The Department of Philosophy is delighted to welcome Prof Herlinde Pauer-Studer (2024-2025: Wissenschaftskolleg Berlin) to the Higher seminar in Practical philosophy, where she will give a self-contained talk entitled

RELATIONAL ACCOUNTS OF MORALITY AND CRIMINAL LAW

Abstract

Relational accounts explain morality in terms of bipolar normative bonds between persons. The moral relation involves directed claims and obligations, and is sensitive toward injuries. While relational accounts of morality seem relevant to private law, it is less obvious how they might sustain criminal law, which requires a third-person impartial standpoint. Moreover, directly applying relational morality conceptions to criminal law might confound morality and law. Using the striking example of Nazi criminal law, I illustrate the danger of a moralization of the law. This article thus aims to show how the insights of a relational understanding of morality can be fruitfully applied to criminal law in a way that does not conflict with the requirements of impartiality, objectivity, and fairness in judicial proceedings.