Duties to the Dead – What If Anything Do We Owe Them?

In this talk,  Will Kanwischer, Graduate Assistant, National High School Ethics Bowl at the UNC Parr Center for Ethics, will argue that we have duties to the dead, and that when we fail to perform them, we wrong the dead. If he is right, a person’s death does not mark the end of their importance to morality; we owe it to people to do things like keep promises and treat them with respect even after their life is over. Along the way, he will introduce three influential puzzles facing his view. Thinking through (and hopefully solving) these puzzles will require us to reflect on the nature of time, agency, morality, and prudence.

Mr. Kanwischer is a third-year graduate student in philosophy at UNC Chapel Hill interested in ethics and the history of philosophy. He is particularly interested in accounts of well-being and our duties to promote it, as well as issues related to the connection between agency and time. He also works on the practical and theoretical philosophy of historical figures like Immanuel Kant, David Hume, and Friedrich Nietzsche. He earned his B.A. in philosophy and German from Bowling Green State University.

This meeting is a Zoom “hybrid” meeting.  We will meet at our regular venue, Extraordinary Ventures, where the program will take place.  We will also Zoom the program.    If you wish to attend via Zoom, please use our contact form to make the request.