Victoria McGeer
Fellow, Princeton University/ANU
Philosophy of mind, social cognition, mindshaping, developmental psychology, moral psychology, responsible agency
I work on a range of topics in philosophy of mind and moral psychology, with a special interest in showing how these topics can be advanced by highlighting a distinctive feature of human agency -- namely, our capacity to regulate or shape our minds in conformity with a variety of norms (rational norms, moral norms, and conventional norms of various sorts), thereby enlarging the abilities we enjoy. The focus of my current research is on a specific range of mindshaping activities, reactive attitudes and practices, that in my view play a critical role in our being and becoming morally responsible agents. While at the center, I aim to pursue this theme and its implications (interpersonal and institutional) in a monograph, provisionally entitled Making Responsible: An ethic for co-reactive minds.