Dr. George Tsai, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa associate professor of Philosophy, will address the issue of Friendship and Paternalism next Tuesday as part of the “On Friendship: East and West” lecture series exploring the topic of friendship through four different philosophical traditions.
Tsai is scheduled to talk from 9:30 to 10:50 a.m., March 20, in D145. Tsai, who is an affiliated member of Mānoa’s Center for Chinese Studies, has primary research and teaching interests in moral and political philosophy with a secondary interest in Chinese philosophy.
The abstract of his talk:
Dr. George Tsai
Might paternalistic interference that would otherwise be morally unjustified be justified, in virtue of one’s friendship to the interfered with person? Dr. Tsai makes the case that friendship can make a normative difference to paternalism, in virtue of some constitutive elements of friendship such as shared history, mutual knowledge and understanding, joint identification and projects, and reciprocated trust and vulnerability.
The ”On Friendship: East and West” lecture series is the first on the UH West Oʻahu campus to explore the topic of friendship. It is featuring talks by philosophers from the Greek, Islamic, Contemporary, and Chinese philosophical traditions and is sponsored by the Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity (SEED) grant from the University of Hawaiʻi system and the Philosophy Concentration at UH West Oʻahu.