MA Thesis Defense: Miguel Hernandez

”Thy fearful asymmetry’: comparing moral and nonmoral testimony’
Miguel Hernandez (Cal State Long Beach)
4 Dec 2020  •  11:00am–1:30pm  •  online

Abstract: It is difficult to deny that we all have a dependence on testimony for coming to know large swaths of basic knowledge. Statements regarding what food we ought to eat, what the weather will be like a few days from now, or who the twelfth president of the United States was are examples of information that we acquire through testimony. Most of us likely do not have qualms with acquiring knowledge in this way. However, we might wonder whether the situation is the same for testimony with moral substance. In this thesis, I argue that moral and nonmoral testimony are not as different as has previously been supposed. I will argue that moral testimony can be justifiably adopted for the same reasons that nonmoral testimony can be justifiably adopted–those reasons being that it is possible to evaluate the sources of moral testimony through indirect means which touch on their reliability.

Oral defenses are open to the public. For a draft copy of the thesis in advance, please contact Miguel <miguel.hernandez01@student.csulb.edu> directly.