by Berislav Marušić
What does it mean to make a promise you know you might not be able to keep?
SERIES
Promising Against the Evidence
MEET YOUR LECTURER
Berislav Marušić
I am Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Brandeis University. My main research interests lie at the intersection of philosophy of mind, ethics and epistemology. I am also interested in philosophy of action, the nature of reasons, the philosophy of perception, existentialism and the history of modern philosophy. I received my Ph.D. from U.C. Berkeley in 2007 and my A.B. from Harvard in 2001.
Episodes
EPISODE ONE
Promising Against the Evidence #1
In this Wireless Philosophy video, Berislav Marušić (Brandeis University) talks about promises to do difficult things, such as the promise to spend the rest of one’s life with someone. Beri explains that such promises pose a philosophical problem: they seem to be either insincere, in case one doesn’t believe that one will keep them, or irrational, in case one does believe it. He describes how exactly the problem arises and sketches five possible responses.
EPISODE TWO
Promising Against the Evidence #2
In this Wireless Philosophy video, Berislav Marušić (Brandeis University) continues his discussion of promises to do difficult things, such as the promise to spend the rest of one’s life with someone. Beri presents four possible responses to the problem of promising against the evidence, and explains why each is problematic.
EPISODE THREE
Promising Against the Evidence #3
In this Wireless Philosophy video, Berislav Marušić (Brandeis University) continues his discussion of promises to do difficult things, such as the promise to spend the rest of one’s life with someone. Continuing from his explanation of four possible responses to the problem, he explains his preferred response.
