PUBLIC EVENT at SPUI25, 3 March 20.00-22.00

https://spui25.nl/programma/empirical-ethics-on-the-art-of-paying-attention

CLOSED WORKSHOP at IAS 4 March 9:00–14:00

 https://spui25.nl/programma/empirical-ethics-on-the-art-of-paying-attention

The IAS Empirical Ethics Research Group, led by Paula Helm, Selin Gerlek invites you to a closed workshop with two special guests: Amade M’charek and Arjun Appadurai.

The goal of the workshop is to take steps Towards an Ethics of Possibility through Paying Attention to Planetary Conditions of Livelihood.

The concept of an ethics of possibility is inspired by Arjun Appadurai’s work in Future as Cultural Fact (2013). In the final chapter of his book, Appadurai proposes an ethics of possibility, which focuses on ethical life as it unfolds in the everyday hopes and struggles of ordinary people. This approach contrasts with an ethics of probability, which is a power-conserving, risk-mitigation framework that dominates critical fields such as AI ethics. An ethics of possibility, by contrast, is more attuned to the fluid, messy, and often unpredictable dynamics of human experience and social change. In our exploration, we will investigate what such an ethics entails, what it can offer, and what empirical research methods could help inform its development.

At the latter point, we draw on Amade M’charek’s notion of “the Art of Paying Attention” (2015), which provides a lens through which we can consider how paying attention shapes ethical practices. We ask how “paying attention” can be understood and enacted, and under which conditions it should be regarded as a normative act of care—or neglect. In this context, we will also incorporate the active engagement of the senses, which are positioned as essential to the very act of paying attention. This approach comes with the invitation for participants to engage with their own research perspectives and experiences, while experimenting with the act of "doing attention." Through this, we aim to focus on our often-overlooked senses as vital tools for empirical insight.

Places are limited. If you are interested in joining the workshop, please submit a short (100–150 word) motivational statement connecting your research to concepts of possibility and attention by February 14th. We will confirm whether your abstract was accepted on Tuesday, February 18th.

We also warmly invite workshop participants to attend our PUBLIC EVENT at SPUI25, on 3 March 2025, 20.00-22.00, where Arjun Appadurai and Amade M’charek will give presentations of their work on this topic, followed by commentaries by the IAS Empirical Ethics team and discussion with the general audience.