erin blaire

DPhil Candidate @UniofOxford philosophy • religion • art | Simone Weil | Iris Murdoch | Mary Midgley | Gillian Rose | Anne Carson are my mentors in life

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

Had to leave Oxford abruptly and will be headed to Paris. Please recommend me some places I could check out in this week’s heatwave.
Ideally places where I can experience Murdochian sense of self-transcendence through art and nature. Even coffee shops where I can read and write.

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

@brdrlndsblog Thanks! Will you be attending? or be in Boston around that time?

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

I will officially be presenting at Boston University's Philosophy Graduate Conference for “Virtues and Vices in Social Contexts.”

I submitted a paper on “The Relevance of Socratic Humility for Political Epistemology: From Self-Centric Assessments to Collaborative Inquiry.”

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

Ultimately, my paper demonstrates how Socratic humility can reshape our epistemic motivations, improve our political interactions, and enrich interpersonal inquiry, fostering a more collaborative and less adversarial approach to knowledge in an increasingly polarized world.

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

(proposing a type of Socratic fallibilism using Cavell's interpretation of the Allegory of the Cave).

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

“While we cannot all be moral exemplars, what we all can be is better than we are. For each of us there are surely some virtues which we could come to possess in
greater degree than we now do, no matter what circumstances we are.”

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

This is from Blum’s paper “Moral Exemplars: Reflections on Schindler, the Trocmes, and Others.”

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

“A morally excellent person is more likely to have the generosity of spirit and 'love' of others which simultaneously accepts others for what they are, not to make them feel condemned for how they choose to live, yet spurs them to their best efforts.” — Lawrence Blum

[anna @moonbeeaam]

Does anyone know of good philosophical writing about moralism & moralising?
i.e., the idea of someone making inappropriately moral demands of someone, preaching, etc.

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

@moonbeeaam I highly recommend Blum’s paper “Moral Exemplars: Reflections on Schindler, the Trocmes, and Others.” He discusses Murdochian moral exemplars, Susan Wolf, moral saints and heroes, unworthy motives, risk and adversity,
and self-righteousness.

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

@JosephAClair Off the top of my head, I can think of Nozick’s “What is Wisdom and Why Do Philosophers Love it So?” and Whitcomb’s chapter on “Wisdom” in the Routledge companion for epistemology. Zagzebski also mentions wisdom in her book Virtues of the Mind.

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

Happy birthday Wittgenstein, who influenced some of my favorite philosophers (Iris Murdoch, Stanley Cavell, and Cora Diamond).

[erin blaire @WinewithWeil]

“The real discovery is the one which enables me to stop doing philosophy when I want to. The one that gives philosophy peace, so that it is no longer tormented by questions which bring itself into question.”
- Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations