In-Person

Past Event: MPWG: Gwen Bradford

Olde English Bulldog sitting in a crown-shaped dog bed in a cathedral-like room

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451 College Street
451 College Street New Haven, CT 06511

Location 451 College St, room B04

Title: "Evil Artifacts and Extrinsic Value:"

Abstract: Nazi memorabilia, medieval torture devices, “old sparky,” anthropodermic books, and other such things are examples of what we might call evil artifacts – historical artifacts that are in some important sense bad or evil. This paper explores the contours of the values of evil artifacts. Although it sounds at first like a matter for first-order axiology, in fact it gives occasion to explore a thesis concerning formal axiology — specifically, a thesis concerning the relationship between extrinsic and intrinsic value. I explain the value of evil artifacts by appealing to familiar first-order goods and bads that come to bear extrinsically in ways that give rise to intrinsic value, both positive and negative.