Philosophy's Sapientia Lecture Series

Friday, October 16, 2026
3:30pm
Location: 102 Reed

Eden Lin, Ohio State University

Talk Title: "Welfare Subjects"
Abstract: "Philosophical debates about welfare or well-being have traditionally focused on the relative merits of different theories of well-being, such as hedonism, the desire theory, and the objective list theory. In recent years, however, philosophers have increasingly discussed which entities are welfare subjects and which of them each theory of well-being applies to: there are now debates, for example, about whether only sentient beings are welfare subjects and whether the same theory is true of all welfare subjects. These recent debates have occurred in the absence of a consensus about the definition of the expression in terms of which they are framed. Although all parties agree that ‘welfare subject’ expresses the concept of an entity that is in some sense capable of well-being, there are two prima facie plausible ways to make this meaning precise, each with some adherents in the literature. I will argue that, because one of these definitions leaves us poorly equipped to explain which entities are welfare subjects, and because it cannot plausibly accommodate certain comparative judgments about welfare, we should prefer the other. In doing so, I will also explain why, although they are not welfare subjects, even inanimate objects can have a level of welfare."
 

Friday, November 13, 2026
3:30pm
Location: TBA

Sanford Diehl, NYU
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
 

Wednesday, November 18, 2026
Time: TBA
Location: TBA

Shamik Desgupta, University of California, Berkeley
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA
 

Friday, May 14, 2027
3:30pm
Location: TBA

Sarah McGrath, Princeton University
Talk Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

The Sapientia Lecture Series is underwritten by the Mark J. Byrne 1985 Fund in Philosophy, which is an endowment established in 1996 to help support the study of philosophy at Dartmouth College. See also: https://philosophy.dartmouth.edu/news-events/lecture-series/sapientia-lecture-series