On June 5, 2021, Robert Audi, professor of the O'Brien Philosophy Department at the University of Notre Dame, was invited to explain the topic of "Moral Epistemology from A Historical Perspective" in detail for the teachers and students of the School of Philosophy and Sociology through the zoom platform.
Professor Audi analyzed the difference between empiricism and rationalism from the perspective of epistemology, and further grasped the problem of moral epistemology as a whole from a historical perspective by taking Aristotle's virtue ethics, mill's utilitarianism, Kant's deontology, Ross's intuitionism, and moral naturalism as theoretical modules. In Professor Audi's lecture, these five ethical theories were not completely separated but had the relationship of criticism and inheritance. Therefore, Professor Audi compared the five theories that sometimes overlap in content, differentiated their similarities and differences, and introduced the topic into the discussion of "whether ethics has the data similar to scientific data.”
Professor Audi mainly gave the lecture with a smooth process and relaxing atmosphere. At the end of the course, the students actively spoke, put forward some not understood questions, expressed their views and opinions, and asked questions in related fields. Professor Audi patiently answered these questions one by one. This lecture has set up a good platform for scholarly communication, consolidated the theoretical basis for teachers and students to understand the issue of moral epistemology, and provided a historical perspective for promoting further relevant thinking.
