Higher Sem in Practical Philosophy: Jiwon Kim "Speech Act Norms of Moral Advice"

Jiwon Kim (LU) will give a self-contained talk at the Higher Seminar in practical philosophy.

Jiwon's titel and abstract:

Speech Act Norms of Moral Advice

Abstract: In this talk, I examine the norms governing moral advising as a distinct form of speech act, building on and revising Sbisà’s (2018) tripartite speech act model of constitutive rules, maxims, and objective requirements. Although Sbisà’s model incorporates Austin and Searle’s felicity conditions, I argue that her model requires specific revisions to account for the trust and moral obligations that are fundamental to moral advising. I propose revisions that emphasise trust as the source of authority for the advisor and how moral obligations shape the options presented to the advisee. Moreover, I argue that sincerity in moral advice is not just a regulative rule but a constitutive one, requiring that the advisor genuinely believes in the moral value of the advice. I also revise the objective requirements of moral advice, focusing on its role in promoting moral deliberation, providing moral reasons, and improving the advisee’s epistemic state. These revisions show that moral advice respects the advisee’s autonomy while encouraging moral reasoning, thus offering an account of how moral advice can guide moral action within practical discourse.