Cheshire Calhoun Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University

Talk Title: "Responsible Persons in Everyday Life"
Monday, September 27, 5:00pm: Stackhouse Theater

"We approach those with whom we share everyday interactions with the presumption that they are responsible persons in three senses: they can be held accountable for what they do, they are disposed to comply with minimal normative expectations, and they ought and sometimes will take responsibility. Attending to these three conceptions of responsible persons helps explain the centrality of resentment, trust and hope in everyday life."

Cheshire Calhoun works in the areas of normative ethics and moral psychology, addressing topics such as civility, common decency, integrity, hope, meaningful living, appreciation and taking on responsibilities.

Her most recent book, "Doing Valuable Time: The Present, the Future, and Meaningful Living" (2018), explores the implications of using time well in order to achieve the unachievable: living a meaningful life. We pursue what we value, strive to live meaningfully, judge whether our present circumstances are good enough, and prioritize what we are willing to invest our efforts in. Doing valuable time, however, is not an easy task. Expending time on big, important life projects often entails many smaller time expenditures on the seemingly meaningless, and our ability to take an interest in our own futures is fragile. Our present circumstances often leave us with endless opportunities for discontent - too much spare time, too much of the same thing all of the time or too much time stuck in stalled projects. "Doing Valuable Time" is about the difficulties we face in achieving valuable time and the interest - and disinterest - we take in our own present and future.

Calhoun is an author/editor of "Moral Aims: Essays on the Importance of Getting it Right and Practicing Morality with Others," "Feminism, the Family, and the Politics of the Closet," and "What is an Emotion: Classic Readings in Philosophical Psychology," among others. Her peer-reviewed articles have been published in outlets such as the Ethics, Hypatia, Journal of Philosophy, Journal of Political Philosophy and Philosophy and Public Affairs. She is series editor for Oxford University Press's "Studies in Feminist Philosophy." In 2020, she was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Calhoun earned a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin.