Events

  Do we have free will? What counts as justice in the Peruvian Amazon? Is Catherine Zeta-Jones objectively hotter than Drew Barrymore? These are just a few of the questions that philosopher Tamler Sommers attempts to answer in far-spanning interviews with ten acclaimed researchers in the burgeoning field of moral psychology contained in his new book, A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain. Philip Zimbardo talks about his famous “Stanford Prison Experiment” and how it relates to abuses of Abu Ghraib. Harvard neuroscientist Josh Greene reports on the ways our brains react to ethical dilemmas. Jonathan Haidt explains why we object to incest and how that relates to disagreements between conservatives and liberals. Renowned Primatologist Frans de Waal juxtaposes human behavior with that of the bonobo (a species he terms the "hippie ape.") And much more. A Very Bad Wizard is essential reading for anyone curious about the origins and inner workings of our moral lives. "An intellectual feast, completely engrossing." — Ian McEwan “A thought-provoking and entertaining tour of one of the frontiers of human knowledge — the roots of our moral sense.” — Steven Pinker, Harvard College Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of How the Mind Works and The Stuff of Thought “Tamler Sommers has become something of a legend in the world of philosophy, not only for his profound insights into human morality, but also for the almost supernaturally funny and engaging way he presents philosophical ideas.… These interviews give the reader a real sense for some of the most important new research in the cognitive science of morality, but they also do an amazing job of capturing some of the verve and excitement of this emerging new field.” — Joshua Knobe, Assistant Professor, Program in Cognitive Science and Department of Philosophy, Yale University   Tamler Sommers is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Houston, and holds a joint appointment with the Honor’s College. He teaches primarily in ethics, political philosophy, and the philosophy of law, specializing in issues relating to free will and moral responsibility. His current research project examines differences in perspectives about moral responsibility across cultures and what these differences mean for the philosophical debate. A book on this topic entitled Relative Justice is under contract with Princeton University Press. Recent publications include “The Two Faces of Revenge: Moral Responsibility and the Culture of Honor” (Biology and Philosophy), “More Work for Hard Incompatibilism” (Philosophy and Phenomenological Research), and “The Objective Attitude” (Philosophical Quarterly). Sommers also contributes regularly to the Times Literary Supplement and conducts interviews for The Believer. A collection of his interviews, entitled A Very Bad Wizard: Morality Behind the Curtain, will has just been published by McSweeney’s Press.