Conférence de Christophe Porot

The Ethics of Mysticism : a defence of philosophical Ethics

Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
GRAMATA

Christophe Porot
The Ethics of Mysticism : a Defence of Philosophical Ethics

We live in an ethical climate and yet there are many who deny the value of ethics. These criticisms stem from versions of relativism, determinism, logical positivism, and institutional critiques. In my speech, I aim to offer arguments against these anti-ethics positions before engaging in an interpretation of the ethics of the mystic. I will take three steps to do this. First, against each criticism of ethics, I offer a counter argument which will be entertained in the dialogue which follows the speech. Second, I briefly introduce the three main theories of ethics alive today: consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics. I paint a portrait of their independence and their interdependence to be sensitive to the frequent intermingling of various parts of these traditions, which account for the subtle distinctions between things like having a theory of virtue within an ethical system and virtue ethics per say. Third, and finally, I will animate an interpretation of mystical ethics called imitatio dei (imitation of the divine) ; key exemplars of the theory will be identified to substantiate the possibility that it is a live option in ethics and to situate imitatio dei in relation to the three main types of ethics mentioned in step 2, especially virtue ethics. Overall, the centerpiece of the speech is ethics, and after a brief defense of the praxis of ethics in philosophy I will engage by elaborating on the theory of imitatio dei.