate the plurality of mechanisms involved in technomoral revolutions, but also suggest general patterns of technomoral change, such as technology's capacity to stabilize and destabilize moral systems, and to make morally salient phenomena visible or invisible. We find several leads to expand and refine conceptual tools for analysing moral change, specifically by crystallizing the notions of 'technomoral niche construction' and 'moral payoff mechanisms'. Coming to terms with the role of technology in radical moral change, we argue, enriches our understanding of moral revolutions, and alerts us to the depths of which technology can change our societies in wanted and unwanted ways.

Philosophy Compass, 2021

Societies change over time. Chattel slavery and foot-binding have been abolished, democracy has b... more Societies change over time. Chattel slavery and foot-binding have been abolished, democracy has become increasingly widespread, gay rights have become established in some countries, and the animal rights movement continues to gain momentum. Do these changes count as moral progress? Is there such a thing? If so, how should we understand it? These questions have been receiving increasing attention from philosophers, psychologists, biologists, and sociologists in recent decades. This survey provides a systematic account of recent developments in the understanding of moral progress. We outline the concept of moral progress and describe the different types of moral progress identified in the literature. We review the normative criteria that have been used in judging whether various developments count as morally progressive or not. We discuss the prospects of moral progress in the face of challenges that claim that moral progress is not psychologically possible for human beings, and we explore the metaethical implications of moral progress.

Analysis Review, 2022

In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, dis... more In the last few decades, several philosophers have written on the topic of moral revolutions, distinguishing them from other kinds of society-level moral change. This article surveys recent accounts of moral revolutions in moral philosophy. Different authors use quite different criteria to pick out moral revolutions. Features treated as relevant include radicality, depth or fundamentality, pervasiveness, novelty and particular causes. We also characterize the factors that have been proposed to cause moral revolutions, including anomalies in existing moral codes, changing honour codes, art, economic conditions and individuals or groups. Finally, we discuss what accounts of moral revolutions have in common, how they differ and how moral revolutions are distinguished from other kinds of moral change, such as drift and reform.

New Perspectives on Moral Change – Anthropologists and Philosophers Engage with Transformations of Life Worlds, 2022

When life changes in a major way, new moral territories open up that challenge our ordinary moral... more When life changes in a major way, new moral territories open up that challenge our ordinary morality. In this article the ethical normativity of such liminal spaces is investigated by looking at the phenomenon of care in anthropological studies of homeless life, testimonies from the Second
World War and the post-transformation life of Gregor Samsa in Franz Kafka’s
short story ‘The Metamorphosis’. This is done in dialogue with Jarrett Zigon’s
concept of ‘a moral breakdown’, Lear’s work on ‘ironic experiences’ and Anne
O’Byrne’s idea of ‘an end of ethics’. This dialogue sheds light on some of the
resources that can help people to recreate a moral world after radical changes to their form of life and concludes that in human life there are no ethical voids.

New Perspective on Moral Change: Anthropologists and Philosophers Engage with Transformations of Life Worlds, 2022

As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction pro... more As a background for the anthology's authors investigations of moral change, this introduction provides an overview of central differences and similarities in the intellectual orientations and backgrounds of, respectively, contemporary moral philosophy and moral anthropology through four central topics, namely ‘the nature of the moral’, ‘freedom’, ‘normativity’ and ‘the ordinary’.

Moral Change - Wittgenstein, Law and the Dynamics of Ethics, 2017

Moral change and the dynamics leading to it are explored through the practice of law in the prese... more Moral change and the dynamics leading to it are explored through the practice of law in the present thesis. Moral change raises a sceptical challenge directed at moral normativity: How can we legitimately criticise and develop our practices and morality, if all we have at our disposal are the apparently unreliable criteria of those same fluid practices? This question is particularly pertinent in democratic societies, which seek to balance moral critique and respectful moral pluralism. In the thesis a conception of morality along four irreducible dimensions is developed: Morality is transcendental, absolute, immanent and transcending. Using the later Wittgenstein's work on justification and practice changes as well as eight narratives of moral changes inspired by the history of law, moral scepticism is shown to be empty. It is thus unable to challenge moral normativity. On the same background, a pluralistic account of the dynamics of moral change is worked out. It is argued that moral change can happen on the grounds of both causal factors and normative reasons, including moral reasons. Zooming in on those latter reasons, it is demonstrated that our sources of ethical critique and creativity are numerous. Furthermore, it is also shown that the normativity of moral changes does not always spring from one source, but is something emanating from the whole state of affairs. Normativity is thus not always reducible to springs, which can be singled out. The normativity of moral changes is best understood as holistic, pluralistic and contextual. The contextual ethics the thesis develops allows for the possibility of balancing moral critique with moral pluralism.

Palgrave Macmillan, 2020

How does moral change happen? What leads to the overthrow or gradual transformation of moral beli... more How does moral change happen? What leads to the overthrow or gradual
transformation of moral beliefs, ideals, and values? Change is one of the most striking features of morality, yet it is poorly understood. In this book, Cecilie Eriksen provides an illuminating map of the dynamics, structure, and normativity of moral change. Through eight narratives inspired by the legal domain and in dialogue with modern moral philosophy, Eriksen discusses moral bias, conflict, progress, and revolutions. She develops a context-sensitive understanding of ethics and shows how we can harvest a knowledge of the past that will enable us to build a better future.